Day 1: Baltra - North Seymour Island
Our guide will be waiting for you at Baltra Airport and once the group is completed. They will accompany you to the Archipell Catamaran which is anchored in Puerto Ayora harbor. After arrival on board, we will check in and give you general information. Afterwards you will have lunch.
This island is located slightly in the north of Baltra. It is a low, flat island, formed as a result of a submarine lava formation uplift.Covered with low, vegetation, it contains the largest colony of magnificent frigate birds in the Galapagos. There is also a large population of blue-footed boobies that perform an amusing courtship dance when nesting conditions are right. It really is one of the highlights of this island.
Day 2: Bartolome - Espumilla Beach - Buccaneer Cove
At Bartolomé Island you will ascend to admire the spectacular panorama of the Sullivan Bay and the famous Pinnacle Rock. The beaches at the foot of the Pinnacle Rock are excellent for snorkelling from which you can discover the marvelous underwater world.
At James Bay (Santiago) Charles Darwin spent most of his time in Galapagos. Espumilla Beach has revived as an important breeding site for turtles. Nearby, Buccaneer Cove offers a great snorkeling opportunity in crystal clear waters.
Day 3: Puerto Egas - Rabida
Puerto Egas is a historical, and the favourite site on Santiago for wildlife lovers. Highlight are the outstanding fur seal grottos at the beautiful sculptured coastline.
In the afternoon, land on the remarkable red beach by Rabida Island, and a large bachelor colony of Galapagos sea lions will usually welcome you.
Day 4: Charles Darwin Station - Santa Cruz Highlands
Charles Darwin Research Station contains of an information centre, a museum, a library and a tortoise breeding station. In the tortoise breeding you can encounter tortoises of different subspecies, which get prepared for reintroduction to their natural habitats. The most popular inhabitant of this Station is probably the Lonesome George turtle.
Afterwards, we will visit the highlands of the island where you will visit the private farm “Las Primicias”. This reserve offers you one of the best possibilities to see the giant tortoises of Santa Cruz Island in their natural habitat. You can observe them from a very close distance.
Day 5: Cormorant Point - Post Office & Baroness Lookout
At Cormorant Point you land on a green olivine sand beach. Following a 100 m long path you will soon reach a beautiful lagoon with flamingoes.
In the afternoon you will visit the Post Office Bay, which still keeps the legendary post barrel that whalers historically used to post their mail in.
Later we will go to “Mirador de la Baronesa” (Baroness Lookout Point) and your naturalist guide will tell you the murder and mystery legend of the Baronesa. This viewpoint is located on the north of Floreana Island.
Day 6: Gardener Bay - Suarez Point
At Española Island you will explore a lot of natural wildlife. It is home to many birds, like the endemic Hood-Mockingbird. Gardner Bay provides you an excellent beach for swimming. Around the small islets nearby, snorkelers will find lots of fish and sometimes turtles and sharks. The bay is also frequented by colonies of sea lions, which like to swim with you.
Suarez Point has one of the most outstanding wildlife areas of the archipelago, with a long list of species found along its cliffs and sandy or pebbly beaches.
Day 7: Pitt Point - Witch Hill
Punta Pitt is one of the only two sites where all three types of boobies breed, and as well the site where great frigate birds swallow tailed gulls and Galapagos storm-petrels.
Enjoy a leisure afternoon in the lovely setting of Witch Hill’s crescent-shaped natural beach of soft powder sand.
Day 8: Interpretation Centre - Depart San Cristobal
The Interpretation Centre just outside the provincial capital Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. Information panels (English/Spanish), pictures, maquettes and true to life dioramas tell the background story of the islands in a different way, which helps you to get an overview and learn what makes the Galapagos so unique. The well-maintained botanical garden with native species from the arid zone (including the giant prickly pear and candelabra cacti) is worth your visit as well; and you will probably spot the Chatham mockingbird, endemic to this island, that put Darwin on track of his evolution theory. The attractive exhibition is quite complete and explains a series of natural circumstances that create the Galapagos’ unique environment: such as the volcanic genesis of the islands, their remoteness from the continent, its ocean currents, its special climate, the arrival of different species, and their establishment, among others. It also recounts historic discovery and attempts of colonisation; and shows a diorama with ancient mail barrels from Post Office Bay. It concludes how times have changed with current conservation and the many ways in which this is being achieved, as well as the environmental challenges that
proceed.
You will be transferred to San Cristobal airport for your flight back to Quito/Guayaquil.
