How to reach Galapagos from India?

I set sail on my month long adventure to South America in the wee hours of 28th November. My itinerary to the continent has changed a little as I did not have enough time to get a visa for Peru. Hence, now I am going to Ecuador (including Galapagos), Brazil and Bolivia. My first destination is Galapagos, and I am super excited about it.

So, how am I getting to Galapagos from India? Well, it’s a really long journey across oceans and continents. I have travelled through so many time zones that I have lost track of time. My body clock is highly randomised – I feel sleepy at random hours and I am not sticking to the jet lag cycle either. While deciding my route to Galapagos, I kept two things in mind – first, low cost tickets and second, arrival time of the flight should be such that I don’t have to venture from the airport to the city at late hours. The second point was critical as South America is not the safest of all places and I am travelling alone.
This is what my route looked like ….all times mentioned below are local times…
– I started in Mumbai at 0400 hrs on Monday, 28th November

– After a 3 hour flight, I landed in Abu Dhabi at about 0600hrs, where I pottered around the airport for 3 hours

– I left Abu Dhabi at about 0900 hrs for São Paulo. The flight was the longest continuous flight I have ever been in – 17 hours. I took a stroll in the air craft ever so often and managed to keep my back in good shape. After a really long flight, I landed in São Paulo at about 1800 hrs … it’s still 28th November!

– I had a long layover of about 12 hours at São Paulo airport. There was a mess up with my transit hotel booking at the airport and I ended spending the night, rolled up into a ball at the São Paulo airport. Honestly, I was so exhausted that I slept like a baby! 

– I took off from São Paulo at 0620 hrs on 29 th November, destination next was Panama City. This was a longish flight too… six hours in the air and I touched the ground at about 1000hrs.

– I used the five hour layover in Panama well and shopped a little at the duty free. I bought a new Burberry fragrance that I had been eyeing for a while. I boarded my flight from Panama to Quito at 1530 hours. 

– I reached Quito at 1730 hours after a two hour flight and decided to step out of the airport and rest the night at a hostel close to the airport. This was the first restful night of my trip. I stayed at a cute little guest house at Tababela, where I was woken by birds tweeting merrily; a llama was chomping grass at my porch … what an awesome day! My last flight to Baltra in Galapagos was the next afternoon.

– Ahhhh… the last leg began on 30th afternoon at 1310 hrs, when I boarded my flight to Baltra that had a flying time of 2 hours. I finally reached Galapagos on 30th Nov 2016 at 1425 hrs … and I am still here, loving every minute on the islands!

So, this is how the past two days have been …

Mumbai- Abu Dhabi- São Paulo- Panama City- Quito – Baltra

I have spent over 30 hours in the sky… and I am not counting the ones at the airport!

This may not be the ideal or cheapest route … but it worked best for me!

More from the Galápagos Islands … coming soon!

Disclaimer: I paid for all of my trips, hotels, flights and tours in South America …none of these were sponsored or discounted. All opinions mentioned in the blog are unbiased. I have provided contact coordinates and reviews to help you plan better because I did struggle quite a bit when I was planning my trip.