San Cristobal & Santa Cruz – 5 Tage

CONS: (1) After calling a week before our trip to confirm our arrival, we were not picked up at the airport. After frustrating calls filled with language barriers we were delivered to a dingy, horrible dump of a hotel in San Cristobal. (2) The local agency was supposed to meet us the following morning to go over our itinerary. She never showed. We never got an itinerary. (3) We knew we had to go back to Santa Cruz but were not told when. More frustrating phone calls at which time we were told we'd be picked up at 6:30 in the morning to be taken to the dock. Again, no one showed,. We took a cab there and found we weren't on the passenger list. Another frustrating phone call. (4) After 2 nights in the Deja Vu hotel in Santa Cruz (which was quite nice), we were unexpectedly told we were being moved to another hotel. (5) The tour operator offered to pay for an extra hotel night in Santa Cruz to make up for all the confusion. This was a total dump - no hot water, no TV, raggedy towels, etc. So why 3 stars instead of none? Because... PROS: The actual excursion guides and activities were phenomenal. The guides spoke enough English to be understood They took care of all the details. We saw a wide variety of flora and fauna and were satisfied with that. We had a very nice room at the Deja Vu and were on the verge of de-stressing at the thought of three comfortable nights there. Also, the trip back to the airport went without a hitch. The driver showed up on time and accompanied us most of the way.