Ecuador & Galapagos: Where and How to Travel Now
Ecuador was one of the first and hardest hit countries in South America by Coronavirus at the beginning of the pandemic. The terrible months of March and April resulted in some of the most severe lockdown measures of any country on earth, the results of which have continued to trend positive until today, the curve flattened in May and has stayed that way. The US Department of State dropped the travel warning for Ecuador to Level 3: “Reconsider Travel” - one of only 5 countries in South America.
Reality Check: Just to put statistics in perspective, since the majority of readers of this blog will be US based travel industry professionals referencing destinations to pitch to their clients: The entire country of Ecuador with a population of 18 million has recorded 141k total cases of Coronavirus since March 17th - while Los Angeles County, with 11 million inhabitants, has recorded 275k case in the same period. (Ecuador shows a 0.007% infection rate vs LA County at .025%)
Since May, Ecuador has cautiously opened their economy, bit by bit, and by July 1st the hotels which we represent on mainland Ecuador (Casa Gangotena, Mashpi Lodge, Hacienda Zuleta) reopened, but in a limited capacity and only to local Ecuadorian guests as the international borders remained closed. This move however, of allowing the hotels to welcome Ecuadorian guests proved to be great, allowing the hoteliers a limited stream of income, but more importantly, the ability to retain key staff and refine their operations and sanitary protocols over time, in preparation for welcoming international visitors back. They have not gone from zero to sixty overnight, they have been looking after guests safely for three months now, they are running solid operations and their staff are accustomed to the new reality of travel.
On July 1st, Ecuador reopened its borders to international visitors and the frequency of commercial flight routes and frequencies has continued to grow. Currently, as of October 7th, the following list of major airline carriers have multiple direct flights weekly to both Quito (UIO) and Guayaquil (GYE), the principal international gateways.
United from Houston to Quito
American Airlines from Miami to Quito and Guayaquil
JetBlue from New York to Quito and Guayaquil
JetBlue from Fort Lauderdale to Quito
Copa Airlines from Panama City to Quito
AeroMexico from Mexico City to Quito
KLM from Amsterdam to Quito and Guayaquil
AirEuropa from Madrid to Quito
Iberia from Madrid to Quito
So what are the entry requirements? Visitors from any nation are allowed into mainland Ecuador by showing a negative PCR Covid test taken within 10 days of flight arrival (not needed for children under 18). A basic heath questionnaire needs to be filled out and temperature checks are given upon arrival. Once you have satisfied these requirements, you are free to circulate around the 23 provinces of mainland Ecuador. With the variance in how quickly test results are being returned (in the United States) this 10 day window makes it very easy to prepare for departure, and the flights to/from Ecuador have been operating normally.
You notice that I keep referring to “mainland Ecuador”? That is because the #1 tourist attraction in Ecuador is the Galapagos Islands, which are just one of the 24 Provinces of Ecuador, but sit 800 miles off the Pacific Coast - and they have their own separate entry requirements. In order to visit the Galapagos Island, visitors must show a negative PCR test taken within 4 days (96 hours) of arrival in the islands (not needed for children under 12), show proof of travel insurance which includes medical coverage, and a safe-conduct permit from your cruise or tour company.
So all in all, Ecuador and the Galapagos is open. But with mainland Ecuador and the Galapagos being two very different travel experiences, with different requirements, how best to go about organizing a trip there? Below, I’ll break it down for you and provide some ideas, suggestions and things to consider in planning trips there at the moment.
Time to contemplate. Deep in the Mashpi Reserve in the Cloud forest of Ecuador
1) Mainland Ecuador is good to go. The requirements for entry are easy, flights are abundant and stable, and there is so much to see and offer on mainland Ecuador that it is deserving of its own trip, without the Galapagos. Most visitors to Ecuador don’t even spend much time on mainland Ecuador in their rush to the Galapagos and back; but the country has Amazon Rainforest, High Andes, Cloud Forests, Tropical Coast paired with an incredible Cultural and Historical diversity, all easily reached in this small compact country. The visitor experiences that mainland Ecuador offer are naturally socially distanced - this isn’t a destination for museums or group touring, it is about nature, wildlife and open space - enjoyed on private customized itineraries. To give you an example, below is a fantastic 10 day, door to door itinerary, that may interest your clients which includes Casa Gangotena in Quito, Mashpi Lodge in the Cloud Forest and Hacienda Zuleta in the Andes.
*Feel free to save and share this itinerary with your clients, you can replace the logo and contact details with your own in the header and footer. You can have this itinerary quoted by your DMC or Tour Operator of choice, or work with the properties direct. f you need help with this document or how to book, please email me.
2) If you have a couple or family looking to go somewhere to work or school remote for an extended period, there couldn’t be a more ideal place for this than Hacienda Zuleta. The historic Hacienda building dates back to 1619 covers a whopping 150,000 square feet of space, with the most delightful areas to work from tucked throughout the charming hacienda - and rock solid wifi. When work or school is done, you have a 4,000 acre private farm and wildlife conservation area to explore by foot, bike or horseback - and you don’t have to worry about cooking or cleaning! Weekends can be spent exploring other parts of Ecuador. Zuleta has been a home away from home for my family and children for many years, it’s the place they always want to go back to, always feeling at home and well looked after by Fernando and the local Zuleta community. Zuleta is offering up to 35% discounts on stays of a week or more with additional discounts for children. If you have clients interested in this, please email Gabriela at Zuleta, who handles international reservations.
Two women from the community, enjoying some sunshine in the courtyard of Hacienda Zuleta, doing embroidery and catching up on news.
3) Now on to the Galapagos….which is primarily known as a cruising destination. It’s should be easy enough to get clients from your home to the Galapagos within the 96 hour testing window. But make sure you can count on the PCR test turnaround times, calculate the flight connection times from their home to Guayaquil or Quito, calculate an overnight in Quito or Guayaquil prior to the Galapagos flight the next day, and of course factor in some buffer time should there be a flight delay or missed connection. The alternative to this is to have clients enter mainland Ecuador on the 10 day test, arrange another test for them upon arrival and then go stay somewhere for a few nights while they await test results and then fly to the Galapagos. The reality is that there are fewer people coming to the Galapagos right now than to mainland Ecuador due to these more stringent measures and the added logistical complexities of getting to the Galapagos. Add to this the inherent public concern about being on a cruise ship for multiple days in close contact with other passengers and crew, and a greatly reduced number of available flights between Mainland Ecuador and the Galapagos - plus the reality that some (not all) cruise ships, due to lack of demand, are forming pools with other vessels where travelers may end up on a different vessel and itinerary than what they booked, if the occupancy for the ship and itinerary your clients booked is very low. All of these factors understandably combine to make travelers uneasy about booking a Galapagos trip at the moment, the Galapagos is one of those once in a lifetime bucket list trips, and consumers are anxious to shell out for such an expensive trip under such uncertainty. But for the intrepid who want to go now, I couldn’t imagine a better time to be in the Galapagos with so few visitors, and how incredible the wildlife viewing must be since they have been left alone by tourists for six solid months. The experience would be akin to those advisors traveling to Africa at the moment witnessing the great migration all to themselves. My real concern is that since operating in the Galapagos is such an expensive business, and the industry has been decimated since March, there are some tour operators that are willing to do whatever it takes to make bookings right now - they desperately need the income (well, we all do). So combine the inherent group travel nature of the Galapagos, a lack of healthcare capacity in these remote islands, and a small number of reckless players in the industry - the situation is ripe for an outbreak, which if happens now, is only going to damage the Galapagos tourism industry even more (and Ecuador as a whole) through viral press coverage. So be sure to work with established, well run and responsible operators - I sincerely want to encourage people to travel to Ecuador and the Galapagos now, but sensibly.
The Galapagos Safari Camp, remote and private in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island
3) What about the Galapagos Safari Camp which you represent? The Galapagos Safari Camp has always served as an amazing alternative option in the Galapagos for those looking for more a more private and customized Galapagos experience, ideal for those travelers that are not keen on joining a group tour on a cruise ship. The small size of the property, located in a remote portion of the highlands with the luxury tented accommodation and private villa were virtually made with social distancing in mind, before it became part of our global lexicon in 2020. The owners, Michael and Stephanie, are in no rush to open due to the concerns I’ve outlined above - but are offering completely private takeovers of the 3 bedroom family villa on property or the 9 luxury tents. Those groups would have their own private guide and private chartered day yacht vessels to explore the outer islands just with their own group, no mixing with other visitors. During normal times at Galapagos Safari Camp, as an example pre-COVID, we may have 6 different bookings at a time, each doing their own customized itinerary but potentially mixing together for the day yacht excursions to outer islands - as well as having guests that are staying with us post cruise. They are not willing to offer these sort of semi-shared excursions at the moment nor are they accepting guests that are disembarking from cruise ships. So if you have a group or family from 4 up to 16 people in total, we have completely private programs to offer them beginning in November - and on top of that, we have key holiday season dates available. Please email the owner, Stephanie Bonham-Carter directly to receive the details of these programs.
Sundowners at Galapagos Safari Camp, in Private
Please remember that I am here to assist and guide you should you have any inquiries for Ecuador & the Galapagos, just email me. And this website has great tools full of marketing materials, PDFs, Videos, Images and Sample Itineraries.
I will personally be traveling to Ecuador in the next few weeks, and will be producing a daily video blog of the experience to share with you and your clients, of the current reality of traveling there. I’ll send more details on that when my dates are set.
Sending you positive energy-
Clark