Four Months

...and counting.

I've Got Reservations

Turns out the boat I originally wanted, but was full, now has an open space. So I reserved that space and put down a deposit. I'll be sailing (motoring) around the Galapagos Islands on the Encantada. And it is $300 cheaper than the other yacht. Booya

Extended Stay

After talking to a couple of the outfits in Ecuador that work with various Galapagos yachts, I realized none of the trips would fit my schedule without making me take some time away from the countries I planned to visit later in the trip. Granted I could have dropped a lot more money and found one to accommodate me. But these 8-day yacht cruises (in my price range) were already hovering around $1200 (ok, so not really in my price range). Add to that the $380 round trip ticket to the islands from mainland Ecuador. Plus a $100 Galapagos park entrance fee, and I was already well over budget. So spending more on a yacht wasn't a solution. What to do?

Call Delta and see how much it would cost to add a week to my flight schedule. There was a service charge of $180, but the ticket price went down so I ended up only paying $125 to switch my dates. Now I can take the yacht I can afford, at the time it's available, and it won't take any time away from seeing the other countries. Problem solved.

Well, not exactly. After changing my ticket, I contacted the company I had been working with to reserve a slot on the yacht I wanted. Turns out they had upgraded the boat in the past two weeks and the price had jumped $180. Now I'm looking for another boat I can afford...