About

Barry Boyce, founder of GALAPAGOS TRAVEL, followed his personal passion for Natural History with a visit the Galapagos Islands in 1988. He enjoyed his trip of course, but was frustrated by the lack of information available to help him plan his adventure. Barry decided to return to the islands, where he would research and write the first-ever all-inclusive guide book to the islands. Over the course of the next few months he lived in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. Besides numerous yacht inspections and interviews, he also naturally interacted with a great many tourists, nearly all of whom were having a grand time. Sadly, many also complained of not having the educational experience they were hoping for, or of a trip too short in length to really see the islands. The first edition of the guide book, A Traveler’s Guide to the Galápagos Islands, was published in 1989 (the book is currently in its fourth edition). 

That same year Barry founded GALAPAGOS TRAVEL. From the start the focus has been on educationally oriented, Natural History workshops, that spend a significant amount of time in the archipelago. Barry's first organized tours, which he personally led, were offered in 1990.  We now have a pool of hand selected, highly educated, wonderfully personable, Galápagos specialists to lead the tours (in addition to the park required Naturalist Guides). 

Today we offer several Natural History Workshops to the Galápagos each year - all with our unique Natural History focus, and all spending either 11 or 15 days actually aboard the yacht in the archipelago. 

We are honored to have been selected by many universities, colleges, museums and zoos to coordinate educational expeditions for their members (often on an annual or semi-annual basis). Past groups have included the Galápagos Conservancy, Saint Louis Zoo, Hiram University, Harvard Museum, Santa Cruz Natural History Museum, Chapman University, Brookfield Zoo, Berea College, Clemson University, University of Washington, Sonora Desert Museum, Desert Turtle & Tortoise Society, Wilderness Center, Girl Scouts, Central Oregon Community College, and NSTA (National Science Teachers Association).

Mark Grantham joined the GALAPAGOS TRAVEL staff in its California officee in 1994, following his own visit to the Galapagos Islands. His introduction to the islands came much earlier though - long letters from his mother as she traveled the islands on a cattle freighter and then a fishing boat in 1981.  

In 1996, Julie and Debbie joined Mark at the office, helping out as things got busier. Barry sold the company to Mark in 2008, and the three of them spent the next 16 years helping people from around the world plan and book their Galapagos trip of a lifetime.

In the mid-90’s GALAPAGOS TRAVEL founded the Becario Scholarship Program through the Charles Darwin Research Station and the Galápagos Conservancy. This program sponsored Ecuadorian graduate students while they completed their thesis work in the islands - we feel very strongly that educated Ecuadorians will be the best voices for the conservation of the islands in the future. Between our past passengers and GALAPAGOS TRAVEL, this program has donated over $175,000 to the Research Station, and funded 13 graduate students. 

Other projects we support in the islands include the Scouting program (boys and girls) on the island of San Cristobal, including assisting with establishment of the local library. We were also early financial supporters of the Guide’s & Children’s Library on Santa Cruz Island as well. 

Outside of the islands GALAPAGOS TRAVEL supports Island Conservation, the South Georgia Heritage Trust, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), World Wildlife Fund, Long Marine Lab, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the Santa Cruz Natural History Museum among others. The company also supports volunteerism in the staff. I have been a board member on two non-profits, most recently the Santa Cruz AIDS Project, in addition to extensive fund raising for AIDS service organizations in California. Debbie has devoted a huge amount of her free time to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where for more than 10 years she worked directly with the penguins. Julie devotes energy to a feral cat adoptive program, as well as a local community garden.

We have an independent team in Ecuador who handle all land arrangements for us there (Mercedes is our extension specialist, Daniela is our Galapagos “fixer”). We, and our passengers, enjoy their full energies and support in every way. 

We work with/charter a variety of wonderful 16-passengers yachts in the Galápagos Islands. The focus of our tours is not luxury (or even on the yachts for that matter), but we still want our passengers to be safe, comfortable, and well taken care of.

In 2023, Mark decided it was time to retire and quietly let the word get out that he was open to selling Galapagos Travel. Word spread through the Galapagos grapevine and after several months of discussions, Marc Patry and his wife, Heather Blenkiron (the TripAdvisor destination expert for Galapagos) took over the operations in mid 2024.

After having lived in Galapagos for 4 years, working at the Darwin Station, Marc and Heather set up Cultural & Natural Heritage (CNH) Tours, focusing on Galapagos expedition cruises. With their hallmark 8 day “Active Galapagos” trip on the Samba, and their nealy 25 years of experience, it was a perfect fit.

Nudging by past guests at both Galapagos Travel and CNH Tours led them each to develop custom trips to other parts of the world. Going forward, Marc and Heather have decided to migrate their CNH Tours “Active Galapagos” trips over to the Galapagos Travel banner, and all of Galapagos Travel’s non-Galapagos trips will migrate to the CNH Tours banner. The two agencies have a distinct identities, but will share a common vision and dedication to personalized service.

Current occasional departures now offered by CNH Tours include: Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia; Okavango / Kalahari and Victoria Falls; Madagascar; Easter Island; Brazil’s Pantanal and Provence, in the south of France.