Tag: water

What should you bring to the Galapagos Islands?

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The Galapagos Islands are a wonderland of things to see and do and being there is exhausting – the last thing you want to worry about is whether you have brought the right things with you! If you forget something it is VERY expensive to hire it here and usually impossible to purchase so make sure to stay organised with the handy list below.

Water steriliser

I am all for helping the environment (except when it comes to reducing my plane travel – as I live in New Zealand there isn’t really any other option to get anywhere – don’t judge me) and I used to always be disgusted at the number of plastic bottles we went through on a trip to countries without safe drinking water. With a water steriliser there is no longer any wastage and we can get clean water anywhere, anytime. We have the Classic Steripen and have never had any issues with it.

I also suggest taking a reusable water bottle as you will need it to sterilise your water in and drink from. The Nalgene water bottle is a great size and fit seamlessly with the Classic Steripen.

In the Galapagos it is even more crucial to reduce your waste and its also pretty expensive to purchase water bottles here too so a water steriliser is a no brainer.

Wetsuit

wetsuits are really expensive to hire in the Galapagos (around $20 USD a day) and you do need them as the water is generally quite cold here and you are spending a lot of time in the water. Although a wetsuit is a pain to lug around I highly recommend bringing your own (at least a lightweight one). On the plus side, the reason wetsuits are so expensive here is its really hard to import things like this onto the islands so on your last day in the Galapagos make your way down to one of the tour providers and offer to sell them your wetsuit – the majority will take you up on the offer and you are likely to even get more than what you paid for it – leaving room in your luggage for souvenirs!

Drybag

This is pretty self explanatory – you spend a lot of time in the Galapagos on boats or kayaks so its best to keep all your gear in a Drybag on these occasions to make sure it’s protected.

Quick dry towels

Travel towels are great to bring as you will be in the water multiple times a day. The quick dry towels you can purchase are lightweight; small enough to fit in your daypack or Drybag and you won’t need to bring as many.

Talcum Powder

I know, only old ladies and babies use talcum powder BUT it has this incredible feature that is key for the Galapagos. If you dust your skin in talcum powder after being at the beach THE SAND JUST FALLS RIGHT OFF. No more sand between your toes for days and no more sand in your hotel room or cruise cabin.

Ocean safe toiletries and sunscreen

The Galapagos is a marine reserve and a very delicate ecosystem. Tourism does have a devastating impact on the environment here so its our duty to ensure that the impact we have is minimal. Please take ocean safe toiletries with you and use these to reduce the amount of chemical run-off going into the ocean here. I know that ocean safe sunscreen makes you look like a ghost but suck it up and use it. Particularly with sunscreen you are applying multiple times a day and then getting in the water – think about how much of those chemicals you are exposing the ocean to. Then x that by thousands of people a day.

Packaged Snacks

Food is expensive here so bring in as much as you can from home or from mainland Ecuador. BUT remember to only bring properly packaged snacks as fresh items aren’t allowed due to biosecurity risks.

Camera

It’s such a pain lugging around a digital camera. BELIEVE ME I KNOW. But even with some of the best camera phones there is just no beating a good camera with a great lens. You need to take both your phone and camera if you want good holiday snaps – the convenience of the phone is fantastic but a camera will get you those shots that you can edit perfectly and blow up and hang on your wall to remember all the good stuff! You don’t want to miss out on capturing what the Galapagos has to offer on Camera!

Go Pro

A Go Pro is a necessity in the Galapagos to capture all those moments when you would prefer to keep your phone and camera safe and away from the situation. Some of the best photo opportunities here occur while in the water. We would have been so disappointed had we not brought our Go Pro to the Galapagos – in fact we purchased one specifically to use here.

Maps.me

Maps.me is an app rather than ‘gear’ but it is an essential travel item I must mention. Maps.me is a travellers DREAM. You can download maps of an entire region and save pins with your accomodation, attractions, restaurants, views, banks etc. anything you want to remember! Then, not only do you have these with any key details saved to your phone – Maps.me gives your location in real time without needing an internet connection – it even has most hiking trails accurately marked. This was really useful for independent travel in the Galapagos as I could always see where we were and how to get back to our accomodation.

Sarong

I always carry a sarong with me everywhere when I travel. Its great for covering up your legs or shoulders to stay out of the sun, a beach towel to lie on; keeping warm if the wind picks up; drying off if you have an impromptu paddle or swim in some water; and useful for mopping away some sweat. It’s also an emergency skirt if you get mud all over you and its so lightweight and easy to pop into your handbag or a daypack.

Let me know what else you would take and get packing!

Erika xx

Must have Gear for Travel with Kids

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Travel with children is a whole different ball game. Even if you are a seasoned traveller with all the right tools and tricks you need to re-learn everything to travel with children. Packing is one of those areas in which you need a whole new arsenal of weapons just to get through the trip.

We recently went to Vietnam for 3 weeks (our first major trip with 2 children – a 3 year old and a 3 month old. Read all about it in my post here) but we have also done some short and long trips within New Zealand (some road trips some via aeroplane); and we also went to Europe when our eldest was 18 months old so we have had our fair share of failures and successes here.

My absolute top tip is to travel with as little luggage as possible. You aren’t exactly going to be able to stick to a carry-on with small children BUT you tend to be a lot more forgetful and rushed so the less you have with you the better. If not, you will end up losing things along the way. You can always wash clothes (especially children’s clothes) on the road so don’t bring too much of this sort of thing. Toys and books are necessary but you always need much less than you think you do!

So without further ado here are the things you need to take:

Water steriliser

I am all for helping the environment (except when it comes to reducing my plane travel as I live in New Zealand there isn’t really any other option to get anywhere) and I used to always be disgusted at the number of plastic bottles we went through on a trip to countries without safe drinking water. With a water steriliser there is no longer any wastage and we can get clean water anywhere, anytime which is so crucial with kids – you don’t want to be wandering around trying to find a shop because you have run out of water or be worried about your child wasting or spilling what you do have. As a family you go through so much water too and while you sterilise you can teach your kids about why its important! We have the Classic Steripen and have never had any issues with it.

I also suggest taking a reusable water bottle as you will need it to sterilise your water in and drink from. The Nalgene water bottle is a great size and fit seamlessly with the Classic Steripen.

Travel Car Seat

There are travel car seats on the market for older kids that take up much less space if you are moving around a lot and don’t want to lug carseats around. We took the Bubble Bum Booster Seat for our toddler. These are so useful because they are easier to transport so if you need to jump in a taxi you can. However, you can’t find this sort of thing for infants in a capsule so if you have a small baby and you can afford it – take the best travel capsule on the market: the Doona infant car seat. This thing is AMAZING and saves you having to take a travel stroller also. It also means you can just hop in a taxi anytime you like as you won’t have to lug your carseat around afterwards you can just convert it to a stroller for these occasions!

Family Travel wallet

There is normally one adult in a partnership doing all the organising and now that you have kids you have 4 passports and tickets and other documents to carry around. I always use a family travel wallet to keep all of these things accessible and organised along with our itinerary. Amazon has some great options.

Packing Cells

Really for the same reason as above – to keep you organised. Packing Cells can help to seperate out different items so you can locate them easily (ie. all the togs/items for swimming) and stops you from needing to fully re-pack your bag every time you move hotels. Its a great idea to have a different colour per member of the family if you have kids as you are usually sharing bags with them.

Go Pro

I find when I travel with my children I tend to do a lot more activities where a camera would get damaged and a lot more play in water. A Go Pro is a great idea to take to capture all those moments when you would prefer to keep your phone safe and away from the situation.

Sarong

This seems like a strange item to carry unless you are doing a solely beach holiday but I always carry a sarong with me everywhere when I travel. Its great for covering up your legs or shoulders in temples or staying out of the sun, keeping warm if the wind picks up and drying off if you paddle in some water or mopping away some sweat. It’s also an emergency skirt if you get mud all over you and its so lightweight and easy to pop into your handbag or a daypack. If you are travelling with kids it can be used for all these things for your children – also particularly as an emergency towel or blanket as children always need these.

Travel Toys

You are going to need toys if you are travelling with kids but you don’t want to lug your whole toy box around with you. Mostly new toys with a few old favorites is the best mix of things to take. Make sure almost everything is very small and ideally multi-use ie. stackable cups, a favorite soft toy, little toy cars. The absolute BEST toys for travel I have found are the Melissa and Doug magic painting and Melissa and Doug reusable sticker books.

Tablet

My kids don’t really use a tablet at home but while we are travelling you are gonna bet I get that baby out whenever it can calm them down and keep them happy. Plane trips and restaurants are the key locations where a tablet = bliss. Make sure you research some age-appropriate games and download them before you go. For a young child this could be as simple as a game where you pop bubbles as they float across the screen (yes this game exists).

Travel cot

If your kids need a cot to sleep then you can either stay completely in hotels that will provide one or you can take your own. I would try to avoid taking your own if you are heading on holiday via aeroplane as they are still very bulky. If you have a very young baby I swear by the Koo-di Pop-Up Travel Bassinette. It can be used for sleep in a hotel room but is also handy to have for at the airport, beach, park etc. so baby can have a safe space to lie down.

Child appropriate gear for activities

The best thing I took with me to Vietnam was life jackets for my 2 young children. We were doing a LOT of water based activities and some places provide children’s lifejackets but these were ill-fitting and weren’t going to fit my 3 month old baby! Taking along one that fit really well for my toddler meant she actually wanted to wear it and we always had piece of mind that she wouldn’t slip out. Also for babies you can get special jackets that fit snuggly and tighten under the bum so that they are held in place too. We used a baby lifejacket when we took her on a kayak, rowboat and a speedboat and felt so much more comfortable (what a daredevil baby she is!).

Enjoy making memories!

Erika xx