We are packed into the Jeep as we speed aggressively through busy Chicago traffic. Not enough seat belts for all of us. The luggage stacked high in the back.  All of us a bit anxious as we are finally moving on to our real journey starting in the Galapagos after a month-long pit stop in Michigan.  Before we get to the step-by-step process of arriving to the Galapagos, I have to tell the story of how it all began.

If you aren’t interested in how we fumbled our way there, that’s okay, skip ahead!

This was just the beginning. The rest of our adventure down to the Galapagos was excellent preparation for our upcoming six months of travel. It screamed… GET COMFORTABLE WITH BEING UNCOMFORTABLE AND DO NOT GET FLUSTERED!

Chicago Take Off

We spent the night in a hotel near O’Hare aiport, as our flight departed at 9:00am. The airline’s email told us to arrive 3 hours early due to it being an international flight. We had the kids wrap up their daily homework, ordered some mediocre food to be delivered to the hotel, and dozed off in the dilapidated room for a restless night of sleep. 

Excited to leave the hotel, we got on the 6:00am shuttle to the airport. We had checked in online, and with no luggage to check, we hustled through security. Then we had 2+ hours to wait for our flight. Why did the airlines tell us 3 hours? Oh well, at least we were not going to miss the flight.

When the flight attendants finally got around to preparing the gate for boarding the plane, we promptly heard our names called over the speaker system. Come to find out, we weren’t allowed to check in online for an international flight. After being reprimanded by the agent, she took care of properly checking us in. Crisis averted. Learn from our mistake! You will learn a lot from our many mistakes… keep reading!

Shortly thereafter we boarded the flight, made it to Atlanta for a 4-hour layover and eventually landed in Quito around 8:00pm. 

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Quito Layover

It had been a very long day of travel, but finally we arrived to Ecuador! Our flight to the Galapagos wasn’t until the next morning, so we headed to customs. After bumbling through the standard line of questioning, we left the airport for the day!

The hotel we were staying at was just a few miles down the road. We did not have the energy to negotiate and communicate with a traditional taxi, so we were happy to see that Uber is a thing in Quito. 10 minutes and $15 later, we arrived to our hotel.

We walked into the reception area and an empty desk greeted us. On top of that, there was no noise at all that would make you think another soul was staying there.

We waited as we didn’t really know what else to do. A few minutes later a host came down the hall and checked us in. By this point it was after 9:00pm, and we had to be back to the airport by about 7:00 am. 

Another early wake up call and another Uber ride to the airport. It is always great when your Uber driver tells you that he never knew the hotel was even there. I guess that is what you get for $50 a night. 

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Airport Step-by-Step Guide To Arriving To The Galapagos

The first step to arriving in the Galapagos starts at the airport in Quito. Our Airbnb host in the Galapagos shared the steps we’d need to take at the Quito airport which was a big help. Here’s what you need to do:

Step 1: Transit Control Card

First, you must pay for a Transit Control Card (TCT), which allows the government to track how many people visit the islands. It is $20 a person. You need to pay in cash!

Step 2: Baggage Scan

The next step is to get all of your baggage scanned. Because the Galapagos is a national park and protected, they don’t allow certain items, such as unprocessed foods, to be brought to the island.

Step 3: Check-In

After this, you are finally allowed to check into your flight. As we blissfully walked past large tour groups being herded by their guides, a woman in the check-in line guided us to the self check-in stations.

Because the process was pretty easy and the airport in Quito is small, we had plenty of time to enjoy a delicious sit-down breakfast.

While we waited for our flight, we once again heard our names called from our boarding gate.

Here we go again!

Turns out the airline tickets to the Galapagos come in different levels: extra small, small, medium and large.

IMPORTANT: Extra small and small tickets on Avianca are for Ecuadorians only and the medium and large sizes are for the tourists.

We had purchased the small size as it was all we thought we’d needed with our carry on luggage. Oops! We needed to pay $150 extra per person.

Not great, but we didn’t have a choice. We were already there. So, we paid the extra price, and we soon boarded the plane. We were ready for the 2-hour flight into the Pacific and arriving to the Galapagos.

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Arriving To The Galapagos

The island has one runway. We touched down, coasted down to the end where there is space to turn around, and then taxied all the way back towards the terminal. We exited the plane directly onto the tarmac. As the sun shined and the wind whipped through our… I mean, Amanda’s hair, we walked down the tarmac on a clearly marked path that leads you to the entrance of the national park.

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Process Upon Arriving To The Galapagos

As we waited in line, screens displayed information about pricing, transportation, and the process.

• To enter we needed to pay another $100 per adult and $50 per child. You need cash for this too!
• We then had to send our luggage through one more X-ray machine to make sure we had no contraband.
• From there you pay $5/person to get on a bus that takes you 10 minutes down the road to a channel separating this part of the island and the main part of the island.

• Cross a channel because the airport is on a separate island. Jump out of the bus, watch as your luggage is handed to someone who seems to know what they are doing, and jump on a small boat that taxis you across the channel for $1/person.

• Once there, you cross your fingers. You hope that your luggage was actually put on one of the other boats coming behind you.
• Once we were reunited with our possessions, we found the taxi driver that our Airbnb host had arranged for us. You can get a taxi here pretty easily.

He drove us the final 45 minutes to our home for the next 30 days.  Who doesn’t want to speak rusty Spanish for 45 minutes after 2 very long days of travel?!? 

But we were very thankful! We arrived! Months and months of planning. Years of having a trip like this on our bucket list. It was here, and now all we have to do is make the most of it! 

Now, let’s find some giant tortoises!