Day 1: Galapagos
Santa Cruz
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
- Flight Quito – Galapagos Islands (not included)
- Transfer airport Baltra – hotel in Puerto Ayora
- Visit to Tortuga Bay
- Visit to Charles Darwin Station (if flight arriving in GPS allows this visit**)
Today you will take your flight to the Galapagos Islands. You arrive at Baltra Island. From the airport you take a bus to the Itabaca Canal where you head by ferry for the other side of the Island Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz is located in the middle of the archipelago and is the second largest island. Colonized since the 1920’s. After Isabela Island, Santa Cruz is home to the second largest population of giant tortoises (about 3000). Discover the island’s beautiful beaches and bays with sea lions, marine turtles, and seabirds. Or, take your adventures off the beaten track to its remote highlands and verdant landscapes.
From Puerto Ayora, walk about 3.2km (2mi.) to Tortuga Bay, one of the longest white sandy beaches in the archipelago. Along its shores, keep an eye out for marine iguanas, sharks, sea turtles, and migratory birds. On the west, a rocky edge divides the beach and creates a calm cove ideal to swim around the bay. Lunch will be served at town.
**If your arrival flight in Galapagos allows arranging another visit in the afternoon. Your guide will bring you to Charles Darwin Station.
In 1964, the Charles Darwin Research Center was inaugurated in Puerto Ayora. Over 200 scientists and volunteers are active in the conservation and research projects for the most famous resident of the Galápagos: the Giant Tortoise. Stroll around the impressive giant prickly-pear cactus forest or visit the baby turtles that are affectionately cared for until they can be repatriated. Learn about the tortoises’ different life stages: from incubation, hatching, and growth periods.
Overnight in a Hotel in Santa Cruz Island.
Day 2: Galapagos
Santa Cruz Island
- Meals: Breakfast, Box Lunch
- Full day boat excursion to Seymour North or South Plazas or Bartholomew including lunch – on shared basis
During a full day boat excursion, you’ll visit one of the islands Seymour North, South Plazas, Bartholomew or Santa Fe or the Dragon Hill. Each of the islands has its own significant beauties to offer and regardless which you’ll visit, you’ll definitely enjoy your stay.
Remark: The excursion is shared with international traveller and accompanied by an English-speaking guide.
Lunch on board. Overnight in a Hotel in Santa Cruz Island.
Day 3: Galapagos
Santa Cruz Island
- Meals: Breakfast
- Visit to Academy Bay (Sharing Basis)
- Visit to Highlands in Santa Cruz
Academy Bay Tour visits 5 different spots: La Loberia, which is a small island about 10 minutes into the bay where there is a large colony of sea lions. Shark Channel and Lovers Channel are both nice snorkeling sites and also beautiful places to take in the blue footed boobies who are regularly seen resting on the cliffs close by. Dog’s beach gives you opportunity to get off the boat and walk through cactus forests to a remote beach where you will almost definitely encounter a marine iguana or many, and turtles are often seen feeding just off the shore. The last site is Las Grietas, a water filled crevice in the rocks. Lunch time free to choose your favorite place in the town. In the afternoon, visit the Highland of the Island. Extinct volcanoes and astonishing endemic plants characterize the Santa Cruz Highlands. Admire unique flora like ferns and meter-high Miconia shrubs in the Scalesia forest or spot different bird species like the Galápagos rails, cattle egrets, and flycatchers. Later on, continue to the Giant Tortoise Reserve “El Chato” in the Santa Cruz highlands is one of the few places you can see these giants in their natural habitat. The large, pre-historic looking animals can be seen as you walk along the trails during their migration from the coast to the highlands. “El Chato” is also one of the best sites to observe the short-eared owl, another endemic specie from the Galápagos. Overnight in a Hotel in Santa Cruz Island.
Day 4: Galapagos
Santa Cruz Island
- Meals: Breakfast
- Day at leisure
Today, you will have free day to explore this lovely town of Puerto Ayora. Puerto Ayora is the largest human settlement and most important harbor in the Galápagos. Overnight in a Hotel in Santa Cruz Island.
Day 5:
Santa Cruz Island
- Meals: Breakfast
- Transfer hotel – Baltra airport
- Flight Galapagos Islands – Quito (not included)
Early in the morning, transfer to Baltra airport – only with Spanish speaking assistance - and flight back to Ecuador mainland.
