Galápagos Islands Tour

Trip Description

Accomodation

Stay program

• day 1

  Visit to the Highlands Reserve

  Upon your arrival in the archipelago, at Baltra airport, you will take a shuttle to the Itabaca Channel, then a 5-minute ferry to reach Santa Cruz Island. Finally, you will take the road to the town of Puerto Ayora. On the way, you will make a stop at the Highlands reserve, where you will have the privilege of seeing amazing Galapagos giant tortoises in their natural environment. You can also explore the lava tunnels before having lunch in a local restaurant. Once you arrive in Puerto Ayora in the afternoon, you can enjoy your free time to discover the town at your own pace, after checking in at the hotel. Later in the evening, a welcome dinner will be served to you in a local restaurant.

• day 2

  Discovery of Bartolomé Island or the Plaza Islands

  

  Today, you will have the choice between two magnificent Galapagos islands. Option 1: Discovery of Bartolomé Island Bartolomé Island is located a few hundred meters southeast of Santiago Island. After having breakfast on board the boat, your guide will give you a short explanation of the day. The visit will begin with a 40-minute walk to the summit, which rises to 114 meters in height. The spectacular views make this place a fantastic spot for group photos. The trail crosses a wild, lunar lava landscape, worthy of another world. You can walk along the wooden walkway built to protect visitors and limit trail erosion. Option 2: Exploration of the Plaza Islands On the Plaza Islands, you will follow a path through a forest of Opuntia cacti, often reaching 10 meters in height. It is sometimes difficult to know where to go because of the large number of land iguanas present on the island, which feed on the succulent flowers of the cacti that grow there. A one-kilometer-long trail will lead you through colonies of sea lions and along the cliff, where you will see swallow-tailed gulls as well as other animal species. It is an excellent viewpoint for photographing a variety of seabirds. Lunch will be served on the boat before heading to Punta Carrión (near the Baltra channel) to go snorkeling with sea lions and non-aggressive white-tip reef sharks.

• day 3

  Excursion to Seymour Island or Santa Fe Island

  

  This morning, you will depart for an extraordinary excursion to Seymour Island or Santa Fe Island, depending on your choice. Option 1: Visit to Seymour Island On Seymour Island, you will walk along a 2.5 km trail through the nesting sites of the largest breeding colonies on the islands. There you will find blue-footed boobies, magnificent and large frigatebirds, as well as swallow-tailed gulls. It will also be an opportunity to see sea lions, Galapagos land iguanas, marine iguanas, lava lizards, and pelicans. Option 2: Discovery of Santa Fe Island Upon your arrival on the island, you will be enthusiastically welcomed by the local colony of sea lions. Following your naturalist guide, you will walk along a trail that will lead you to the main attraction of Santa Fe Island: an impressive forest of giant cacti. Scattered around these cacti, you will see a number of the island's native sun-seekers, including marine and land iguanas, as well as rainbow-striped lava lizards. If you are lucky, you may even spot land tortoises, the island's namesakes. After the trek, you can dive into the cool sea and go snorkeling with sea lions, lionfish, and sea turtles.

• day 4

  Relaxing on the beach of Tortuga Bay

  After enjoying a good breakfast, the morning adventure will begin. You can have a great time at Tortuga Bay, a white sand beach that stretches along natural emerald green ponds, filled with thousands of colorful fish. It is also common to see turtles, marine iguanas, and pelicans. After lunch, you will board a boat heading to Isabela Island for a journey of about two hours, depending on sea conditions. Upon our arrival and after checking in at your hotel, you can explore the town at your leisure. You can enjoy dinner at a local restaurant.

• day 5

  Sierra Negra Volcano

  

  On this new day, you will head towards the Sierra Negra volcano. After crossing the highlands of Isabela Island, you will begin to climb the slopes of the volcano up to the edge of its crater. The Sierra Negra, which reaches an altitude of about 1,500 meters and an outer diameter of about 9 kilometers, is the second largest lava dome in the world. You will walk along the cone to the rest area on the northeast side of the volcano. In the afternoon, you will continue the day with a boat ride through the port of Isabela Island. After passing sea lions and pelicans basking in the sun on the fishing boats, you will reach the small island of Las Tintoreras. You will be able to admire the unique lava landscape with its huge colonies of marine iguanas. A colony of sea lions also lives on this island and it is common to see white-tip reef sharks resting in the water near the shore.

• day 6

  Direction Los Túneles

  After breakfast, you will have the opportunity to go to Los Túneles ("The Tunnels"), an area of natural underwater stone tunnels located about an hour from the town of Puerto Villamil. You will be able to observe huge manta rays and turtles. In the background, you should be able to see the Sierra Negra volcano, which rises like a tower above the island. At Los Túneles, you will have the chance to snorkel with Galapagos penguins and tropical fish. In the afternoon, you will walk to the Humedales, the wetlands of Isabela Island. With a bit of luck, you may see flamingos in the lagoons. You will also cross lava tunnels, which are very popular with marine iguanas. Finally, you will continue to the "Wall of Tears," one of the most moving human monuments in the archipelago. The immense mound of stones (8 meters high and about 200 meters long) was built in the 1940s by prisoners from a penal colony that was there from 1946 to 1959.

• day 7

  Visit to Santa Cruz Island

  Before taking your flight to Quito, you can enjoy one last visit on the island of Santa Cruz. You can visit the famous Charles Darwin Research Station there. This center includes an information center, a museum, a library, and a turtle breeding station. In the turtle breeding center, you can observe turtles of different subspecies that are being prepared for their reintroduction into their natural habitats. We also invite you to take one last look at these "enchanted islands," a truly unique and wonderful paradise. This tour of the Galápagos Islands was an opportunity for you to experience one of the most extraordinary adventures of your life and thus create memories that will remain engraved in your memory.