TRAVELING WITH CHILDREN

The Galapagos Islands are a truly wonderful place to visit, deciding on whether to it is a good destination to visit with your child, really depends on the child. A typical Galapagos Cruise consists of long days with opportunities to walk, swim and snorkel. Many boats restrict children on cruises unless you charter the boat, and then they still may not allow very small children. If you are planning on visiting the Galapagos with your kids, there are 3 separate areas of concern, but really they all come down to the same thing...discipline.

1. On the boat you will be living in close contact with other visitors, each with different levels of tolerance, and some can be extremely intolerant. They have paid for an expensive trip what for many is the dream of a lifetime.
2. On the island trails the group must stay together and stay with their guide. The guide could be suspended or lose their license if they allow the group to split up. Anyone who starts a trail must be capable of finishing it with the group, either on their own power or on your back.
3. The flora and fauna should not be touched, picked, chased, petted or in anyway interfered with its natural state of being.

Each boat has its own policy regarding children, which will limit your choices when choosing a cruise. Policies regarding children have been added throughout the website whenever available.

Some of the options available to families is a Charter. These family sized yachts are small enough to allow you to keep an eye on everybody. For active children a cruise ship with a swimming pool might be a partial solution. The larger ships also tend to have higher and more secure guardrails.

If you are traveling with very small children the best solution tends to be a land-based tour where you stay at a hotel and take day or 1/2 day tours. This allows your children to keep a schedule while you are still free to see the islands. Many of the hotels can also offer a nanny service allowing parents and older children to go on tours while younger children remain at the hotel.

Deciding Factors on Traveling with Children to Galapagos

Ecuadorians by nature are very family oriented and welcome children. The local culture revolves around the family unit and children are regarded as a precious part of the family. Children are accepted absolutely everywhere. Guides and crewmembers like children, but they are busy and have their own responsibilities, they are not available to baby-sit. While in the Galapagos, children are the responsibility of the parent(s). It is the parent's obligation to make sure each child understands the nature of the tour and their responsibilities as a visitor in this delicate environment. Children must be able to follow directions and listen to the guide.

Keep in mind that there are certain times when the group goes ashore for a visit. Since all visitors are required to be accompanied by a guide at all times, anyone not ready to ashore at the designated time will miss the opportunity to visit the landing site. Itineraries are scheduled to get as many visits as possible during the cruise, making it impossible to repeat visits or delay visits.

A large part of the tour includes swimming, snorkeling and panga (dinghy) rides. The cruise itself is aboard a boat. It is important therefore that your child has the ability to swim to take advantage of the tour's highlights and in case of any unforeseen problems.

If you are traveling with a young child or a child who is particularly small you may want to bring your own life jacket. There are very few children's life jackets in the islands.

Is the Galapagos a good destination for children? Definitely, as long as the child is old enough to understand the unique nature of what they are seeing, they enjoy being outside, and viewing wildlife. If they are they will discover it's the original Wonderland and Disney combined...only a thousand times better.

Island Based Galapagos

A good choice for families is an Galapagos Tour based on one of the islands - the most popular destination is Santa Cruz. Then you will have a chance to enjoy the beaches, hiking, horse, as well as the company of other children.

Please keep in mind there are only 2 natural dangers on Santa Cruz:

1. Giant centipedes that have a nasty sting and should be left alone but are not deadly.
2. The small fruit of the Manzanilla tree which are deadly but fortunately not common. The fruit looks like a small apple. The tree is so toxic that to stand under it during a rain shower is to risk getting your skin burnt from the water dripping off the tree.

Gifts for Local Children

While traveling many people enjoy bringing gifts to local children. This practice brings much controversy, it is believed giving presents encourages begging for money and candy and disrupts the normal economy. It is generally thought that gifts should only be given in barter or for payment of a service.

As you travel throughout Ecuador, if you do give gifts please keep in mind that dental care is not readily available for many of these children and whereas a toothbrush may make an excellent gift, candy does not. If you plan to bring gifts with you the following items are better choices:

• Toothbrushes
• Maps
• Books
• T-shirts
• Photos of your hometown
• Post Cards of your hometown
• Pens
• Pencils
• Sunglasses - the Ecuadorian sun is very strong and many Ecuadorians have eye problems due to lack of access to sun glasses

Local Schools

Galapagos Online works closely with the local schools in the Galapagos. These schools are in desperate need of things like papers, pens, maps, books. Should you like to bring gifts for one of these schools and/or visit a school to help out please send us an email for more details.