We arrived in Quayaquil and bought tickets for the next day to fly to the Galapagos, with the intent of finding a last-minute arrangement for a cruise during the 12 days we had allowed before returning to Lima to fly home.

In Quayaquil we went to a hostel that had been recommended on-line as having a travel agency as well. Hostal DreamKapture (http://www.dreamkapture.com/hostal.htm) is in a part of Guayaquil that doesn´t seem to have any redeeming features except for the hostel. It is run by a woman from Montreal and her Ecuadorian husband. It is a friendly busy place as she is very outgoing, their 3 children are rushing around with their friends, and travellers from many places are there. It was only about $10 per person for a double room with a fan.

More important, Isabelle offered us a 4-day cruise at a very good price ($540), made all the arrangements, told us exactly what to expect, why this was better value that a 5-day cruise, told us about the other things we could do on our own here, and changed our return flights to Guayaquil so we´ll have another day there.

I must go and research the boat we will be on – the Merak. Here is one link http://www.galapagostourexport.com/galapagos-islands-galapagos-economic-merak-sailboat.html