Itinerary

Day 1      Quito or Guayaquil

Arrive in either Quito or Guayaquil, Ecuador, where you will be met and transferred to your local hotel*. Quito is located in a huge valley of the Andes Mountains at an altitude of 9,455 feet; it’s a great place to extend your stay to explore the city or the surrounding volcanic mountain range. Guayaquil is Ecuador’s largest city, and with its low elevation and more coastal location, it is an ideal point from which to fly to Galapagos. Stay at a local inn in Quito or Guayaquil for two nights. (*Hotel/city tour package is not included in cruise rate.)
   
   
Day 2      Quito or Guayaquil

Quito city tour: Stroll down cobble stone streets and through flowering plazas; visit the old colonial center of Independence Square, the elegant cathedrals of San Francisco, La Compañía and San Agustín, Quito’s oldest monastery; drive through the residential section and past the Legislative Palace (Congress); Panecillo Hill overlooks the city and snow-capped mountains. The rest of the afternoon is at your leisure to explore or relax.
Guayaquil city tour: Your first stop is Malecon 2000, an 80-million-dollar riverside complex built along a two-mile stretch of the Guayas River. The waterfront boardwalk features a myriad of restaurants, cafes and shops, and museums with art exhibitions as well as free weekend jazz and classical music concerts. Drive through the colorful streets of Guayaquil, one of Ecuador’s most important port cities. Visit the Public Market, the waterfront and the docks, and Simon Bolivar Park, which is famous for its tree iguanas; admire the watchtower, La Rotonda, Old Santa Ana Fort, and Las Penas, a charming colonial section of town that is occupied by artists. The rest of the afternoon is at your leisure to explore or relax.
   
Meals: Breakfast   

Day 3      San Crist�bal

Today you will fly from Quito via Guayaquil (2.5 hours) to San Cristobal Island. Upon arrival at San Cristobal airport, you will pass through an inspection point to ensure that no foreign plants or animals are introduced to the islands, then your guide will meet you and escort you on the short bus ride to the harbor. Motorized rafts called pangas will transport you to the yacht, where your crew will welcome you aboard. After a briefing and a light lunch, you will make your first island landing at San Cristóbal, the easternmost island in Galapagos. On arrival you'll head to the island's southwestern side to the town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the capital of the Galapagos Province. Here you'll visit Galapagos National Park's newly opened Interpretation Center. It is a truly extraordinary contribution to the information and education of the island community and the traveler. This afternoon you'll pay a visit to Leon Dormido, also know as Kicker Rock. It is a spectacular formation that rises 152 meters (500 feet) out of the Pacific. It takes the form of a sleeping lion, but from another angle you can see that the rock is split, forming a colossal tablet and a great chisel ready for etching.
   
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: M/Y Grace   

Day 4      Tower Island

Begin your visit to Tower Island with a stop at Prince Phillip's Steps. Named for a visit by the British Monarch in 1964,  the 25-meter (81-foot) Phillip's Steps lead to a narrow stretch of land that opens out onto the plateau surrounding Darwin Bay and extends to form the north side of the island. A broad lava field forms the island's north shore. “Storm petrels” flutter out over the ocean in swarms, then return to nest in the cracks and tunnels of the lava field where their predator, the short-eared owl, is a frequent visitor. This afternoon you'll head to the white coral sands of Darwin Bay. Walking up the beach, you will be surrounded by the bustling activity of “great frigate birds.” Puffball-chicks with their proud papás—who sport their bulging scarlet throat-sacks—crowd the surrounding branches, while both yellow-crowned and lava herons feed by the shore. Swallow-tailed gulls, the only nocturnal gulls in the world, can be seen nesting at the cliff’s edge of Tower Island. A brief panga ride will bring you to the base of the cliffs, revealing the full variety of species sheltering in the ledges and crevices. This is also an intriguing place to go deep-water snorkeling, where the truly fortunate swimmer can spot one of the giant manta rays that frequent the inner bay.
   
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: M/Y Grace   

Day 5      Fernandina Island/Isabela Island

The big news on this youngest and westernmost of the islands is the La Cumbre volcano that erupts frequently – most recently in May 2005. Your destination is Punta Espinosa, a narrow spit of land in the northeast corner of the island, where a number of unique Galápagos species can be seen in close proximity. A short walk through the vegetation leads to a large colony of marine iguanas—a schoolyard of Godzilla’s children—resting atop one another in friendly heaps along the rocky shoreline, spitting water to clear their bodies of salt. This is one of the few places you can glimpse iguanas grazing on seaweed underwater.  Farther down this stretch of shore, the world’s only species of flightless cormorants have established their colony. Because these birds evolved without land predators, they progressively took to the sea. They developed heavier, more powerful legs and feet for kicking, serpent-like necks, and fur-like plumage, while their wings became mere vestiges. The next leg of your journey takes you to Isabela, the largest island in the archipelago. Isabella was formed from six shield volcanoes that merged into a single landmass; it is shaped like a sea horse. It is also home to the highest point in the Galápagos – Wolf Volcano, which stands at 1707 meters (5,547 feet). Later on today you'll sail through Bolivar Channel to Tagus Cove.These are very productive waters; whales and dolphins are often seen here. Tagus Cove was historically used as an anchoring site for pirates and whalers. The nature trail ascends through the dry vegetation zone and offers spectacular views of Darwin Lake, a saltwater crater lake with a long narrow inlet that appears to connect with it. At the top of the trail it is possible to observe the different vegetation zones, and there are great views of Darwin and Wolf Volcanoes. From here you might also catch a glimpse of Galapagos penguins, flightless cormorants, and pelicans.
   
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: M/Y Grace   

Day 6      Isabela/Urbina Bay/Punta Vicente Roca

Head to Urbina Bay and make an easy, wet landing on a gentle sloping beach. This area provides a perfect example of the geological activity of the islands: in 1954 over 3 miles of the marine reef at the edge of the shore were uplifted by 13 feet! Located at the “mouth” of the head of the sea horse, which forms the northern part of the islands, is Punta Vicente Roca. The remnants of an ancient volcano form two turquoise coves with a bay well-protected from the ocean swells. The upwelling of coldwater currents in this part of the Galápagos gives rise to an abundance of marine life, which, in combination with the protection of the coves, makes Punta Vicente Roca one of the archipelago's most sought-after dive spots. From here you can also take a panga ride along the volcanic cliff, or explore a partially sunken cave at the water’s edge. Masked and blue-footed boobies sit perched along the point and the sheer cliffs, while flightless cormorants inhabit the shoreline. The entire area of Punta Vicente Roca lies on the flank of 2,600 foot Volcano Ecuador, the island's sixth-largest volcano. Half of Volcano Ecuador slid into the ocean, leaving a spectacular cutaway view of the volcanic caldera.
   
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: M/Y Grace   

Day 7      Bartolome Island/Santa Cruz Island

This island is famous for Pinnacle Rock, a towering spearheaded obelisk that rises from the ocean’s edge and is the best known landmark in the Galápagos. Galápagos penguins—the only species of penguin found north of the equator—walk precariously along narrow volcanic ledges at its base. Penguins dot the nearby rocks of the next landing site, which is less than a kilometer away along the eastern shore. Here the submerged walls of a tiny volcanic crater give the impression of a fountain pool. This dry landing is the entrance to a 600-meter (2000-foot) pathway complete with stairs and boardwalks leading to Bartolome’s summit. The route is not difficult and presents a museum of vulcanology; it is a site left untouched after its last eruption, where cones stand in various stages of erosion and lava tubes form bobsled-like runs from the summit. At the top you will be rewarded with spectacular views of Santiago Island and James Bay to the west, and far below, Pinnacle Rock and your beach. This afternoon you'll head to Santa Cruz Island, the second largest island in the Galápagos and a hub for the archipelago. You'll take a panga ride through the protected mangrove to Black Turtle Cove. The panga's motor will be turned off to allow for the close observation of Black Turtle Cove's sea turtles, young white-tipped reef sharks, spotted eagle rays, and yellow rays.
   
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: M/Y Grace   

Day 8      Santa Cruz Island/Charles Darwin Station

Today you'll visit the the Tortoise Reserve in the Santa Cruz highlands, where you'll have the opportunity to track and view these friendly ancient creatures in their natural setting. The best times to see tortoises here is during the cool dry season from June through December. Afterwards, head to the small town of Punta Ayora in the southwestern part of Santa Cruz. Here you'll visit the Charles Darwin Research Station, which is the center of the great restorative efforts taking place in the park as well as a UNESCO World Heritage site. You'll visit the Giant Tortoise Breeding and Rearing Program run by the research station, which began by rescuing the remaining 16 tortoises on the island of Española in the 1970s. This program has restored the population of animals there to over 1,000 today. You will see many of these animals, from hatchlings to large, distinguished individuals like Lonesome George, who is the last of his particular race of tortoise—and may be 150 years old!
   
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: M/Y Grace   

Day 9      Hood Island

After arriving at Hood Island you'll head to Punta Suarez, which boasts a remarkable quantity and variety of wildlife. A few steps inland are the largest variety of marine iguana in the Galápagos. Further east along the cliffs is the “Albatross Airport” where “waved albatross” line up to launch their great winged bodies from the cliffs. In the trees set back from the cliff is one of only two places in the world where the waved albatross nests. In fact, the 12,000 pairs that inhabit Hood Island comprise all but a tiny fraction of the world’s population of this species. You'll also visit Gardner Bay today on the northeastern shore of Hood Island.  It offers a magnificent long white sandy beach where colonies of sea lions laze in the sun, sea turtles swim offshore, and inquisitive mockingbirds boldly investigate new arrivals. The snorkeling by Tortuga rock and Gardner Island offer peak encounters with playful young sea lions and large schools of tropical fish, including yellow tailed surgeonfish, king angelfish and bump-head parrot fish.
   
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: M/Y Grace   

Day 10      San Cristobal/Quito or Guayaquil

Today your voyage comes to an end, but before you leave you'll make a final visit to Galapagos National Park's Interpretation Center at Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. Afterwards, return to the airport for your flight back to the Ecuadorian mainland. Transfer to your hotel for your overnight.
   
Meals: Breakfast   

Day 11      Departure

Transfer to the international airport for your flight home.
   
Meals: None

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