Renowned for its unique and fearless wildlife, the Galapagos are popular amongst natural historians, both professional and amateur. Giant tortoises, sea lions, penguins, marine iguanas and different bird species can all be seen and approached. The landscape of the islands is relatively barren and volcanic, but beautiful nonetheless.

The islands average about 60,000 visitors per year and there are strict controls on tourist access which are maintained in an effort to protect the natural habitats. To this end, all visitors must be accompanied by a national park-certified naturalist tour guide.

For divers, one of the best ways to get in the most diving while visiting the Galapagos, is to do it from a live-aboard dive boat. The problem is that many focus so completely on the diving that no time at all is set aside for viewing the incredible wildlife on land.

One company that provides for both is the Aggressor Fleet. The Galapagos Aggressors I & II have been operating as the premier live-aboard dive yachts in the Galapagos Islands since 1993. These yachts were custom designed, built and equipped to offer a safe and luxury dive operation.

Aggressor was the first live-aboard dive company to offer a permanent itinerary that offers a dive program combined with land visits. They were granted a specific permit for this combined program by the Park authorities in 1994.

Their week-long trips run from Thursday to Thursday, with diving beginning on Friday and ending Wednesday morning. On-board there are multi-lingual guides with in-depth knowledge of these volcanic islands. Three islands will be explored through land tours during the week, plus snorkeling and bird watching excursions are conducted between dives. The trips include thrilling shark dives at remote Wolf and Darwin Islands.

Another company to consider is Peter Hughes Diving’s Dancer Fleet.

The M/V Sky Dancer also offers week-long trips that cruise the Galapagos Islands in search of sea lions, penguins, schooling hammerhead sharks, turtles, stingrays, whale sharks and the magnificent mantas. Included in planned itineraries are visits to the very remote islands of Wolf and Darwin.

The luxuriously constructed Sky Dancer yacht features all the Dancer Fleet amenities including Nitrox fills, private en-suite facilities, spacious lounge areas, fine dining and more.

Sky Dancer is owned by Ecoventura, an Ecuadorian corporation, that was one of the first recipients of the SmartVoyager seal of approval for their entire operation in Galapagos.

Potential visitors should note that the majority of live-aboard diving boats’ licenses have been revoked by the Galapagos National Park director. Currently the yachts mentioned here are the only boats approved for live aboard diving cruises.

This allows one the freedom to be spontaneous and wander where you want, for as long as you want. Also gets you away from large groups of people and having to adhere to a time table, and choices for dining and accommodations made by someone else.

On the other hand, not knowing ones way around can lead to wasted time and money. You may be around the corner from some place you’d love to visit, but miss it completely because you were totally unaware of it.

With a group tour, assuming it’s a reputable company, one should expect to receive value in many forms, from expert guides and efficient travel planning, to great deals on rates.

Often in the past group tours got the reputation of being cattle car trips. But today, the best ones allow much flexibility to do some things on your own, while benefiting from the economies of the group. You can do as much of the work as you want as in the case of walking tours, or be totally pampered in coaches.

Getting of the beaten path is always the best way to see what’s real anyplace, but at the same time, it would be unfortunate to miss the landmarks and special sights the some locations are famous for. Plus it’s nice to hear some background info as you go from knowledgeable guides, as it can make the visit much more interesting and meaningful.

One more interesting factor in deciding which way to go seems to be that the older I get, the more I’m inclined to let others do more of the work. And while it was fun to knock around as a young adult seeing much of the world on foot, and in Spartan accommodations, I find I’m much more into something upscale.

It’s actually not such a bad thing to have a pro take care of all the details, where all I have to do is show up.

You know, I remember when flying was fun, and it still can be, if one can ditch the whole airline hassle. I’m talking about private jet charters. Now you may be thinking like I was, “yeah right – like I can afford that”. But things are different these days and the cost might just surprise you.

It was actually while waiting in airports that got me thinking of better alternatives, and remembered the most fun I ever had flying was in small planes. What I also recalled was no lines – just arrive at the airport, walk out, get on and leave. Such an enviable thought, especially when you’re waiting through yet another interminable delay.

That got me to start looking into jet charters even though I thought it would probably be expensive and beyond my reach. But I was pleasantly surprised. First, the advantages – and they are numerous.

No need to arrive two hours before your flight knowing it will still depart late – in fact only in rare instances will you even have a late flight. No long lines at ticket counters, metal detectors, waiting to board or when getting off the plane. No waiting on bags or wondering where your luggage got off to, plus no trying to squeeze everything into a carry-on just to avoid checking it.  

No crowds, talkative neighbors, screaming kids, or being packed in like a sardine. You aren’t squashed against a neighbor, being bumped by the beverage cart, or losing feeling in your legs from them being crammed into to the seat ahead. Plus you won’t have the person in front of you recline into your lap.

Consider instead having total control. You set the schedule and destination, basically flying when convenient for you – not the airline. And you needn’t fly into a hub or deal with connections. A private jet charter can go anywhere there’s an airport you will also likely avoid the need to rent a car and wait in more lines.

You arrive just before takeoff, walk on with your luggage, sit down and relax. Shortly after, the door is closed and you’re on your way. In flight you have room to stretch out or spread out. Whether you want to work or rest, you’ll get to your destination having been more productive and less fatigued. Once there, walk off and leave – that’s it.

There is absolutely no comparison. If you’ve never experienced this type of travel, you will be amazed at the difference. Private jet charters are rapidly increasing in popularity as they decrease in cost. For all the reasons mentioned above, more and more folks are abandoning commercial airlines whenever they can. Next we’ll look at the costs of chartering a jet.

There is little else that can set me off as much as taking the time to fight traffic to arrive an hour and a half early for a flight, just to have it delayed. I end up spending more time waiting around the airport than actually flying. What’s really pathetic is the delays are getting worse, to the point that at some hubs, like those in the northeast, they’re the norm.

Needless to say I’ve got plenty of time sitting around airports, to mull over possible solutions to this very large problem.  Once upon a time, I really did enjoy flying, but these days the experience isn’t the same, and the large airports which I tend to frequent are the worst.

On occasion I end up going through a regional airport and it’s like night and day. By and large, you don’t have to arrive hours before your flight, the lines are shorter, and the hassles fewer. Delays don’t happen as often, and when they do the fault is rarely local, but lies instead with some major hub.

So what’s happened to our system of air travel? More travelers, more planes, more flights, all competing for the same airspace, while being managed by antiquated air traffic control technology, are the basic problem.

There is endless debate and finger pointing about resolving it, yet not much happens. It seems to me that modernizing the air traffic control system is a no brainer, and will certainly allow stacking planes closer together, but even doing that will only be a partial solution.   

What would make a lot of sense is to make far more use of regional and local airports. Instead of forcing people to connect through hubs, just create more direct flights between regional facilities. There are some small, fuel-efficient jets available these days that would do the trick.

Of course the rental car companies will be lobbying against that as flying into where you actually want to go will negate having to rent a car as often.

Other solutions include going private. Using charter services that fly smaller aircraft were once far out of reach for most folks, but they are becoming a more competitive alternative.