WONDERS OF ECUADOR AND GALAPAGOS ISLANDS - 11 Days

Itinerary

Your journey begins today when you board your flight to Quito, Ecuador. 

Upon arrival in Quito, you will be met and transferred to your hotel. 

Centrally located in the heart of modern Quito, 20 minutes from the colonial city, the Colon has 296 rooms and suites on regular or executive floors—most with excellent city and park views. The hotel is equipped with impressive business and conference facilities, and there is a wide range of restaurants and bars, shops and a casino. A gym, sauna, steam room, and heated outdoor pool (with massage facility) are all open for guests. All rooms at the Colon have central air conditioning with individual control, and come equipped with cable TV, a mini-bar, hairdryer, electronic locks and sound-proof windows. All guests have access to the fitness centre as well as the swimming pool, steam bath, and Jacuzzi. Massages and a beauty parlor are available for an extra charge.

Hotel Hilton Colon (no meals)

Ecuador’s capital is situated high in the Andes perched on the green slopes of rugged volcanic peaks reaching close to 20,00 feet. Quito is lively, scenic and cosmopolitan. Its one and a half million inhabitants tend to be helpful and friendly. The colonial section of Quito is a living museum of grand Spanish colonial architecture.  Its mansions; cathedrals; and squares have been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. On a walking tour along its cobblestone streets we will have the chance to view buildings from the 16th to the 18th centuries. We’ll also visit Independence Square where the Presidential Palace is located, and marvel at the ornate interior of the Baroque/Moorish Church of San Francisco as well as the golden interior of La Compañia church. The last part of our tour takes us far above the colonial section where the guardian of the city—the winged Virgin of Quito—keeps watch over her city. The view is spectacular, not only of the city far below but also of the skyscraping Andes above and beyond.

About 20 minutes away from the northern part of Quito stands the Middle of the Earth Monument, built to mark the meridian arch of the planet at 0º latitude—better known as the Equator—and to commemorate this surveying feat in the 18th century. It’s also the site of a small colonial town crowded with craft shops and restaurants. This excursion includes a visit to the marvelous Ethnographic Museum, which traces the history and archeology of Ecuador’s native peoples back to the Pleistocene. The tour ends with a panoramic view of the nearby Pululahua volcanic crater.

Hotel Hilton Colon (B, L)

This morning you will be transferred to Quito airport for your flight to San Cristobal, via Guayaquil.  Upon arrival, you will be met and transferred to Explorer II cruise your vessel for the next 7 nights.  San Cristobal is on the easternmost of the Galapagos Islands.  Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is the capital of the Galapagos province and the location of the extraordinary Interpretation Center for Galapagos National Park.  You’ll board ship and settle into your cabin. Your seagoing home is the M/V Galapagos Explorer II, a 293-foot, first-class ocean-going cruise ship that carries 100 passengers.  Comfortable cabins feature air-conditioning, private bathrooms and a small sitting area. Experienced naturalists lead shore expeditions to seek out wildlife and help you to learn about the fascinating natural history of these volcanic islands. When you’re not exploring, you and your children can enjoy the ship’s pool, solarium and reading room without experiencing the motion of a smaller vessel.

Your first day in the Galapagos you'll visit one location near San Cristobal Island. At Cerro Brujo (wet landing), you’ll go to the beach for swimming and snorkeling activities. You can see: blue footed boobies, brown pelicans, coast bird (whimbrels, sander lings, etc), Darwin’s finches, yellow warblers. You have free time to walk on the beach.

Galapagos Explorer II – Classic Suites (B, L, D).

Morning: Punta Suarez, Hood Island

This morning you visit Hood Island, southernmost island of the archipelago.  Because it is so isolated, the island has a large population of indigenous wildlife.  You will explore Punta Suarez, one of the most spectacular spots in the Galapagos, where you’ll look for sea lions surfing the breaking waves and groups of iguanas basking in the sun.  Further inland, masked and Blue-footed Boobies nest beside the trails.  You can hike a trail towards the cliffs to the Blowhole, a fissure in the lava cliffs where seawater jets high in the air.

Afternoon: Gardner Bay, Hood Island

About 1km long beach that is among the most magnificent in all Galapagos. It is home to many sea lion colonies and the turquoise colored water makes a beautiful contrast to the white sand that consists of shell dust. Mocking birds fight for their territory and inspect the backpacks of the tourists. About 50m of the coast there is a rock where you can encounter tropic fish and rays while snorkeling. But more spectacular is the Gardner Rock that can be reached with a dinghy. It is home to white-tipped reef shark, cactus finch and other colorful sea dwellers and very popular among snorkel.

Activities: Walks, snorkeling in deep water (experience is required), beach.
Wildlife:   Hood Mockingbird, Lava Lizards, Galapagos Dove, Large Cactus Finch, marine iguanas and sally light-foot crab.
Vegetation: saltbush, Palo Verde, acacia and mesquite bushes.

Galapagos Explorer II (B, L, D)

Wildlife viewing, hiking, Charles Darwin Research Station  & Rabida Island.

Morning: Charles Darwin Station, Santa Cruz Island

Puerto Ayora Town, Charles Darwin Station

In the afternoon, you will visit Santa Cruz Island, landing in Puerto Ayora Town. Visit Darwin Station to learn about the research conducted on the island. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a Galapagos tortoise breeding and rearing center, where tortoises of different subspecies are prepared for reintroduction to their natural habitats.  Afterwards, you can stroll through Puerto Ayora, largest town on the islands.

Afternoon: Rabida Island

A small island (5 km2), covered by dry and coastal vegetation, and has a central volcano of 367 m2. Rabida contains the largest variety of lava types, being red the dominant color. A salt-water lagoon provides occasional sights of Flamingos. While the beach holds a large sea lion colony, fur seals also may be seen here.  Red sands and teal waters characterize this island. Sea lions cover the waterfront, and the bull is always making a show of his bravado.  There's a short walk to the top of the trail where you can take fabulous photos of the clear waters and volcanic peaks. There's also great snorkeling. Keep near the rocks and keep your eye out for sharks and rays.

Activities:  Walks, snorkeling, bird watching.
Wildlife:  Flamingos, Galapagos Hawks, Penguins, Pelicans, Sea Lions
Vegetation: Opunia Cactus, Palo Santo, Scrubby bush

Galapagos Explorer II (B, L, D)

Morning:

Bachas Beach, White sand beach where you can see some nesting site for sea turtles, it is a delightful swimming beach, with a small lagoon behind, where you can see flamingos, and marine iguanas frequent the shore. Whimbrels, blue heron, pelican, Sally Lightfoot crab and other species.

Afternoon:

Dragon Hill A bay located at the northwest site of the Santa Cruz Island, known as Cerro Dragon since long time ago by the whaling men because of the important colonies of land iguanas that lived in this area.

During almost all the year, you can see flamingos in marshland lakes as some migratory birds. You will also have the opportunity to see Darwin Finchs, hood mockinbird, lava lizards. This area has arid vegetation where you can find some oppuntia cactus, palo santo (bursera) and some other endemic plants.

This place has a wonderful landscape as you can see the Rabida Island at the west and Santa Cruz Island at the East. In the beach zone you can see some endemic coast plants and also some marine iguanas, sea lions, American oystercatchers, pelicans and a small blue-footed Bobbies colony.

The visit has a wet landing and a 2 km flat trail (2 hours hiking), we suggest comfortable walking shoes, walking sticks (if it is necessary) and binoculars for bird watching at the marshland lakes.

Today some passengers disembark and others will join us for the remainder of our cruise.

Galapagos Explorer II (B, L, D).

Wildlife viewing, hiking, swimming, snorkeling

Morning: Bartolome Island

The first destination is Bartolome, an island of varied volcanic formations with a 350-foot summit and a fabulous 360º view.  Depending upon the weather, you may be able to spot five other islands, one of the most spectacular views of the archipelago.  You’ll make a wet landing in a cove to see a small colony of Galapagos penguins—the only penguins north of the equator.  Sea lions are also found here.  Behind the beach can be found red and white mangroves, saltbush, morning glory and prickly pear cactuses.

Afternoon: Puerto Egas, James (Santiago) Island

This afternoon you’ll visit Puerto Egas on James (Santiago) Island.  The landing is on a black beach with eroded rock formations in the background.  The trail crosses the dry interior, where the remains of a salt-mining enterprise can still be seen and then continues along the coast.  Intertidal pools are home to a variety of invertebrate organisms.  Land iguanas are scattered around feeding on exposed algae while Oyster Catchers try to capture Sally Lightfoot Crabs.  The trail then leads to the Fur Seal Grottos, one of the only places in the islands where Fur Seals can be seen.  Puerto Egas is a good spot for taking pictures. 

Galapagos Explorer II (B, L, D)

Wildlife viewing, hiking, swimming, snorkeling

Morning: Fernandina Island

On the youngest and westernmost island in Galapagos, you’ll land at Punta Espinoza, a narrow stretch of land where some of the most unusual Galapagos species can be seen. While the panga driver skillfully eludes the reef to reach the landing site near a small mangrove forest, look for penguins diving off the rocks into the water. Sally Lightfoot Crabs disperse on the lava near the shore and herons, sandpipers and wimbrels explore the mangrove roots. Marine iguanas congregate in larger groups here than on any other island. They are everywhere: basking in the sand, swimming near the shore, grazing on the exposed seaweed in the lava and blocking the way at the landing dock. This is one of the few places where there is the opportunity, if the water is clear, of watching them feed underwater while snorkeling.

Following a trail inland, two different types of lava flows can be seen and compared. At the tip of one of the small peninsulas, Flightless Cormorants are found.  Without predators on the island, these serpent-necked birds adapted for swimming and not for flight, another example of evolution at work in “nature’s laboratory.”

Afternoon: Punta Vicente Roca, Isabela Island

Largest of the Galapagos Islands, Isabela is composed of six shield volcanoes merged into a single land mass. Wolf Volcano on Isabela is also the highest point in the archipelago.  The Galapagos Explorer II is one of only a few faster, better-equipped boats able to make the long journey from the central islands to the visitor sites on the western side of Isabela.  The trip is more than worthwhile, however, for the unique species that occur only in this part of the archipelago, and because the landscape, with massive volcanoes silhouetted against the sky, offers a striking contrast to the lower-lying islands of the east. 

Located on the northwestern tip of Isabela Island, the visit of Pta Vicente Roca is completely by dingy.

The dingys are launched on a coastal dingy-ride that skirts 400-500-feet cliff sides. Blue-footed boobies, masked boobies & pelicans can be seen here. Also, very many sea turtles feed along this shoreline. Reaching a rocky pile of large basalt, there are colonies of fur seals & marine iguanas in groups, basking in the sun. Sea lions are also present.

Continuing along the sheer cliffs, the dingy now, approach a secluded cove where, at its end, dark and yellow rock are superposed. Now we are close to the large cave that allows for snorkeling or sight seeing.

Snorkeling at the cave produces a great variety of marine life, especially marine invertebrates. One starts at the intersection between the dark and yellow rock and swims all the way around the small point into the cave, all the way into the cave & then out of the cave until the next point.

The water is often murky and very cold as it is called the Galapagos Ice-box. Therefore, one must snorkel very close to the rock in order to see anything but it may produce some of the most exiting snorkeling in Galapagos. Manta rays, sea turtles, sea lions, stingrays, many fish, even

Dolphins & sunfish have been seen and snorkeled with in this bay.

Along the cave there are Galapagos penguins, marine iguanas, swallow-tailed gulls, masked boobies, brown noddy 's, blue footed boobies and a breathtaking scenery unparalleled.

Galapagos Explorer II (B, L, D).

Wildlife viewing, hiking, swimming, snorkeling.

Morning: North Seymour

A small flat island. Rocks then a long sandy stretch where sea lions and marine iguanas hang out next to a surf wave. The interior has a Palo Santo small Opuntia cactus forest with Bluefooted boobies and magnificent Frigate bird colonies. An hour and a half visit. Dry landing.

Afternoon: Highlands & Lava Tunnels

You and your family will board a bus for a 45-minute ride through changing vegetation zones to the Santa Cruz Highlands.  Here, about 40 giant tortoises live in the wild.  By approaching quietly, you can find and observe a turtle on your own.  You also hike to tunnels made by cooling lava.

Galapagos Explorer II (B, L, D).

Considering the changes in the flight schedules, weather conditions and National Park Regulations, we have included several alternatives to the visits offered to our passengers the last day of the cruise program, some of the options are detailed below:

- La Loberia:

Sea lion colony, marine iguanas, warbler, finches, blue-footed boobies.

- Isla Lobos:

Situated less than an hour's ride from Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, Lobos Islet is a seasonal nesting location for the Blue-footed Booby.  Snorkeling.

- El Junco Lake:

Fresh water lake and water reservoir located at 700m, great views, Miconias, ferns, sedges, clubmoss, tree ferns, white-cheeked pintails, and common gallinules

- Interpretation Center

Donated by the Spanish Government in 1998, this state of the art facility offers both tourist and the inhabitants a complete education on the Islands. Your visit to the Archipelago is taken to a new level, since its inauguration.

Afternoon: Return flight to Quito. 

Hotel Hilton Colon (B)

Today you will be transferred to the airport for your departure flight with great memories of Ecuador.

(B)

RATES:

$3,374.00 per person double occupancy

$399.00 per person – internal air (Quito / Galapagos / Quito) – subject to change

$399.00 per person – internal air (Quito / Galapagos / Quito) – subject to change

Hotel taxes

Personal expenses such as laundry, room service, communication charges and optional activities (which are subject to availability)

We require a deposit of $1,000.00 per person to confirm space.  Final payment is due 100 days prior to departure.  If the reservation is made within 100 days of departure, the entire cost of the trip must be paid at the time of confirmation