We have been fortunate enough to travel to many places in our lives but it was time for a very important one…THE trip at the top of my bucket list. From childhood on, I have always been interested in science and I was a biology major in college.   So when the time came, it was a simple choice: I wanted to go to the Galapagos and see what shaped Darwin’s “Origin of the Species.”

There was a second important desire for me because I had to prove something to myself after going through multiple foot surgeries and a total ankle replacement in 2018. This trip was a true celebration of life!

I read many blogs, many stories, and, fortunately, Mike was fine with the the trip. We finally decided to go with Silversea Cruise Lines. One of the reasons for this particular cruise line was that everything was included including drinks, tips, WIFI (such that it was), transfers, hotels, airfare, everything. Their ship is the Silver Galapagos. The ship has a maximum of 100 passengers and approximately 80 crew. I can’t say enough about the whole experience.

We flew from Miami non-stop to Quito, Ecuador. From the time Mike and I landed in Quito, the Silversea people took care of everything. For the first two nights, we stayed at the JW Marriott in Quito. That part of it is a bonus for us but not for others who experienced unexpected delays getting to Ecuador.

For those of us who reside at sea level, it was quite an adjustment. We panted (huffed and puffed) our way to the door of the bus and did the same walking into the hotel and just about everywhere else while we were at that altitude. We stayed at the J. W. Marriott in Quito for two nights but it is a bit misleading as we didn’t get into the hotel until almost 11:00 the first night and had to leave around 5:40 AM the second day. Needless to say, the J. W. Marriott in Quito is a lovely hotel as expected.

For those of you who don’t know anything about Quito, it is a city of approximately 2 million people at an altitude of approximately 9300 feet. It is the capital of Ecuador but not the largest city. The largest city is Guayaquil and is a port city (more about that later on) It is only 120 miles from the Equator. Quito was built on the foundations of an ancient Incan city. It is surrounded by mountains. Quito became a city in 1542. In 1978, it was declared a world UNESCO site along with the Galapagos.

The center of the city is filled with historic buildings; one of them is the Church of the Society of Jesus, known as la Compañía. This Jesuit church is famous for it gold leaf and gilded plaster and wood carvings.

We didn’t get a chance to see it because time was short and we wanted to see some of the rich wildlife that resides in Ecuador.