By Michelle Bos, first-time traveler, Granger, Washington
My daughter, Sophie, has always loved animals. When Sophie was very young, her grandmother shared photos from a book about the Galápagos Islands with her. Sophie was very vocal about wanting to see all of the amazing wildlife in the book—so her grandmother—my mom—promised her that they would travel to the Galápagos one day.
That’s why it was no surprise to me when my mom called me last year to say, “Chelle (her nickname for me), I want to take Sophie on a trip to the Galápagos Islands. I made a promise to her and it’s about time I lived up to it.”
I had no worries about my parents taking Sophie along on their adventure since my mom is an experienced traveler, and speaks fluent Spanish. However, I told her that I could only let them take Sophie on one condition: “If you’re taking Sophie, I want to go, too!”
Michelle and her daughter, Sophie (pictured here with Sophie’s grandparents), at the unique “middle of the world” coordinates of Ecuador.
So, my mom, dad, Sophie, and I decided to travel on OAT’s Ultimate Galápagos Exploration & Ecuador’s Amazon Wilds adventure. I worried a little about whether Sophie would have fun on the trip, as she would be the youngest member of our group. Would she have fun with a group of older people? What if the rest of the group didn’t enjoy having a child along? But from the very first day of the trip, she fit right in. Age was not an issue—there were teenagers, middle-agers, retirees, and a very spunky 80-something in our group. Best of all, everyone looked out for each other.
We’d be exploring a dense rain forest and either our Trip Leader, or another traveler in the front of the group, would ask, “Where’s Sophie? We need to get her up here so she can see this.” And Sophie would be pulled to the front where all of the action was taking place. When our local guide asked for a volunteer during a rain forest cooking demonstration, Sophie was selected. She took great pleasure in preparing and cooking grubs … and in watching me eat them!
Sophie shows off her grub-cooking skills for her OAT small group.
We discovered so much of the beauty of the Galápagos and Amazon together. We had never snorkeled before, but she really wanted to do it. So we swam through crystal clear coves until we approached a group of penguins. They were intrigued by Sophie, and two of them even approached her face-to-face! As we swam away, I spotted a shark coming toward us. I warned Sophie—and was ready to get away as quickly as possible—but Sophie just laughed. “Don’t worry, Mom. That’s a whitetip reef shark. They don’t eat people.” Was this really my child comforting me?
As a mother, I’m used to sitting on the sidelines and watching my children (I have another daughter) participate in their organized sports and other extracurricular activities. But there was something incredibly different about seeing Sophie encounter the wildlife of the Galápagos. Each new species of animal was a new discovery for her—and it was something she had a true passion for. There was nothing quite like watching her experience them for the first time.
Sophie fit right in with both her group and the staff from the small ship (pictured with her here) in the Amazon.
Upon returning from our trip, I asked Sophie what she loved most. After considering the question for a moment, she said, “Mom, I think the coolest thing was that we were in the middle of all of it.”
I thought about this for a moment and realized what Sophie meant was that we not only traveled to the Galápagos and Amazon, but we were able to truly immerse ourselves in the region. Experiencing this with my daughter was a tremendous privilege, and it was an opportunity to create memories we will always treasure. I look forward to exploring more of the beauty of the world with her for many years to come.
Explore the diverse wildlife—and unique cuisine—of the Amazon and Galápagos on our Ultimate Galápagos Exploration & Ecuador’s Amazon Wilds adventure.