Update on Ecuador Airline flight prices set to increase effective January 1, 2012

We had informed you earlier that fuel subsidies for local airlines would be eliminated as announced by President Correa. On December 16, 2011 after analyzing this presidential decree #968, Aerogal Airlines informed us that all passengers traveling to Galapagos as of January 1, 2012 with Aerogal will be subject to an airfare fuel surcharge of USD $50.00 per passenger, each way from Quito (UIO) or Guayaquil (GYE) to the Galapagos Islands, the rate will be the same from either city. This fuel surcharge will be applied even to tickets that have already been paid for and/or issued when traveling on January 1 or thereafter (and will also apply to those returning from the Islands Jan 1 who’s cruises initiated Dec 25). For any tickets without the fuel surcharge included, the fee will be collected at the Aerogal counter upon check-in payable in cash or credit card (Master, Visa, Am Ex, Diners).

TAME Airlines will charge a fee of $70 US each way for passengers departing from Quito and $60 from Guayaquil.

Airfares are always subject to change up until the day of departure and therefore, passengers will be responsible to cover any increase in the cost of the ticket.

The Ecuadorian government has decided to stop subsidizing the cost of jet fuel for the airlines in 2012. As a result, airlines will face a 15 to 20 percent increase in the cost of fuel starting January 1st, 2012. Local airlines have not yet said anything regarding how these costs will affect ticket rates but we are expecting to see a resulting increase of 15 to 20 percent which will result in price adjustments from January 1st ,2012.

MACHU PICCHU

Following UNESCO recommendations, authorities have declared that starting 20 July 2011 the maximum daily capacity of visitors to Machu Picchu will be 2500. Due to the MP´s anniversary celebrations and local festivities in Peru, these past days the max. capacity was reached and some travelers were not able to visit the Citadel.

Please note the following :

• We buy the tickets in advance, but we consider that travelers which overnight in Machu Picchu/Aguas Calientes and expect to buy locally the entrance ticket for their 2^nd day visit could experience problems. There will be days were no tickets will be available.

• To avoid this we suggest :
  • Send us the travelers details mentioned below in advance. The earlier the better.
  • Request the entrance tickets for the 2nd day visit as part of the program

• Regarding the entrance tickets it´s important to know:
  • To be able to buy the tickets we need :  Full Name  +  Nationality  +  Age  +  Gender (Male/Female)
  • The reservations stay valid for 6 hours. If not bought the system releases them automatically.
  • Once issued/bought, the tickets can be modified (date and names) but paying a penalty of up to 30%

The Peruvian Ministry of Culture instated and already enforced a new law, that Huayna Picchu can only be climbed on a certain schedule by guests who purchased a permit beforehand. As before, the first time slot is from 7:00 to 8:00 AM and the second one is from 10:00 to 11:00 AM. Both groups are limited to 200 people, meaning a total of 400 people are allowed to climb Huayna Picchu per day. The permit can be purchased AHEAD of time at the additional cost of US $10 per person. Since the space is very limited, we recommend requesting this approximately 30 days prior to departure. For those guests, whose departure is already close, we can still try to obtain permits but cannot guarantee availability.

The arrival of the waves in Galapagos (estimated at nearly 6 feet in Santa Cruz) coincided with high tide and caused significant damage to several coastlines and infrastructure in low lying areas. Fortunately, a tsunami alert was issued early Friday morning and most residents relocated to the highlands. There was no loss of human life, and the damage in Galapagos cannot be compared to the devastation and loss suffered in Japan, for whom we grieve.

The Charles Darwin Research Station did suffer serious damage; the Marine Science labs flooded with several feet of water. Despite emergency preparation, waves completely destroyed a concrete pump house and broke massive wooden doors, flooding laboratories, workshops, and storage facilities, scattering furniture and equipment as far as 650 feet away.

Staff and volunteers are hard at work, cleaning up, assessing damage, and planning for repairs. Galapagos Conservancy is hoping to aid the CDRS with an additional $40,000 in funding from supporters to help rebuild the labs and replace equipment so they can get up and running again as quickly as possible.

On Santa Cruz, the decision to temporarily relocate tortoises — including Lonesome George — from the Park’s Tortoise Captive Breeding Center to the highlands proved sound, as the Center and Park docks were also damaged by the waves.

Park rangers are still evaluating damage at the visitor sites and in the protected areas of the islands, including beaches where sea turtles and iguanas nest. Initial reports indicate that the southeast coastline of the island of San Cristóbal was among the areas most affected in the islands. Rangers are assessing the condition of tourist sites where the waves may have caused damage to infrastructure at visitor landing sites.

In the town of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island, the Red Mangrove Inn, the Finch Bay Hotel, Banco del Pacífico, and the police station suffered substantial damage.