CNH Tours

02/05/2024

𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗜𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝟴 𝗵𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

Two months after the start of the eruptive activity of the La Cumbre volcano, in Fernandina (since early March), volcanologists from the Geophysical Institute of the National Polytechnic School preliminarily calculate that about 1,600 hectares of fresh lava have been deposited on the island and that this has increased it, at least eight hectares of surface, in the southeastern part, where the lava is flowing towards the sea. The eruption continues....

20/04/2024

Still flowing - "La Cumbre" volcano, which makes up Fernandina island on the western side of the archipelago, has been spewing lava since early March. This is a particularly long-lasting lava flow for Galapagos (where they usually last for a few days to a couple of weeks). Accessible only by expedition cruise ship, you have to be sure you are on an itinerary that takes you to the western side of Isabela island.

18/04/2024

𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆!
Someone is going to be spending a bit of time recording all these payments this afternoon.... It's good news for CNH Tours, and great news for all those people soon to be heading off to Galapagos, Provence, Okavango, Antarctica.... and before long, we hope to be seeing some of you heading off to Pantanal or Madagascar or even Easter Island... (more news later...... ).

16/04/2024

Brasil's expansive Pantanal... thinking about going?
CNH Tours is hosting a zoom presentation on the Pantanal (6 June, 7PM ET). The largest wetland on Earth - filled with jaguars, hyacinth macas, giant armadillos and river otters and so much more.

Register here if you'd like to know more. The talk is given by Douglas Simoes - a Brazilian with close ties to the region.

https://www.meetup.com/bucketlistnaturetravel/events/300448860/?utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=share-btn_savedevents_share_modal&utm_source=link

14/04/2024

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴?

In the natural world, the concept of distinct species often seems straightforward. A lion is not a house cat – that’s pretty clear.  However, upon...

12/04/2024

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗔𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗱𝗼
We recently spent a good 1.5 hours in this very tasteful Quito museum of pre-Columbian cultures. Very impressed. The space is very zen, eliminating anything that might distract you from communing with the past. Perhaps our only criticism was that it is a bit "too zen", in that there is minimal interpreration. If you have some free time in Quito, and if you are genuinely interested in the theme, we highly recommend a visit.

Welcome Casa del Alabado Pre-Columbian Art Museum Taste and Knowledge: a journey inside the worldof pre-Columbian food TEMPORARY EXHIBITION Latest Mediated visits and autonomous visits The Museum is open from Wednesday to Sunday, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Book ahead or buy your ticket at the museum c...

03/04/2024

𝗔 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 - should that be of interest. Sometimes you might have several hours between a return from Galapagos and an onward flight home. We've often recommended booking a "day room" at a local hotel to while them away - this will be an alternative. Likely accessible by paying a fee if you're not flying business class. TBC.

02/04/2024

𝗟𝗮𝘃𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 - 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝟯 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
A fissure opened on up on the uninhabited island of Fernandina on the 8th of March (just one week after CNH Tours was sailing by - bad luck!). Such lava flows in Galapagos usually don't last very long, from a few days to a week or two. This one is going on to nearly 4 weeks now... It it continues for a bit longer, the lava will reach the sea, at which point things get even more exciting.

30/03/2024

𝗖𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼: 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗼𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘀
Jim and Joyce from Alaska, and Jill from California - they interrupted our talk on Provence and Antarctica earlier this week, telling us how wonderful their Galapagos trip was. Click below to see the 90 second video.

We were giving a zoom presentation on our upcoming trip to the the south of France when some of the participants on the talk started sharing their thoughts o...

29/03/2024

Fabulous picture by Jorge Carrion - former park director. Land iguana on the rim of... which volcano? Fernandina, or maybe Wolf?

28/03/2024

Provence, CNH Antarctic Circle Expedition, Galapagos and more... We're adding some fascinating new places on our list of destinations.

28/03/2024

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀?
That’s a question that comes to mind a lot when visiting Galapagos. Darwin certainly was prompted to ask it. It may take many thousands of years for new species to emerge from common ancestors. But, in that long and slow process, when exactly is the “new species” line crossed?

At the end of the day, there is no clear answer. There are many species of plants and animals today that are considered as a single species, but that are in fact in the process of diverging from a common ancestor. It’s up to taxonomists to argue, one way or another, if the “new species” line has been crossed.
Here is a good article that illustrates this conundrum. It focuses on killer whales of the Pacific Northwest. Are they the same species? Or not? What do you think?

Long viewed as one worldwide species, killer whale diversity now merits more.

23/03/2024

𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗼𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲
It's huge. And if we really care about protecting it from illegal fishing, from large foreign fleets, or to ensure tourism ships are respecting the rules, or to keep out invasive alien species... the park needs to have the resources to do so.

23/03/2024

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: 𝗜𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱
(the marine reserve covers a surface area close to the size of Greece - huge and expensive to monitor)

(translated by Google): The Directorate of the Galapagos National Park (DPNG), in coordination with the Ecuadorian Navy, detected and apprehended a fishing vessel that entered the Galapagos Marine Reserve without authorization, in the southeast of the archipelago.
Immediately, the Makaira speedboat was mobilized to intercept the vessel and transfer it to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno for the pertinent procedures.

16/03/2024

𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁... (warning: We don't hand out any prizes...)

We must have missed this one - but someone brought it to our attention recently. A very good trip report from a former guest (last year). He did an 11 day trip on the Samba, the ship we charter for our "Active Galapagos" trips (for the past 18 years now...). You don't have to be an olympian to join our active trips - you just have to be able to walk a mile or two (1.6 - 3.2km) at a slow place (could take 1.5 hours!), and be keen on getting in the water for a snorkel with sea lions and turtles. By calling it Active, we tend to attract folks who are generally keen and eager - making for a great group of people on the ship.

Answer 11 of 12: Hey all - we just returned from a 11-day Galapagos cruise and I wanted to share some feedback. As others have noted, TA does not have a spot to leave reviews for multi-day cruises, but it looks like folks are posting trip report/review combos in the...

15/03/2024

𝗥𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗙𝗹𝘂
One of the CNH Tours founders, Marc Patry, worked at UNESCO's World Heritage Centre in Paris for 11 years. During that time, he was involved in the setting up and implementation of the Rapid Response Facility - providing small amounts of rapid $$ to help deal with urgent threats. He encouraged the Darwin Station to apply for that grant recently, and we're happy to see that they were $40,000 to help it better understand and develop responses to the current bird flu epidemic affecting Galapagos. Bird flu spread around the world in the past 1-2 years affecting mostly shore / sea birds.

Following the first case of Avian Influenza in the Galápagos, the Rapid Response Facility (RRF), a UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Fauna and Flora joint initiative has provided US$ 40,000 to support active ...

14/03/2024

𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀... 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁... 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗲!
We enjoyed this show at the stern of our ship (Evolution) as we anchored off Española island about 10 days ago. Quite a display!

13/03/2024

Minister of Tourism calls on CNH Tours to help reassure visitors

Last January 8 th , a drug lord escaped from a prison in Ecuador.  His escape was soon followed by an armed gang bursting into a television studio...

13/03/2024

𝗡𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂!
A (non-venomous) boa constrictor was intercepted in the cargo destined for Galapagos this week at th Guayaquil port. The ABG (Biosecurity Agency for Galapagos) is set up precisely for this kind of thing. The ABG is funded in part by your park entrance fee. Well done ABG!

12/03/2024

Park announces temporary closure of land-based visits at Espinoza Point (Fernandina Island) and Urbina Bay (Isabela Island) while staff monitors / checks for presence of avian flu. Not clear how long the closure will be.

12/03/2024

Happy to have helped the Ministry of Tourism make this little video.

10/03/2024

𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗼?
Swing strung up from the clouds! Amazing!

09/03/2024

Get your passport stamped in Galapagos - one of a kind.

08/03/2024

𝗪h𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁, 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝗮 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻...
(... we tend to think that you like it...)

CNH Tours is a member of the International Galapagos Tour Operators Association (we're even on the board of directors). We contribute a modest sum ($25) for each guest that travels to Galapagos with us. Adding it all up, along with the contributions from other member companies, it starts to make a difference. IGTOA supports a variety of projects, including sea turtle conservation and environmental education among Galapagos youth.

CNH Tours had the pleasure of chancing upon the ECOS Foundation sea turtle conservation project and our old friend, Ana Maria Loose, at Bachas Beach,...

07/03/2024

𝗜𝗻 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗝𝘂𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗰𝗲𝗱𝗼
Slowly making our way back home after over 3 weeks in Ecuador - we had dinner with the owner of the Samba yacht, Juan Salcedo (right). At 42, Juan has been on the boats for well over 20 years - focusing his attention on the kinds of details that makes the difference between a good Galapagos expedition and a great one. We've been working with him and his family since 2007, ensuring that our Active Galapagos trip is as best as it can be.

06/03/2024

𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗮 𝗔𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴
Daniela (left) is the CNH Tours "woman on the ground" in Galapagos. Her grandparents moved here a long time ago and she was raised among the iguanas and sea lions. Daniela is our logistics person AND a cruise advisor for us. Not only does she help our guests enjoy any post-cruise time they spend in Galapagos, she also helps prospective guests find a ship / itinerary best suited to their travel style. She's also a certified Galapagos Naturalist Guide (she's wearing her uniform here below - as she had to rush off after our meeting to join a group she was guiding today). We're lucky to have her on the team. (Marc and Heather also in the pic - taken at our lovely hotel in Galapagos - the Ikala).