Tour Galapagos Islands – EGT5
Explore and discover incredible wildlife and geography on this Tour Galapagos Islands package. Learn what Charles Darwin thought about The Galapagos islands from your base on Santa Cruz Island. Take daily excursions to other islands to meet giant turtles and tortoises, come face to face with sea life while snorkeling, hike on volcanic rock, and watch unusual antics of multiple species of birds. Islands visited are Santa Cruz, Bartholome, Seymour and Plazas.
Itinerary
Day 1 Thursday – Highlands and Charles Darwin Station
Arrival in Baltra. We will take a shuttle through Santa Cruz Island, reaching the highlands of the Galapagos. We make a stop to visit a ranch to see Giant Turtles in their natural habitat. Enjoy lunch at the ranch before we continue to Charles Darwin Station. The center is a reservoir of information on habitats and local conservation, as well as other fascinating relevant statistics. The most striking attraction of this station is certainly the Tortoise Breeding Center, where it is possible to view tortoises of varied sizes and shapes. Among other inhabitants at the center, you can see land and marine iguanas and different species of birds.
Meals included: Lunch
Accommodations: Hotel
Day 2 Friday – Excursion to Bartholome Island
Early in the morning, transfer to Baltra to start our first navigable tour to Bartholome Island with breakfast on board. Bartholome is a small island located next to Santiago Island. One of the Islands´ principal attractions is the “pinnacle rock”. In order to see it properly, we will take an easy hike for around an hour. Learn about the volcanic landscape of the island and see different species such as lava lizard. From the top, we get a magnificent view of Pinnacle Rock, contrasting with the volcanic landscape and the turquoise waters of the surrounding beaches. After the excursion, we will proceed to do snorkeling at one of the coral beaches of the area where, if we are lucky, we will see: marine turtles, sea lions, multicolor fish and penguins. Lunch will be on board.
Meals included: Breakfast and lunch
Accommodations: Hotel
Day 3 Saturday – Excursion to Seymour Island
Enjoy a navigable tour to North Seymour, a 1.9 km² island located north of Baltra. The main fauna species of this island are land iguanas, the magnificent Frigate bird with their incredible scarlet regular pouch, blue-footed boobies and their peculiar courtship dance, and sea lions surfing across the waves. After lunch on board the boat, we will do snorkeling in Bachas where you will be able to discover different fish species and also swim with sea lions.
Meals included: Breakfast and lunch
Accommodations: Hotel
Day 4 Sunday – Excursion to Plazas Island
South Plazas is situated off the east cost of Santa Cruz Island. It is formed from uplifted marine lava and is one of the smallest islands on the archipelago. This island, despite its size, has a large concentration of wildlife. We will disembark at a small dock frequently occupied by sea lions. After this, we continue through a small forest of prickly pear cacti with their yellow flowers. Keep a watch for land iguanas around the cacti. From the cliff, you can often see a shoal of the endemic yellow-tailed mullet. The cliff is an excellent spot to view swallow-tailed gulls, tropic bird, frigate birds, pelicans, and even bull seal.
Meals included: Breakfast and lunch
Accommodations: Hotel
Day 5 Monday – Depart
After breakfast, an assistant will take you to the airport for your flight back to the mainland.
Meals included: Breakfast
