I went March 2013. This place is amazing.
We booked through Southern Explorations. After going we figured we could have saves some money by booking ourselves. That said, it was so nice to have everything planned for us. No hic-ups at all. We did Peru, Napo River and finished with the Galapagos.
Southern Exploration basically booked up with
http://www.gadventures.com/cruising/...FQcSMwodyX0AUg
End of winter/start of spring is a good time to go. Most sunny days but also most rain so everything is green. The ocean is relatively calm. Apparently Darwin went in Oct. and he didn't like it. Seas were rough and the islands were grey.
Quito, Ecuardor - people there say most crime is non violent. A fellow cruiser had her purse/passport snatched, my wife had her iPad stolen at the airport and we met a dutchman who got mugged and was living on the streets trying to get enough money to buy a bus ticket to a city with a dutch embassy (we gave him cab fare and directed to the Canadian embassy). 1/3 crimes were violent so I guess most crime is non violent. This city is scary. Do not go out at night. Only use register taxis. So many fake cabs. The new airport is a disaster in terms of logistics. Try to plan you flight around non rush hour times.
http://gosouthamerica.about.com/od/e...to-Airport.htm
Best part of the vacation was snorkling. So much wildlife. We were able to swim with sea lions, penguins and dolphins. The dolphins were a fluke so don't get your hopes up. I was the only one who made physical contact. Our boat had 20 people and were were split into two groups for snorkle and land excursions. During a snorkle our guide saw dolphins and asked us if we wanted to try to catch them. Our group said yes, they other guide didn't ask his group. We cruised (in a panga aka zodiak) out to open ocean and we watching them. The guide asked if we wanted to jump in and we said sure. It was amazing to see them swim around us and hear the clicks and whistles. After a while we went back to the Letty (our cruise ship) got changed and headed back onto the pangas, this time with both groups. The pod of dolphins was huge at this point. So many baby dolphins. A guest over heard the driver of the panga (a native galaponian) ask the guide in spanish if this was normal. That made the trip.
I'll try to post a video or pic in the next week or two.
Thread bump cause I just found it and got excited all over again.