This was one of the places on my bucket list and I was really surprised at what we found. Here are a group of islands on the equator 600 miles west of Ecuador and we thought we would be on lush tropical islands. The truth is that they are closer to a desert environment than tropical. The variety of wildlife and cactus and the successful efforts of the Ecuadoran government to preserve the Islands was marvelous to experience. The staff was terrific and the ship had very nice acomodations and the food was pretty good. If you want to interact with animals, this is the trip for you. Photography was the focus of this trip and we had a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer on the trip with us as well as three other photography experts to give us guidance on the best way to capture this unbelievable experience. I would highly recommend this trip.