THINKGALAPAGOS

24/06/2026

⭐🚤 We've added a new yacht to our recommended fleet: the Galapagos Tribute.

Tribute is Ecuador's first sustainable super yacht — 16 guests maximum, fully refurbished in 2024 with some serious eco credentials: oil-free propulsion, waste-heat recovery, and eco-friendly coatings throughout.

Onboard you get two naturalist guides (that guide-to-guest ratio really does make a difference), a sky-deck whirlpool bath, alfresco dining, kayaks, paddle boards, and a wine vault and cocktail bar if you want to celebrate a good day's wildlife watching. The Owner's Suite can convert to a family suite for up to four, which is useful for multi-generational groups.

5-day cruises start from £4,729pp. Three itineraries to choose from.

Full details on the website — link below. Or get in touch and we'll help you work out whether it's the right fit for your trip.

👉 thinkgalapagos.com/yachts/tribute/

20/06/2026

Inti Raymi, the Festival of the Sun...🌞🌞🌎

There was a time when people prayed to the gods for just one more day of sun. That tradition has survived conquest, time, and modernity.

And still today, every June, communities across the Andes spend weeks fermenting chicha and preparing food for hundreds of people. Yet, most travelers visiting the region have no idea these celebrations are even taking place.

Inti Raymi, the Festival of the Sun, happens every June solstice and is one of the most fascinating cultural traditions in South America. While most people associate it with Cusco, it is deeply alive across the Andes in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, where Indigenous communities have kept it burning for centuries.

We’ve been lucky enough to experience the festivities in Ecuador. What amazed us the most—besides the tireless dancing or the incredible costumes—is the food. As an offering of gratitude to the Pachamama (Mother Earth) and the Sun (Inti) at the start of the harvest, the goal is to feed everyone who arrives.

The celebration unfolds around the pambamesa, a communal feast laid out on the ground, fueled by chicha de maíz. This traditional corn beer is as ancient as it is sacred, serving as the ultimate "fuel" to keep the energy high and the dancing going for days. The generosity is just extraordinary.

Inti Raymi is a historical survivor; the Spanish banned the festival in the 16th century. Yet, it survived within families and villages, passed down from generation to generation. That kind of resilience tells you everything you need to know about how deeply rooted these traditions are.

The celebrations are happening across the Andes right now, and we actually have guests in Peru experiencing them as we write.

If you're planning a journey to Ecuador or Peru around this time of year we are here for you. Timing your visit to coincide with Inti Raymi is a rare, beautiful opportunity to experience a tradition that has endured for hundreds of years.

16/06/2026

Happy World Sea Turtle Day!! (June 16) 💙

Today we celebrate World Sea Turtle Day, and it's worth knowing that the date isn't arbitrary. June 16 is the birthday of Dr. Archie Carr, the biologist whose decades of research in the mid-20th century essentially built the foundation of modern sea turtle conservation. We owe him a great deal.

Green sea turtles have been on this planet for over 100 million years, they swam alongside dinosaurs, which is a fact we find genuinely humbling every time we think about it. They can live up to 100 years, travel over 1,000 miles to return to the exact beach where they were born, and nest at night, laying up to 125 eggs at a time. The temperature of the nest, not genetics, determines whether the hatchlings are male or female.

In the Galapagos, watching one graze slowly across the seafloor off Isabela Island — completely unbothered, completely at home — is one of those moments that quietly rearranges your priorities.

The Galapagos National Park protects their nesting sites carefully.
Have you ever had an encounter with a sea turtle in the water — and did it change how you think about them?

09/06/2026

June in the Galapagos is something special — and Rachel explains exactly why. 🎬

The garua season is underway: blue skies, comfortable temperatures, and a wildlife calendar that delivers some of the year's most extraordinary moments. Waved Albatross nesting on Española. Great Frigatebirds puffing out those extraordinary red throat pouches on Genovesa. The first chicks beginning to appear in nests across the islands.

And with sea lion pups arriving on the beaches and hammerhead sharks gathering at the dive sites, the underwater world is ramping up too.

If you're thinking about visiting the Galapagos, June deserves serious consideration — find out why in our updated June guide (link in bio).

Or give Rachel a call and she'll talk you through it: +44 (0)1482 887453

08/06/2026

Happy World Oceans Day - June 8th - a few thoughts 💙🌊

The moment a sea lion decides to swim directly at your mask, close enough that you can count its whiskers is the moment most people stop thinking about anything else at all.

The waters around the western islands of Galapagos are cold, nutrient-rich, and genuinely extraordinary for snorkelling. Not because of the colours (though those are there) but because of the behaviour — turtles feeding on the seafloor unbothered, rays gliding underneath you, penguins (yes, penguins, this close to the equator) darting past at speed.

These ecosystems are fragile and carefully managed. Choosing a responsible operator isn't a box to tick, it's what keeps this possible for the people who come after you.

What's your most memorable encounter in the water, Galapagos or anywhere?

03/06/2026

It's Tiny! It's Blue!

When we saw this story, we had to to share it 💙💙

Scientists have just formally identified a new species of octopus in the Galápagos — Microeledone galapagensis — found nearly 1,800 metres below the ocean surface near Darwin Island during a deep-sea expedition. It's about the size of a golf ball and bright blue. The team used micro CT scanning to examine it rather than cutting it open, because the single specimen was simply too rare.

I've been organising Galapagos cruises for over 20 years, and I still find stories like this extraordinary. Most of what people come to see is above the waterline — the iguanas, the tortoises, the birds. But it's this deeper, ongoing process of discovery and research that makes the islands what they are. Scientists have been studying the Galapagos for nearly two centuries and are still finding things no human has ever seen before.

Read more: https://time.com/article/2026/05/24/new-species-blue-oct...

02/06/2026

Huge congratulations to Robert E Fuller for reaching 1 million subscribers on YouTube and making it onto the national news in the UK. You are an inspiration to wildlife lovers everywhere. If you don't already follow Robert, then now is the time to! He charts the soap opera lives of various creatures as they raise their families close to where we're based in Yorkshire. It's quite addictive stuff if you're into wildlife. ☺

28/05/2026

🐢🌎 The Galapagos isn't a simple trip to organise. Yacht selection, itinerary, island logistics, transfers, other stopovers — there's a lot to get right. But it is SO worth it!! And worth having a company on board that makes it seem easy.

Which is why "attention to detail was second to none" is the phrase we're proudest of in this recent guest review.

'Our experience was first rate from the planning stage through to the various logistics whilst in Ecuador. Communication was excellent and all recommendations were spot on; Rachel's advice was invaluable and attention to detail was second to none which showed again and again throughout our trip. Truly the trip of a lifetime; thank you to Rachel and the team.'

Rachel handles every detail personally and it's the same cost as booking direct with the yacht. Easy decision 🙂

Link in bio.

22/05/2026

Citizen Science in the Galapagos Islands, get involved if you can 😊

Whether you've been to Galapagos or not, you can play an active part in the conservation of the Islands through . Ways to help include:

🦎 Counting marine iguanas from aerial photographs to help estimate population sizes

🦈 Reporting your sightings of young sharks and rays to help identify vital nursery areas

🦭 Looking out for sea lions with orange flipper tags outside Puerto Ayora

Visit our Citizen Science Hub to find out more about the projects you can support: https://bit.ly/435cFrD

📷 © Iguanas from Above

19/05/2026

Here's how booking a Galapagos cruise with us actually works.

You email or call. Rachel answers — personally. She asks about your travel dates, budget, group, fitness level, and what kind of trip you're hoping for. Then she comes back with a shortlist of yachts she knows will suit you specifically, drawn from 25 years of direct relationships with the operators.

No booking form. No live availability. No chatbot. Just someone who's been doing this since 1998 and genuinely knows which yachts deliver and which ones just market well.

And it costs you exactly the same as booking direct. Except with the best level of personal service you could expect. Doesn't your Galapagos trip deserve this kind of attention?