Iguana

Arriving in the Galápagos: Crossing Santa Cruz

Travel / By / August 8, 2022

Given the protests happening throughout Ecuador, we were not going to truly relax until we got onto our cruise ship. We asked the folks at Metropolitan Touring if they could arrange for us to fly into the Galápagos earlier than planned. They were able to switch our flights and find a hotel for us, and we were on our way. We were met at the Quito airport by a representative of Metropolitan Touring, who had our boarding passes and who walked us through check in and a biological screening of our baggage.

The flight from Quito to the Galapagos took around 3.5 hours, with a stop in Guayaquil.  Those continuing on to the islands wait on the plane while more passengers embark.

We watched anxiously out the window of the plane, hoping to catch a glimpse of the storied islands. Our first views did not disappoint: turquoise blue water, puffy white clouds, beaches, and rugged coastlines. G. and I took photos with my phone as we approached the airport.  

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An Introduction: The Galápagos?

Travel / By / July 24, 2022

As my first post, let me introduce our family. We’re the Kunens: Laura and Isaac, and our two kids, E. (12) and G. (10). We love to travel and we love to take photos. We began this blog to share our adventures and photos without the usual social media sites. We started this primarily as a way to share with family and friends, but we hope this blog makes its way to other families who love to travel, want to hear others’ travel stories, or are researching travel adventures of their own. 

Here we go!

During the summer of 2022, we spent two weeks in Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands.  But the story doesn’t start there.

While spending 2020/21 locked in Covid purgatory, we started to dream of a big, fancy trip. We asked the kids for ideas and our oldest, E., immediately suggested the Galápagos Islands. He’d done a report on marine iguanas, endemic to the Galápagos, in early elementary school and has wanted to see them in person since. We did a little research, and the decision was made. We would visit Quito, Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands. The trip didn’t go exactly as planned; let’s just say we were glad that we’d booked with a reputable travel agency instead of going it ourselves.

Marine Iguana, Fernandina Island
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