Western Wonders 8-Day Galapagos Cruise - Koln Yacht

Flight from mainland Ecuador (Quito or Guayaquil) to Baltra, with LATAM Airlines. Your guide will meet you at arrivals gate, our crew will take care of your luggage.  Your guide will conduct you to a bus and after a short 5-kilometer ride to the pier; you board the Yacht immediately. As the crew weighs anchor, we greet you with our first orientation and we offer a light snack. After lunch, you make an early dry landing for a walk along the coast and the interior of North Seymour Island, a low, flat island that was uplifted from the sea by underground seismic activity. You observe blue footed boobies (they nest from May to November), marine iguanas, pelicans, frigate birds, shore birds, sea lions and endemic Palo Santo. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and snorkel. In the evening, we have an orientation about the Galapagos Islands in general: their origin and evolution. Welcome cocktail with the entire crew, and dinner.

After breakfast, we make a wet landing on Espumilla Beach, a brown sand beach. This beach is an important site for nesting marine turtles. Here, we also observe a lot of land birds like yellow warblers, Darwin’s finches a Galapagos flycatchers. A trail takes us through a Palo Santo forest. We walk behind the beach and we arrive to a salt-water lagoon, occasionally flamingos are seen. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. We navigate around Buccaneer Cove (Caleta Bucanero), an area of steep cliffs and dark beaches. The cliffs and pinnacle are used as nesting areas by several species of seabirds. This was a popular place for 17th & 18th century buccaneers to careen their vessels. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel or kayak.   We return to the boat for a delicious lunch. In the afternoon, we make a wet landing on James Bay (Puerto Egas), to walk and observe sponges, snails, hermit crabs, a variety of shore birds, barnacles and the endemic four-eyed blenny, marine iguanas and sea lions. Optional: time for those who would like to swim or snorkel. Dinner and our nightly orientation.

After breakfast, we make a panga ride on Tagus Cove, a protected cove between the shoulders of two volcanic craters which protect it from the open sea; we observe penguins, marine iguanas, sea lions and a variety of birds including flightless cormorant and blue footed boobies. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel and/ or kayak. Return to the Yacht for lunch. In the afternoon, we make a dry landing on Espinoza Point to observe and see a large colony of sea lions, marine iguanas and the flightless cormorants and clumps of lava cactus. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and snorkel.  Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

After breakfast, you make a wet landing on Urbina Bay to take a walk and observe a coral area, land iguanas, flightless cormorants and giant tortoises. Optional: time for those who would like to swim or snorkel. Return to the Yacht for lunch. In the afternoon, we make a panga ride on Punta Vicente Roca to observe plenty of sea lions, marine iguanas, blue-footed and masked boobies, and flightless cormorants. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

After breakfast, you make a dry landing on Bartolome Island, to hike to the summit; during the hike, you observe colonies of marine iguanas and lava lizards. On the summit you see an impressive view of the surrounding islands, including the eroded tuff cone of Pinnacle Rock. Optional: time for those who would like to swim or snorkel.  You return to the boat for a delicious lunch. In the afternoon, we make a wet landing on Sullivan Bay, a perfect place to get a feel of the volcanic origin of the islands. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and snorkel. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

After breakfast, you make a wet landing on Chinese Hat (Sombrero Chino), a small island off the Coast of Santiago Island, you can observe on the rocky shoreline: Galapagos penguins, eagle rays, sea lions and marine iguanas. This is an excellent snorkeling site. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel or kayak. You return to the boat for lunch. Later in the afternoon, you make a dry landing on the pier of the South Plaza, there you can enjoy the antics of the sea lions. A walk through a cactus forest allows us to observe land iguanas and many species of tropical birds. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

After breakfast, you will disembark to take the bus to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island for a visit to the native forests, at El Chato Reserve, then, you will go to enjoy the giant tortoises in the wildlife in a farm.  You will be delighted with the lunch in the farm. After lunch, you will return to Puerto Ayora to start the visit to the Interpretation Center Fausto Llerena inside the Charles Darwin Research Station.  You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

After breakfast, we disembark on Playa Las Bachas, a place where you can appreciate a Flamingos lagoon. During all walks, your guide will be explaining details about the lives of the birds and animals. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and snorkel. You return to the Yacht for disembarking on the pier. Your guide accompanies you on the bus ride directly to the airport