Bookings, changes and cancellations

1. A conversationTell us who’s travelling, when, and what you love. Free, with no commitment.
2. Your proposalA written plan for your trip: the itinerary, what’s included and what isn’t, the price, the payments, and the change and cancellation terms for this trip.
3. Questions and tweaksWe adjust it with you until it feels right.
4. ConfirmationYou accept in writing and make the first payment agreed in your proposal. We confirm back in writing. Now it’s booked.
5. Before you goWe send final details: contacts, meeting points and what to pack.
6. Your trip, and afterWe travel with you, adapt as we go, and are here for questions afterwards.

Write to us on WhatsApp, by email or with the form on our website. It helps to know your dates, who’s travelling (ages, mobility, dietary needs if you like), what you’d love to see and how you like to travel.

Talking to us doesn’t commit you to anything, and it doesn’t hold a date or a place for you until you confirm.

Your proposal sets out:

• the itinerary, day by day;
• what’s included and what isn’t (for example domestic flights, Galápagos park entry, tips or insurance);
• the price and the currency (Ecuador uses the US dollar);
• the payments: how much, when and how;
• the change and cancellation terms for this trip, including the conditions of partners such as Galápagos boats, lodges or airlines;
• the partners who will look after you;
• until when the proposal is valid.

Please read it carefully and ask about anything that isn’t clear. We don’t publish prices on the website: you get a price only in a proposal.

Your trip is confirmed when three things have happened: you accept the proposal in writing (an email or WhatsApp message is enough), you make the first payment agreed in your proposal, and we confirm in writing. From then on, your proposal, this page and our Terms are our agreement.

We don’t publish fixed deposits or percentages, because every trip is different: a city walk and a Galápagos cruise involve different partners and commitments. Your proposal says how much to pay, when, how, and what each payment covers.

[Allyson to confirm: the payment methods you offer (for example bank transfer or a card payment link) and who pays bank or card fees]

We issue an electronic invoice (factura), as Ecuadorian law requires.

If a payment is late, we’ll remind you. Our partners may release places that aren’t paid for. [Allyson to confirm: what happens if a payment agreed in the proposal is not made on time]

Your price after confirmation. Once your trip is confirmed, we won’t change its price on our own. It changes only if you change the trip, and we tell you the new price before anything changes. [Lawyer to confirm: how to handle fees set by the government that change after confirmation (for example Galápagos park entry), given Art. 43 of the consumer law]

Plans change; we understand. Write to us as early as possible. We check with our partners and send you the updated plan and any difference in price. Nothing changes until you say yes.

If someone else will travel in your place, tell us. Some partners (airlines, Galápagos boats) may not allow name changes or may charge for them.

To cancel, write to us by email or WhatsApp. The day we receive your message is the date that counts.

Why it isn’t always a full refund: to hold your trip we book, and often pay, partners in advance. Some of them, such as domestic flights, Galápagos boats and some lodges, don’t give refunds or give only part. Your proposal says what can be refunded and until when.

[Allyson to confirm: whether you want one standard cancellation rule for trips booked directly, to be stated here]

[Lawyer to confirm: how the three-day right to withdraw from purchases made at a distance (Art. 45 of the consumer law) applies to trips confirmed online or by WhatsApp]

Travel insurance with cancellation cover can protect you here (see Travel insurance).

Small changes happen: a different restaurant, a swap in the order of two days, another qualified guide from our team if your guide falls ill. We keep the spirit of your trip.

Important changes, such as a different region, a lower standard of lodging or fewer days: we tell you as soon as we know and offer an alternative of similar quality. You can accept it or cancel.

[Allyson to confirm: what you refund if you cancel a trip or make an important change for reasons within your control]

Ecuador is alive: active volcanoes, rainy seasons in the Andes and the Amazon, Pacific swells, landslides on mountain roads, and sometimes road blockades. Port authorities can close the sea to small boats, and the national park can close visitor sites.

Your guide and boat crews may change, shorten or cancel an activity for safety. On the day, their decision is final. We then look for a good alternative.

When something outside anyone’s control stops part of a trip (natural events, official closures, strikes or blockades, health emergencies), [Allyson and lawyer to confirm: how costs that partners return, and costs they don’t, are handled].

Inside the national park, every visit is led by a naturalist guide accredited by the Galápagos National Park. Allyson travels with you as tour leader and interpreter.

Entry. The authorities require a national park entrance fee and a Transit Control Card. Your proposal says whether they’re included. At the airports, biosecurity inspectors check bags: no fresh fruit, seeds, soil, plants or animals.

Rules in force (park update reported in September 2026)

• Keep at least 2 metres from wildlife on foot, snorkelling or diving, and 4 metres by kayak or panga. Keep 100 metres from whales and 50 metres from dolphins, double with calves.
• Never touch or feed animals. No flash photography.
• Stay on marked trails, with your guide.
• Some busy sites, such as Las Grietas and the breeding centres, need a reservation in advance.
• No drones, professional filming or commercial photography without park authorisation.
• No single-use plastics, alcohol, cigarettes or vapes in protected areas, and no sunscreen with oxybenzone or octinoxate in water activities.

Breaking the rules can bring fines and removal from the site, and posts on social media can be used as evidence. The park can change its rules and boat itineraries at any time; its current rules always apply. Read them at galapagos.gob.ec.

To make your trip happen we work with hotels and lodges, drivers, boat and cruise operators, naturalist guides, community hosts, restaurants and partner expeditions (such as the Cueva de los Tayos expedition). Each has its own conditions, for example a cruise’s cancellation terms. We include the ones that affect you in your proposal. Domestic flights follow the airline’s rules.

We stay your point of contact throughout. If something goes wrong with a partner, tell us and we’ll work on it with you.

[Lawyer to confirm: how responsibility between Local Friend Tour and its partners is worded, in line with Art. 43 of the consumer law]

We strongly recommend travel insurance that covers:

• medical care and evacuation (important in the Galápagos, the Amazon and the high Andes);
• cancellation and interruption of your trip;
• the activities you’ll do, such as snorkelling, hiking at altitude or paddleboarding.

Entry rules for Ecuador or the Galápagos can include proof of insurance: please check the current rules before you travel. [Allyson to confirm: whether insurance is only recommended, or required for some trips]

Quito sits at about 2,850 metres, and the Cotopaxi and Chimborazo areas are higher still. If you have heart or breathing conditions, are pregnant, or are travelling with babies, talk to your doctor first. For the Amazon, ask a travel health clinic about vaccines and medicines.

Tell us about medical conditions, allergies or dietary needs you’d like us to plan around. It’s your choice, and we treat it as sensitive information (see our Privacy notice). A guide may ask you to sit out an activity if it isn’t safe for you that day.

Bespoke means we can plan around what you need: a wheelchair or limited mobility, low vision or hearing, neurodivergence, travelling with older relatives or small children. Tell us early so we can choose the right transport, lodging and pace.

We’ll also be honest about places that are hard: cobbled streets in old towns, boats and wet landings in the Galápagos, muddy trails in the Amazon, and altitude in the Andes. We describe each part of the plan so you can decide.

This website: we aim for readable pages with good contrast that work on phones and with screen readers. If something doesn’t work for you, tell us and we’ll fix it.

• Be on time for pick-ups: partners and boats often can’t wait.
• Ask before photographing people, especially in communities.
• Leave no trace, and follow the guide’s safety calls.

[Lawyer to confirm: whether to state that a traveller who puts others in danger or behaves abusively may be asked to leave an activity, and with what consequences]

If something goes wrong, tell your guide or Allyson on the spot: most things can be fixed the same day. After the trip, write to us (see If something isn’t right).

If you booked through ToursByLocals, GetYourGuide, Viator or another platform, payments, changes and cancellations follow that platform’s rules. Everything on this page about safety, the Galápagos park rules, insurance and accessibility still applies on the day.