Ecuador's ordinary customs are relaxed; the Galapagos has its own biosecurity control and it is the strict one.
- The Galapagos has a separate inspection. Bags are screened at Quito or Guayaquil before the island flight, fresh food, seeds and plants are removed, and a transit control card is issued and checked.
- Nothing organic goes to the islands. An apple or a packet of seeds in a daypack is confiscated, and the fines are real.
- Ecuador uses the US dollar, and cash of USD 10,000 or more must be declared on entry and on exit.
- The mainland allowance is a carton of cigarettes and a couple of litres of spirits per adult, plus a value cap on other goods.
- Pre-Columbian artefacts may not be exported, and neither may products from protected species - which covers most of what is sold as a Galapagos souvenir made of shell or bone.
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