I talked to Holbrook this morning and was told there are a few people on your flight. There are three of us on the 3:55 p.m. Lan Ecuador flight.

ok, sounds like we will be arriving close to the same time then

I am on the American Airline 3:25 pm flight out of Miami. Holbrook tells me there are 5 of us on that flight

Just went on the 4/3 tour and carried my 100-400 mm zoom lens all the way to Ecuador and back. Never used it. For one, its not so easy getting on and off the dinghys with all that weight on. You may be stronger. On the islands you follow a guide walking and stopping at different spots. Difficult to be changing lens on sandy and volcanic terrain. I was constantly jumping between up close and scenic shots. I used my Canon 60D with an 18-135mm lens the whole time. The sun is so bright that I never used a flash except for fill flash built in on my camera. No time to set up tripods, just shoot and move on. Maybe a monopod would be useful. Longer lens could be used for shooting birds in flight or sea lions near the boat.

I am bringing my micro four thirds system and likely a monopod. I have 2 Olympus E-M5 bodies and plan to put a 24-70 (equivalent) lens on one and a 70-200 lens on the other.

I'll have my 24-105mm as my main lens, still debating whether to bring the 100-400 or the 70-300. Will likely bring my 10-22mm as well.

Also bringing G10 with underwater housing

If you go to the photos, click on "more" and scroll down to the next to the last photo on the left, which is Prince Phillip's steps (I think) you will see the most difficult climb that we encountered. It's a narrow rocky trail but not next to a steep cliff exactly. You always have the option of staying on the boat and just relaxing. There are certainly not a lot of steep trails - lots of walking on sand, lots of walking on lava rock, and lots of riding in the dinghies. Hiking up heights was a very small part of this trip. We were on the Tip Top II in January 2013. Feel free to ask if you have other questions.

Just got back! Some rough terrain, I.e. walking on lava.....lumpy and bumpy; definitely need a walking stick. . . We had no narrow paths by cliffs . There are some lookout areas, but you don't have to look!

I'd like to comment on both your questions - we were there in January 2013. We found towels provided by the boat to be sufficient. There were towels available to dry your feet - however, I found that on most of the wet landings I could do the walk in my water shoes (closed toe, inexpensive water shoes from Walmart.) They did want closed toe shoes for the hikes. On dry landings, I wore an old pair of walking shoes. We did not take or need additional towels. As to cash - I believe our wetsuits were $40 or $45 - you should be able to find out before you go. Wine went for $25 a bottle and we got 6 glasses per bottle. Don't know what beer went for but I assume it wasn't cheap. I believe we settled up with $130 - which was $50 for wine and $80 for wetsuits (2 of us). Didn't have any other cash needs, although we took plenty. Although Tina's blog, mentioned below, talks about tips, there was no tipping suggested or done on our boat, so far as I know.

Will they store wine for you in a fridge if you don't drink it all in 1 night?

Hi, Mary. Yes, they store your wine corked in the fridge. They put your cabin number on your bottle to identify it as yours.

thanks!

The following is from Tina's blog - suggestions based on her trip to the Galapagos: If want a towel to dry off after snorkeling if snorkeling is followed by a walk or such: I suggest that you take a lightweight pack towel, which you can buy at any outdoor/camping store (for example,http://www.rei.com/search?query=pack+towel ). A terrycloth towel would be rather bulky in a day pack, but packtowels are super-absorbent and extremely thin. They wring out really easily and can also be used to dry off your feet after a wet landing, if you want to put on walking shoes. Very handy!

Just returned from the March trip We took pack towels and didn't use them as Tip Top III crew provided beach towels, and towels for dying off on the boat after getting the sand washed off. Towels were provided when useful.