The Galapogos islands are the most amazing place for birds, turtles tortoises, iguanas, sea lions, fur seals, penguins, and volcanic terrain imaginable. If you are thinking about going, go!

Photography: I am an avid photographer. Cameras I brought: Olympus OM-D EM-1; Olympus OM-D EM-1 Mark II; Olympus Pen with and underwater housing. Lenses I brought: Olympus 40-150mm Pro; Olympus 300mm Pro; Olympus 12-40mm Pro and Olympus 1.4x TC. Since we come very close to the wildlife (6 feet in most cases) I never used the 300mm (600mm FF equivalent) - such an extreme telephoto lens is not useful in the Galapagos. I also rarely used the 1.4x TC. I used a Cotton Carrier Sling with side holster to carry the EM1 Mark II with the 40-150mm (80-300mm FF equivalent) lens and a LowePro Slingshot 302 Bag to carry the EM1 with the 12-40mm (24-80mm FF equivalent) lens and extra batteries, SD cards and water. This worked for me in all situations. I took 2,614 photos (I don’t bracket).

For less avid photographers point and shoot cameras and cell phones will do just fine. They do prohibit selfie sticks. Read more