Day 1: Baltra - Las Bachas Beach
Fly from the Ecuadorian mainland to the islands on an early morning 90-minute flight. As you prepare to land in Baltra, look out the window. The landscape below will seem out of this world. The Galapagos Islands are completely unique and you’re about to see why. After you clear customs, your bilingual naturalist guide will greet you at the airport. During lunch he/she will introduce you to the islands, specifically the flora and fauna.
On the sandy white beaches of Las Bachas, you will get a close look at a sea turtle nesting area as well as a lake frequented by pink flamingos and other migratory birds. Afterwards, you will cool off with a dip in the beautiful, blue Pacific Ocean. As this is the first evening together, the crew will invite everyone to a pre-dinner cocktail on the yacht before the welcome dinner. If the night is clear, as it usually is, the stars above will sparkle; look for the Southern Cross, the Big Dipper (turned up-side down!) and Orion.
Day 2: Darwin Bay - El Barranco
After breakfast, visit the Genovesa “Tower” Island, which is located in the northeastern part of the Galapagos. At “Tower” Island, you’ll anchor at Darwin Bay, which is located on the southern part of the island, and is actually the caldera of an extinct, partially eroded volcano, with the surrounding cliffs forming the inner lining of the rim. The tour will be a long, fairly-easy walk, but it is usually hot and dry here, so you may want to carry some water. After a wet landing on a coral beach the trail begins in an area where there are several swallow-tailed gulls. As you walk back from the beach, you’ll see a variety of Opuntia cactus and mangroves.
In the afternoon, you will visit El Barranco before returning to the boat for dinner.
Day 3: Bartolome Island - Sullivan Bay
Bartolome Island, which at its highest point is 114 meters, is one of the most photographed vistas in the archipelago. This island is quite young and quite volcanic, therefore, it's relatively unpopulated; only a small handful of die-hard plant and animal species have survived long enough to call this lava-land home.
After the visit to Bartolome Island, you’ll visit nearby Sullivan Bay. At the turn of the century a huge lava flow spilled right down to the sea and today you can stroll across this black volcanic expanse, admiring its time-frozen ripples, bubbles and ropes.
Day 4: Daphne Island - Black Turtle Cove - Cerro Dragon
Early in the morning, you’ll arrive to Daphne Island, a cone formed by the accumulation of volcanic ash, which is home to thousands of birds such as blue footed boobies, frigate birds, tropic birds, and many more. We wont go ashore here, but we’ll navigate around this volcanic cone, so binoculars are recommended to get a good look at the birds. Daphne has been a great research site on which many scientists have spent years studying the behavior of Darwin’s finches.
Later, you’ll move on to our next site, Black Turtle Cove, which is a red mangrove lagoon on Santa Cruz and is a nursery for many sharks and rays. It’s also a great location to observe mating turtles around this time of year. You’ll see large groups of resting White-Tip Reef Sharks, schools of Golden Rays and Spotted Eagle Rays, and a few juvenile Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks and Black-Tip Sharks. The water very calm so we often used paddles instead of the loud panga engines to move around the area.
After lunch, you’ll navigate for a couple of hours to Cerro Dragon, where you’ll make a dry landing on lava rocks. Cerro Dragon is a small bay on the west coast of Santa Cruz and got its name from the many land iguanas that live in the area. Land iguanas are endemic to the Galapagos Islands where they have found good mating and nesting areas.
Day 5: Charles Darwin Research Station - Puerto Ayora
After breakfast you’ll sail to Santa Cruz Island, where you’ll visit the world-famous Charles Darwin Station, a non-profit institution that dedicates itself to studying and protecting the flora and fauna of the Galapagos. This is one of the best places to see land tortoises, including Lonesome George, the last survivor of his subspecies.
Aside from the Station headquarters, Santa Cruz Island is home to the largest town and economic center of the Galapagos, Puerto Ayora. In this port-side town you can buy souvenirs (postcards, t-shirts, books, etc.) of the islands. After lunch, you will explore the upper region of the island and learn about the vegetation and animal life of the area. Return to town in the late afternoon and check out its night life while the boat is docked for most of this night.
Day 6: Cormorant Point, Devil's Crown & Post Office Bay, Floreana Island
Your first stop is Punta Cormorant, where you’ll follow a footpath to a lagoon inhabited by flaming-pink flamingos. You will also pass by Carolina Beach, a Sea Turtle nesting area and a superb spot for watching sea birds and sea rays.
Back on the yacht, you’ll skirt the island’s coast until you arrive at La Corona del Diablo (the Devil’s Crown), a sub-marine crater that offers some of the most spectacular snorkeling in the Galapagos. This is a great spot for seeing the wide array of tropical fish, many endemic to the islands, including purple sea stars and spiky sea urchins. The crater’s most thrilling undersea creatures, however, are the white-tipped sharks.
After returning to the boat for lunch you’ll sail on to Post Office Bay, where the islands’ original post office (really only a wooden barrel) was established in 1793. The current system still functions as it did three centuries ago: Visitors drop off unstamped letters and postcards and pick-up whatever mail they can hand deliver themselves when they return home!
Day 7: Suarez Point & Gardner Bay, Espanola Island
Espanola is one of the most magical of all the islands. It is a place where the animals reign supreme and we humans are merely guests. As your dingy brings you to shore you’ll see Sea Lion pups sunbathing with Marine Iguanas and Blue Footed Boobies nesting in between, nearby may be a Galapagos Hawk, Frigate Bird and Waved Albatross.
As you make your way around the island, you will pass by El Soplador, a giant blowhole that explodes to heights reaching 25 feet. In the nearby tide pools you can often find lounging sea lions enjoying the blowhole’s misty spray.
In the late afternoon, you will visit Gardner Bay, a great place for sunbathing, swimming and snorkelling. Lionfish, Flycatchers, and Galapagos Hawks will keep you company as you relax under the rays of the evening sun.
Day 8: Lobos Island - Depart San Crisobal Airport
After breakfast, you will visit Lobos Island, a very small islet made of volcanic rocks that gets its name from the colony of Sea Lions that live there. Here you can observe the behavior and interaction of Sea Lions living in a small community.
Before taking the flight back to the mainland you will have some time to visit the town on your own for last minute shopping or people watching in the Galapagos. You will then be transferred to San Cristobal Airport for your outbound flight home.
