Head(s) Over Heels: Bottoms in Ecuador (Our FIRST Visitors!)

Hats were ready and we were pumped on the way to the islands. We landed and panicked only momentarily until we found Andres with a sign that read 'King of the Sea.' (Confession: I was only 50/50 on whether we'd have a boat waiting for us at all....) In truth, as I told several folks before our departure, I was very worried about our boat. Javier and I did some shopping around travel agencies in Quito and more than one said that they did not sell the King of the Sea because they didn't trust it....yikes! But it was the cheapest boat in the Galapagos which matched the Cabezas/Bottoms budget for an Xmas visit.

So when we boarded the dinghy and headed out for the boat it was with some mixed emotions....

the boys were cool....per usual

and we're enthused

and there she was....

We climbed aboard and received our room assignments. The rooms were really small, but I think that is expected for any boat. It was the bathroom that surprised me a bit...toilet, sink and shower head were all kind of stacked on top of each other in a closet far smaller than any port-a-john I've been in. (And let's be honest...I've seen my share and probably some of your share of port-a-johns)

Javier Bob Barker Beauty style showing off our room

And here is the bathroom which appears deceivingly large in this photo (shower head on the left, toilet in the center and sink hovering over the toilet)

I've claimed top bunk

We decided the Bottoms' room was a bit less roomy....

it could have been that their window was a bit smaller.....or just that it was smaller...

I'm sure you're dying to see the rest of the boat (they can't have hidden all the glory in these delightful suites...)

Here are Javs and Scottee enjoying the top deck (where we might have played a hand or two of cards...)

This is us hanging out at the dining table after our New Year's celebration in port (which is why I look seconds from being asleep) but it gives you a good feel for the social space inside. This is also where we ate 3 square meals a day.

The dining room also included a dry erase board that told us the schedule for each day.

It took us a while to figure out, but the front of the boat had a little sitting area that was good for hanging out while we were moving. (It is supposed to help your sea sickness to keep an eye on the horizon.) It was a little windy, but also made for a really beautiful view.

not a bad sunset right?

here we are hanging at the front of the boat (note the wind blowing Scottee's hair)

also sometimes watching the horizon wasn't enough and some of us still felt a bit sick causing us to lie down

Honestly, if you asked me how the boat was, I would tell you that it was FINE. It was small and certainly not luxurious, but it never broke down (which was my biggest worry). Our biggest issues were: the Cabezas room did not have power for about 24 hours. This certainly wasn't convenient and meant I sported that head torch more than a time or two, but in reality we didn't spend that much time (awake anyway) on the boat. The other was that the Bottoms had some toilet flushing problems. Meaning that sometimes it did and sometimes it didn't. Luckily they knew some other folks on the boat and abused that bathroom when theirs was not functioning. I'll let you decide how bad these issues are....I felt that in the grand scheme of things they were pretty minor. The boat turned off the power every night anyway (which meant that the Bottoms head torch became quite the commodity) so it wasn't just the Cabezas cabin that was sans lights. And we were in the water enough to take care of business there....in addition, the crew was incredibly helpful and nice. Also, the food was delicious and plentiful (something else I was worried about). And Andres (our guide) was incredibly knowledgable and funny. Sooooo if you're looking for a cheap option to see the amazing sights of the Galapagos, I would 100% recommend the King of the Sea.