A Kid’s Guide to the Galapagos

Even though I am only eight years old, I have visited 29 countries, and the Galapagos is my favorite destination!  My name is Abigail, and I want to tell you about my adventure!  If you want to have a fantastic vacation in the Galapagos, you should start by cruising with Ecoventura.

This cruise is for you if you want a wonderful family experience.  If you want up-close animal adventures, you can see sea lions, hammerheads, penguins, sea turtles, marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies, red-footed boobies, nazca boobies, stingrays, and more.  My favorite animals to swim with were sea lions because they are so playful.

If you are a person that likes comfort, the boat has hot showers and nice clean cabins.  When they clean your room, they even give you free chocolate!  Upstairs on the top deck, you can relax on comfy chairs or bring up games to play.  If you get bored, why not go up to the bridge and drive the boat?  There is also a “kids-only” hike, pizza making, dance party, and a surprise I will not tell you about in case an adult is reading this!

In the Bridge

My new friends and I liked to bring snacks, drinks, and a book from the library to the bridge.  Frigate birds sometimes fly right over the boat.  I studied them with binoculars and scanned the landscape.  You can even be an assistant to the captain, and he will teach you how to drive the boat.

Kids-Only Hike

One day, our guide said we would do a kids-only hike… no parents allowed!!!!!!  During our hike, we saw flamingos getting food in the saltwater lagoons.  It can be rare so we were grateful to see them.  But don’t worry if you don’t!  You can see flamingos in other places too!  Our group set off to see how many huge land iguanas we could spot.  In all, we saw fifteen which was our goal.  We also saw marine iguanas and baby black-tipped reef sharks.  On the way back, we got to drive the panga.  When I drove, I went so fast and almost threw everyone off.  Later, the guide asked us who was the craziest driver, and everyone pointed to me!

Pizza Making

For kids who like cooking, you will enjoy this.  If you don’t like getting your hands dirty, I recommend staying inside your cabin (just joking, they give you gloves)!  When you make your own pizza, you will receive an apron, hat, and gloves.  It’s two kids per pizza, and you work together to name your pizza.  My friend and I called ours “Penguin-Pepperoni-Pizza”.  Afterward, you may keep your hats if you wish.  We also liked getting milkshakes and smoothies after some hikes and at the bar.

Dance Party

One night after dinner, the crew started a dance party!  They played music, danced, and got us all to join in. We did a cha-cha line and limbo.  We all did our best dance moves through a big line.  It was funny to dance around the buffet table in the dining room.  We were so hot from all the dancing, but it was so much fun!

— Parents, Skip This Part —

Special Project

Kids, there is a secret presentation the crew will tell you about.  Throughout the week, the other kids on board and I worked on the project during our free time.  At the end, our guides even gave us a little prize.  I researched sea lions for mine.  I learned that some sharks prey on the babies, so they stay in little lagoons.  You can tell sea lions apart from seals because of their external ears.  My friend and I also made a book for the crew members called “A Kid’s Guide to the Galapagos”.  Our guide said that he would take the book home, put a hard cover on it, and place it in the library for other kids to read!

— Parents, You Can See Now —

Friends on board

We loved that Ecoventura had cruises just for families called Family Departures.  This is a great option for people that have kids because all of us got to hang out together.  After traveling around the world for a year, it was so fun to play with kids that spoke English.  We could color, play games, and plan my mom’s birthday party between activities.  This cruise is an amazing way to see the Galapagos Islands, and our family had a blast!

To see all our travel adventures during a year-long trip around the world, head over to our Instagram page.

If you have questions or tips for a trip to the Galapagos, let us know!  Happy Travels!