Tip: Bring a good camera and lenses, jump drives/SD cards for photo storage!
Tip: The food was great - breakfast and lunch is buffet style - don't try to eat everything you see!

We flew into Guayaquil. It is at sea level. No altitude issues. Lindblad (or maybe it was the Duke University group we went with) directed us to fly into Guayaquil, so that is where we went. If you are concerned about altitude sickness, the advice I was given years ago when I suffered a bad headache upon arriving at a high altitude destination was to drink plenty of water the day of travel and upon arrival.

Lindblad had representatives meet us in Miami (our connection to Guayaquil) and in Guayaquil airport where they transported us to the hotel for the night then back to the airport the next morning for the flight to San Cristobol where we boarded the ship. Depending on your sailing schedule, you may meet the ship there or in Baltra. Either way, They always had a rep or two baby-sitting us at every step. If you have not booked your flights yet, you should entertain booking them through Linblad as well. That way, if there is any problem you have them taking care of the stressful stuff!

The only glitch in the trip was my brother in law missed the Miami-Guayaquil flight because of a weather delay. We did not book flights through Lindblad. So, they could not help us with that part, but their rep in Miami and the folks on the phone were helpful with advice. He was delayed by a whole day and Lindblad took care of booking a local boat to transport him and another guest who missed the same connecting flight to get them to the ship the next day. There were extra hotel, food and boat expenses as a result so we are finally going to make a claim on a trip insurance policy. But Lindblad still had their reps meet them at the airport/hotel to take care of them. A first class operation and it should be as it was a very expensive trip.

My 75 year old Mother in law treated us to this trip. She has permanent nerve damage in her foot from an accident and has trouble getting around, climbing steps, covering uneven ground or walking in sand. The crew was very understanding and helpful when she was getting in and out of the Zodiacs (The local crew call them Pangas) and when snorkeling and hiking. She could not handle several of the long and arduous hikes, but they always had a short/easy option for folks and she was able to see most of the wildlife. I think the only critters she missed out on were the Albatrosses and the Land Iguanas.