Introduction

Well, I said that if I'm only going to the Galapagos once in my life, I want to see it all.......

Mid-way through last year I decided on two "soft negative goals" for travel in 2025.  More to break out of a rut than anything else.  I've done a lot of long bike trips the last few years, and I've travelled a lot to the US.  All very enjoyable, but time-consuming and logistically very easy to do.  So - this year - I'm going to mix things up a bit.  No long bike trips and no trips to the US.  The US thing wasn't necessarily a political statement, but as it turns out............  

One thing I've been wanting to do for a while is to travel to the Galapagos Islands.  Turns out Joan had it on her to-do list as well, so off we go!  We decided to go with G Adventures.  I have never travelled with them before, but lots of people I know have and they all say great things about their experiences.  We chose a cruise over a land excursion, and I wanted to immerse in the experience so we chose the longest option.  Hopefully it's not tooooo long.  Joan wanted to add on some mainland Ecuador exploration as well.  I was easily talked into that and the struggle became not adding on another month or two to do that portion justice.  In the end we settled on a two-week cruise followed by a nine-day  private land tour on the mainland.  

We understood that by going in February we would be hitting the "rainy season".  Ecuador is on the equator, so temperatures don't fluctuate a great deal but there is a dry season (June to December) and a wet season (January to May).  One benefit is that ocean temperatures are said to be warmer in the wet season.  Also - on the Galapagos, wildlife seasons change throughout the year (mating, migration, etc.), so we won't be hitting the ideal season for all species.  I can't imagine that we'll be disappointed, though.  

So - we're two days away from departure and I've looked at the forecast.  Rain.  I guess I should have expected that.  Oh well - temps are ok and I'll throw in a rain jacket and an umbrella.  I'm looking at the temperature reading provided by my computer as I type this.  -29C in Calgary right now.  I think I'll be ok with a little bit of rain.  

Another reason I decided to take a break this year from long bike trips was that between 2020 and 2024 I had one lower body injury after another - foot, knee, hips - and couldn't really contemplate any vacation that involved any amount of hiking; thus lots of bike trips.  In the second half of 2024, all of those things seemed to progress to a level that I thought could be managed, so decided I would take a chance on getting back into hiking again (those trips come later this year).  Then - two weeks ago I was on a ski trip (followed by another one the week after) and my left foot became very painful.  I aborted the second ski trip, cancelled out of hockey, retreated to the couch, and made a physio appointment.  For any walking about town (and even around the house for a few days) I pulled the crutches out of the basement.  I had visions of hauling crutches to Ecuador with me and missing out on the walking and hiking excursions.  But - fingers crossed - I think the foot has healed itself and everything is full steam ahead once again.