Galapagos Adventure

Arrive in Quito or Guayaquil and transfer to the hotel. Accommodations: Tourist superior hotel in Quito or Guayaquil Meals included: none

Transfer to the airport to take the flight to the Galápagos Islands. Upon your arrival, your guide will pick you up from Baltra airport to Santa Cruz Island to start the adventure, with a first visit to the Highlands of Santa Cruz Island. On the way to our first stop in the Primicias Ranch, you will observe changes in the vegetation, which is dry in the lower part and humid in the highlands. Once on the ranch, you will appreciate giant tortoises in their natural environment and some emblematic species of flora as Asclepias and Palo Santo. You will enjoy a typical lunch and visit an impressive lava tunnel 300 meters deep; this tunnel was created because the outer part of the lava cools faster than the inner part. Finally, you will reach to your hotel in Puerto Ayora. Then you will visit the "Charles Darwin Foundation" (CDF), an institution that supports the conservation in the Galápagos Islands. Accommodations: Tourist superior hotel in Puerto Ayora Meals included: Breakfast, lunch

You will have breakfast and head to Seymour Norte or Plazas Sur or Bartolome. (The island to visit depends on the availability).

OPTION 1: NORTH SEYMOUR

You will leave from the Itabaca channel towards North Seymour. North Seymour is a small island with an endemic population of flora and fauna, with species like the royal frigate and the blue-footed booby. If you are lucky, you may observe the interesting mating ritual of these species; the frigate puffs up its red jacket at its throat, and the blue-footed booby performs a kind of unique dance. North Seymour also has a big colony of land iguanas and sea lions near the coast. You will walk along different trails for 1 hour and 30 minutes, where you will admire the wildlife. Then you will enjoy a box lunch on board. After lunch, you will have the option to practice snorkeling, very close you can see hammerhead sharks, turtles, and a wide variety of reef fish during this activity.

OPTION 2: SOUTH PLAZAS

You will go to the Itabaca channel towards Plazas Sur. The navigation will take approximately 2 hours. At to disembark, you will be able to observe one of the largest sea lion colonies in the archipelago. During a small hike, you will spot land iguanas and birds as blue-footed boobies, forked nesting gulls, frigates, and pelicans. A curious fact about the vegetation on the island is that it changes its color according to the season; it is dark green in the rainy season and orange or purple in the dry season.

OPTION 3: BARTOLOME

You will navigate from Itabaca Channel to Bartolome. Once in Bartolome, you will walk along a volcanic path of lunar appearance until you reach the highest part of the island to observe the landscape that includes Santiago Island, the immense ocean, and the white sand beach. During this tour, it is possible to find penguins, sea lions, white tip sharks, a great variety of reef fish, and sea turtles. In the afternoon, you will return to the hotel in Santa Cruz to get a good relaxation. Accommodations: Tourist superior hotel in Puerto Ayora Meals included: Breakfast, lunch

Early in the morning, we will go to the pier to take the speed boat to Isabela Island, after 2 1⁄2 hours of navigation we arrive at Puerto Villamil and transfer to a local restaurant for breakfast. Later we ́ll have an excursion to a group of tiny, rocky islands called Las Tintoreras after the whitetip reef sharks that frequent these waters and rest in the crevices here during the day. We’ll have a chance to swim and snorkel among the colorful reef fish, viewing various sharks, ray s, marine iguanas, sea turtles, whales, and maybe even penguins, depending on the season and our luck. Once we return to Puerto Villamil, you’ll have the evening free, so you can explore the town and have dinner where you wish. Walk along the waterfront and appreciate the seemingly endless expanse of the Pacific Ocean while watching the sunset over the white sands and the deep blue sea. Accommodations: Tourist superior hotel in Puerto Villamil Meals included: Breakfast

After breakfast, we will drive to Volcano Sierra Negra in the highlands of Isabela Island. The hike starts at a national park guard hut, where we park and head toward the volcano. As the name implies, the ground in this area is black, the result of repeated and relatively recent lava flows. The caldera of this volcano is impressively large, an oval of about 5.8 by 4.6 mi (9.3 by 7.4 km) that ranks among the 10 largest in the world. Once we reach the rim of the caldera, we rest for a picnic lunch and photos. In addition to being the largest – although not the tallest – volcano in the Galápagos, Sierra Negra is one of the most active volcanoes in the archipelago. In fact, its most recent eruption was June–August 2018. Accommodations: Tourist superior hotel in Puerto Villamil Meals included: Breakfast, box-lunch

After breakfast, we will visit the Arnaldo Tupiza Breeding Center, where two species of giant tortoise are bred to increase the  population of these incredible animals, plays an essential role in protecting the future of the Galápagos. As you walk around the center, you will also be able to enjoy the beautiful gardens that boast of a wide variety of native plants. Just outside Puerto Villamil, you can also take a walk around the Isabela wetlands, comprised of lagoons, swamps, and mangroves, which have become a paradise for migratory birds such as stilts and flamingos. In the afternoon, we will go to the dock for the speedboat trip back to Santa Cruz Island. Accommodations: Tourist superior hotel in Puerto Ayora Meals included: Breakfast

The end of the trip has come. After breakfast, we will start the trip to the airport. First, we drive back to the Itabaca Channel, which we cross via ferry. Then we catch the bus to the airport. In the airport, the guide helps us with any last-minute things and makes sure we’re all checked in. Then we say goodbye, both to the people and to these enchanted islands, before returning to the mainland of Ecuador. You end this adventure with the transfer to the airport. Once you land in Quito or Guayaquil, you will have a transfer to your hotel. Accommodations: Tourist superior hotel in Quito or Guayaquil Meals included: Breakfast

Breakfast. Day at leisure till the time for your transfer to the airport in order to take your international flight back home. Accommodations: not included Meals included: Breakfast