Galápagos Expedition Cruise with HX

Let Erin and Phil book this same experience for you, personally! We started ABC Trips to offer our bespoke itineraries to those seeking authentic culture, epic landscapes, and uncompromising luxury. 👉🏼 https://abctrips.com There's a place where the wildlife never got the memo about how they're supposed to fear us. Sea lions nap on park benches. Marine iguanas let you step right over them. A hundred-year-old tortoise the size of a coffee table just… ignores you. That place is the Galápagos — and this time, one of our favorite cruise brands handed us the keys. Quick backstory: HX Expeditions invited us on their 9-day, all-inclusive Galápagos adventure, and yeah, we said yes before they finished the sentence. It kicks off in Quito, Ecuador — the highest capital city on the planet — and where you can stand with one foot in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern. Then HX flies you out to the islands, escorts you directly to the port, and loads you onto your very first Zodiac out to the ship. And the ship is the star of the first video in this series: the MS Santa Cruz 2. HX runs her with no more than 90 guests and usually far less than that. Seventy-two meters, built in 2001, refreshed in 2021. Real talk: this is not a mega-ship with a climbing wall and a Broadway show. The "spa" is just two hot tubs and a gym you'll barely touch — because your actual workout is the landings. That's not a knock. That's the whole point. Expedition ship, by design. Erin’s and my home for the week was one of the Darwin Suites — a living room with a couch that converts for a third sleeper, and a shower big enough to do jumping jacks in, which if you've cruised, you know is basically a unicorn. These suites can connect to adjoining Explorer cabins, which is a great thing for families — and how Colt scored the room next to ours. Erin’s mom joined the trip, too, but this was our first family trip without Brooklyn, who just started in-person high school back home. Growing up: rude. Here's the next part I loved — your souvenirs are included. Every guest gets a very fancy reusable water bottle (because zero single-use plastic on board), you get a little day-backpack, a Big 15 checklist, and a gorgeous coffee-table book. Big 15, by the way, that’s the Galápagos version of Africa's Big 5 — the animals you spend all week hunting. With a camera. Relax. No true days at sea on this itinerary, so every single day is packed. HX runs three different Galápagos routes, and the right one depends on which of the Big 15 you're chasing — which is literally what we're here for. Get a quote using our private discounts and primo perks at abctrips.com. In my next video: it's pupping season, the beaches are wall-to-wall baby sea lions… and we watch a shark go hunting three feet away. Follow so you don't miss it.