Ever since I’ve gone back to school, I’ve been craving the wild. Where the stars and moon bomb the sky with their presence and the ocean rings a steady soft blue that holds such diverse life, it makes you dream of being able to hold your breath a little longer. Where there’s a lush green rooftop filled with troops of monkeys gliding through the trees and hundreds of colorful species of birds. Where time is told by the golden light and changing calls as the sun and moon alter. There was no better place to go in search of diversity, color, and beauty than Ecuador. This place holds so much to admire and weep over, between the rich, prolific rainforest to the historic, radiant islands that build up the Galapagos.

The Amazon has always been on my mind. The Galapagos was a place I knew I would visit one day, just not so soon.

While being a broke college student (and the weirdo I am), I decided to keep track of everything I spent from transportation, food, flights, tours, hotels, and a miscellaneous category. And while it may sound crazy, I may have had a blast doing it 🙂

My trip went a little something like this:

January 6th – I arrived in Quito at midnight. I ended up staying in a hotel super close to the airport because I was heading straight for Galapagos the next afternoon.

January 7th – I flew to Isla Baltra, Galapagos, and hung out in Puerto Ayora for the rest of the day.

January 8th – Spent a couple of hours at Charles Darwin Station and then hopped on a ferry in the afternoon to Isabela island!

January 9th – I spent the day snorkeling at Los Tuneles. I saw a shark, blue-footed boobies, lots of sea turtles, a sea horse, manta rays and more!

January 10th – I left Isabela in the morning and stayed at Puerto Ayora again. I decided to visit El Chato Tortoise Reserve and Tortuga Bay aka swim with IGUANAS!

January 11th – Flew back to Quito where I was staying for the night and had a few beers in Plaza Foch.

January 12th – I enjoyed the day shopping and walking around Quito and then hopped on an overnight bus to Lago Agrio to begin the journey to the Amazon.

January 13th – I arrived in Lago Agrio in the early morning then hopped on another bus to the Cuyabeno river and began my canoe journey deep into the Amazon.

January 14th – Spent the day trekking through Amazon.

January 15th – Siona family village visit where I got to listen to a shaman tell his story and learn how to make cassava bread!

January 16th – Left the Amazon to head back to Lago Agrio in the afternoon and the long journey back to Quito.

January 17th – Fly back to Colorado with a gnarly sunburn!

My trip cost a little something like this:

Transportation:

Ferries around Galapagos – $70

Taxis – $44 in total to get around airports, from town to ports, etc

Buses – $15

Total: $129

Food: 

Food excluding my stay in the Amazon. *Will not be sharing my day by day due to the embarrassing amount I spent on Doritos

Total: $148

Tours:

Amazon Caiman Lodge – $300 (4 days/3 nights inc. food, transportation, lodging, and all activities)

Los Tuneles day trip – $150 (snorkeling inc. lunch)

Charles Darwin Research Station: $20 (awesome guided walk!)

El Chato Tortoise Reserve entry fee: $5

Total: $475

Hotels:

Hotel 1st night (6th-7th) – $22

Hotel 2nd night (7th-8th) – $18

Hotel 3rd, 4th (8th-10th) – $51

Hotel 5th (10th-11th) – $18

Hotel 6th (11th-12th) – $11

Hotel 7th (12th) – no hotel/night bus

Total: $120 w/o amazon (all private rooms w/ AC)

 

Miscellaneous:

Galapagos entry fee: $120

Isabela entry fee: $10

Souvenir: $5

Total: $135

  

Flights:

Flight to Quito: free

Flight to Galapagos and back: free 

Total: FREE (originally $1,236.87)

I’m sure this is where you’re going how. So, here’s how I did. (I swear this is not a scam and I do not make any money off sharing this with you)

  1. I signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card with a 60,000 sign up bonus if I spent $4000 in the first 3 months. My roundtrip flights between Denver and Quito were 63,542 points or listed as $794.28. My roundtrip flights between Quito and Isla Baltra, Galapagos were 35,407 points or listed as $442.59.
  2. So, I started out by making my mom and brothers sign up for the card as well so they could start earning points for their purchases and I could earn an extra 45,000 points (15,000 per person) when they used my referral link.
  3. Then I put all my bills and shopping onto this credit card for the three months to help me reach a minimum spend.
  4. Once I put as much natural spending on the card as I could to reach my minimum spend, I started manufactured spending. Manufactured spending is basically the process of ‘spending’ money on a credit card that is converted to cash. (an old example: buying gift cards and paying off the credit card bill with the gift card)
    1. If this is a game you want to get into, take this free course that I used to get started OR do a quick search for some youtube videos!
    2. Why take a course? Credit card companies often catch on to the loopholes and the ways in which you can travel hack changes often and you’ll have to keep up to date on the processes that are currently working! There’s also plenty of tips and tricks to follow before getting started, so I truly recommend taking the free course. Totally legal and easy once you get the hang of it!
  5. I ended up needing 98,949 points and I had a bit over 105,000. I saved $1,236.87 on flights just by doing a bit of research.

 

Total trip cost : $1,007