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WHAT TO PACK FOR ECUADOR & GALAPAGOS [2023]

What to pack for Ecuador and Galapagos?

Ecuador and Galapagos Pack List

1. Passport: Check validity, being a minimum of 6 months prior to expiration. They are obligatory for park entries and hotels, but only take copies, while leaving your passport in a safety box in your hotel. Check visa requirements;

2. Check vaccination requirements. While bringing your Covid vaccination card is not a requirement, it is a good idea to bring it anyway;

3. Neck or waist pouch for your documents and money. First of all it should not be pretty as to not draw attention from pickpockets. The uglier the better, but it should be solid. Make sure to have one with a really strong carrying wide nylon strep. Always carry a neck pouch half in front of you where you can see it;

4. Personal toiletries;

5. Sun cream factor 50;

6. Insect repellent with DEED (non-spray may be more environmentally friendly);

7. First aid kit. Never leave home without it. Buy a good one for the tropics; If you have one, check it before your trip. Replace old stuff;

8. Personal medicines;

9. Sun glasses;

10. Bathing suit;

11. Why wearing white cloths is best? Mosquitos ( and Tse Tse Flies in Africa ) avoid white cloths while being attracted to dark garments. Moreover, white reflects heat best. So, camouflage clothing is NOT the best!

12. Light fast drying camping trousers (not jeans) with zip-off sleeves; I never found them in white though.

13. Light windbreaker (jacket) as it can be surprisingly cold at night in the tropics or on the water when it is cloudy and during rain showers;

14. Impermeable nylon rain poncho or rains suit. The Cuyabeno Lodge has ponchos, but often you may prefer the jacket of a rain suit.

15. Shorts. But be very careful. When you are on the water or the beach you may easily get a very bad sun burn when first expose yourself to the sun. Start out with one hour per day and increase your wearing shorts by an hour per day;

16. Wide brimmed hat that cover the ears as they are extremely susceptible to getting sun-burned. So, baseball caps are not suitable unless your hair always covers you ears;

17. Women: whichever skirts or dresses you pack; not too many if you want to pack light. Fast drying thin materials are best. (In many countries long dresses are required either in public or in religious buildings. Not so in Latin America). Be aware that the sun may penetrate through thin materials and still cause sun burn, so make sure your cloths block the sun.

18. Why wearing white or at least light cloths is best? Mosquitos ( and Tse Tse Flies in Africa) avoid white cloths while being attracted to dark garments. Moreover, white reflects heat best. So, camouflage clothing is NOT the best!

19. A few long-sleeved outdoors shirts, preferably one per day (similar blouses for women are available). Dress shirts for men as worn under a jacket are also suitable, as they are much thinner than T-shirts and when wet, they dry much quicker. So in spite of seeming to be overdressed, you will feel much better in an outdoors or dress shirt. Alternatively, long-sleeved T shirts. Long sleeves are essential against sun burns; White or at least light colored shirts are the best against mosquitoes and for reflecting heat.

20. A light sweater for in the mountains and rainy days;

21. A warmer sweater if you plan to spend more time in the mountains;

22. Solid gym shoes or ankle boots with good profiles for the mountains as it may be slippery and on land in Galapagos where the volcanic rock is very rough. Water shoes that may get wet for Cuyabeno or light gym shoes and sandals for the beach. There are rubber boots in Cuyabeno up to size 12. Please don't start out exposing your bare feet to the sun as they can get terrible sun burns.

23. At least 1 pair of clean socks for each day for a week. It is very easy to get fungi or athlete's foot in the humid tropics, so change socks at least once a day;

24. Underwear: In general, when on a tropical trip, you may need to wash your own underwear some time. So take along small briefs of little volume as they dry fastest. Boxers take a lot of volume each.

25. LED flashlight and batteries. They are very low energy and their batteries last many times longer;

26. Sufficient cash for any emergencies and some money in small denominations (20 dollar bills) for expenditures along the way. Not too much as you can get money from the Banco International teller machines;

27. Medium sized suitcase or backpack (space in the vans and canoes may be limited);

28. You wear glasses or contact lenses??? ALWAYS travel with an extra pair of glasses or lenses, just in case you lose one. Can you imagine yourself spending the rest of your trip not being able to see well??? Disastrous! Also bring 2 separate small bottles of lens liquid;

29. Camera with extra charger and extra batteries. Often people make videos, which empties their batteries more quickly than they can charge. An extra charger and one or two extra batteries will keep you a happy shooter.

30. A large memory capacity for your camera, so that you can store plenty of pictures and videos, before putting them on a laptop.

31. Power surge protector. Particularly in developing countries but also in North America, power fluctuations and lightning can ruin your equipment. It is wise to bring along a compact power search protector. They are also a great way of keeping your small items together. Too often, have I left small battery chargers for a phone or a camera in the hotel's power outlet. If you keep everything together, chances are much better you take them along when checking out. PLEASE NOTE: most search protectors are only 110 Volts and they will blow the hotel's fuse, burn themselves or burn your equipment in 220 Volts, which is in most places in the world, except North and a number of countries in Latin America. Always check the country's voltage before plugging in your chargers or your equipment;

32. Camera with extra charger and extra batteries. Often people make videos, which empties their batteries more quickly than they can charge. An extra charger and one or two extra batteries will keep you a happy shooter.

33. A large memory capacity for your camera, so that you can store plenty of pictures and videos, before putting them on a laptop.

This page shows a printable packing composed by our team members who have traveled to more than 80 countries in the world on business travel,  expeditions or for regular pleasure. An even more extensive list can be downloaded here: packing checklists for different internatioal travel.

Optional additional items for your International Travel Checklist:

1. Zip lock bags to keep small items dry. Particularly important if you bring a camera. As soon as it starts raining, you do wise to immediately put your camera in a zip lock bag and put it under your raincoat or rain poncho. If you wait, the atmosphere gets wet. As your body always evaporates, it starts condensing under the poncho that starts cooling in the rain and the atmosphere under your rain clothes becomes extremely humid. When putting your camera away under such circumstances, moisture is very likely to condense on your lenses, even though they are in a closed zip lock bag. Make sure that as soon as you reach a building, you take out the camera out of the bag to let it dry.

2. Binoculars (Indispensable in the rainforest - it's worth spending a bit of extra money to get a good water proof pair: 8 x 32 or 40 are excellent for poor light conditions under the forest canopy). However, if you forgot to bring your binoculars, we rent them out at $15 for the duration of your visit;

3. A GPS. Nowadays GPS are very affordable and it is fun to look for the equator! You don't need one to find your way, because you will always have one of our guides with you;

4. A water proof digital camera is ideal for the wet tropics! But of course a regular camera will do, as long as you put it in a ziplock bag as soon as it starts raining. Don't forget to take it back out as soon as you are back at the lodge or in the bus as it may fog up and your lens may become damaged;

5. Extra pair of loose-fitting, fast drying pants (no jeans, they never seem to dry up after a rain shower);

6. Birds of Ecuador by Ridgely;

7. Neotropical Rainforest Mammals by Emmens and Feer is complete and small enough to bring along.

8. Download our printable Bird List of Ecuador: https://www.birdlist.org/ecuador.htm

This international packing list is not exhaustive and travelers be advised to consult other sources as well.

Travel with children

1. The usual outdoors clothes;

2. Books, toys, games;

3. Bring phones - tablets for each child. Children get bored in the car, in planes, at airports, at bus stations, no matter how much you try to make look outof the windows to the scenery. When you travel with more children and you want peace, bring a smart phone or tablet of the same model for each, or they will be bickering all the time;

4. Wipes;

5. Car sick pills or patches;

6. Bags for car sickness;

7. Bags for laundry;

8. Extra strong sun cream;

9. Water bottles;

10. Plenty of snacks / candy;

11. Toilet paper;

12. Potty;

13. Child bandages in first aid kit;

14. Depending on age, nappies;

15. Small travel blanket and or cuddle toy or blanket;

16. Pacifier;

17. Car seat.

Packing your suitcase efficiently

Most space in your suitcase is taken up by your clothes. So the challenge is to compact your clothes as much as possible. The best way is to roll them up. This will compact their volume up to 50%, while it actually reduces crinkling.

This page shows an Iavnternational Trel checklist for the tropics composed by our team members who have traveled to more than 80 countries in the world on business travel,  expeditions or for regular pleasure. An even more extensive list can be downloaded here: printable packing lists for different trips.

WHAT TO PACK FOR ECUADOR & GALAPAGOS