8 DAY GALAPAGOS ISLAND HOPPING TOUR

Am: Baltra Airport – Transfer to Puerto Ayora.

After two hours and a half of flying from Quito or Guayaquil you arrive at 11:00-12:30 at the airport on Baltra Island. A Naturalist Guide of our Company will meet you at the entrance and welcome to this famous Galapagos Archipelago, as soon as you get the luggage, with all members of the group, you will take an airline company bus, ride for around 10 minutes to the Itabaca channel, cross the channel on a public boat (ten minutes ride) to the northern part of Santa Cruz Island where a private transport waits to bring you to the hotel in Puerto Ayora after an hour riding passing through different zones of vegetation from the arid to the humid and again to the arid then you have lunch in one of the restaurants of the town.

Pm: Charles Darwin Research Station

You walk to the Charles Darwin Research Station to see few land iguanas and the Galapagos giant tortoises, some of them are breeding in captivity helping to recover the normal population of the original islands, tortoises from different islands and babies between just few weeks to 5 years old which must be fed and receive special protection against introduce rats and cats. This is a nice beginning trip because you have the chance to visit the Interpretation Center with a lot of information about the wild life of these famous islands.
​When you walk to Darwin Center you have a good possibility to see marine iguanas on different size, birds: pelicans, finches, mockingbirds, Galapagos fly catchers; and many lava lizards. You can spend around 2 hours on this activity and then you will be free for shopping or just to walk back to the hotel, where the Guide will meet you at 19:00 to explain for the next day activities. Remind please dinner is in your own because is not included in the trip.

Am: Sierra Negra Volcano – Chico Volcano

Breakfast is at 07:00 at the hotel, you should put your sport shoes on, sunscreen on and take with you, enough drinking water, a hat, a camera and some money just in case you want to buy something. You receive a box lunch because is a long hike to Sierra Negra and Chico volcanoes and are going back around 14:00.
Your guide will take you (in a local taxi) to the base of the Sierra Negra volcano, after approximately 40 minutes’ ride, you cross the little village and pass different zones of vegetation from the Arid to the High Lands. Sierra Negra is 60 to 40 km wide and has with 7 to 10 km the largest and simultaneously the shallowest of all volcanoes of the Galapagos. Even when Sierra Negra does not have the largest caldera in the world but it still ranges in the first fifty or so largest calderas of our planet. The caldera itself has several episodes of collapse, upheaval and deformation, ten eruptions occurred and some involved a frequently visited caldera rim fissure zone called Chico volcano. In the surrounding appear many vulcanological features such as solidified volcanic lava fountains (lava blobs) of up to three metros in altitude, cascades of lava, small lava lakes, transitions of pahoehoe to AA, small often intact lava tubes, bigger often collapsed lava tubes and the famous fumarolic activity.

Pm: Concha de Perla (swimming or snorkeling)
You have an optional swimming or snorkeling activity at Concha Perla, it is a good spot to look for tropical fish and turtles. You need to put swimming suit on, sport sandals on, sunscreen on and take with you a towel, a hat, a camera and snorkeling gear. Back to the hotel and be ready for the evening briefing.

Am: Return to Santa Cruz Island from Isabela Island

In the morning you will take a speed boat to return to Santa Cruz Island (two and a half hours of sailing). At arrival you will pick to up to the hotel for the check-in.

After a little break get ready to walk to the restaurant to enjoy lunch.

Pm: Highlands of Santa Cruz (wild tortoises) and Lava Tunnels

For the afternoon visit, you should put sport shoes on, sunscreen on, and take with you a light rain jacket in case of mist in the Cold dry season or rain in the rainy season, a hat, a camera and some money to buy for sodas or ice cream.
You take a private transport and ride for 40 minutes to reach a ranch at the High Lands, at the both sides of the road you see native flora but also introduce fruits such us: guava, papaya, black berry, etc. The ranch is the site where the Galapagos Giant Tortoises are free to walk where ever they want, belong to one of the species that are still alive giving to you a good example of the domo shape type. Any low plant species is good food for these huge animals and the High Lands been more humid (600- 700 mm rain fall in a year) than the Low Lands (100- 200 mm rain fall in a year) have more food for them and this is one of the reasons to see tortoises all year around.
The birds are present too: Darwin finches (woodpecker finch, large tree finch), Galapagos flycatchers, yellow warblers, Cattle Egret (the newest arrival of any animal species on natural way), Smooth billed Anis (humans brought from the mainland). Moorhens (Common Gallinule)
Now you have a chance to walk inside of a lava tunnel, this is a volcanic natural formation, when the channel at the centre of a flow may also form a crust where the molten rock chills against the air. As molten lava beneath continues to flow and drains out from under the crust, it leaves behind a hollow in the flow, which is called a lava tube or tunnel. Back to the hotel and be ready for the evening briefing.

Activities: South Plaza – Punta Carrión

Breakfast at hotel. Tranfer to Itabaca Channel (north of Santa Cruz Island), then a boat ride that will take us to South Plaza Island. After sailing for about an hour we will have a dry landing. There, a hike along a path for about a 1km can be enjoyed. Next, we’ll sail 20 minutes more to Punta Carrion, where we’ll be able to enjoy snorkeling in calm, shallow waters. Here, there is a good chance of watching tropical fish and white tip sharks, locally called Tintoreras. Lunch on board of the speed boat. Dinner at Puerto Ayora.

Information about South Plaza Island

It is a small island located east of Santa Cruz Island. The vegetation of this island is very picturesque; the color of the Opuntia cactus contrasts with the beautiful reddish color sesuvium (plant) in the dry season. The island has a colony of land iguanas represented by about 450 individuals who are the smallest of their kind. We will also have the opportunity to observe a colony of sea lions enjoying their natural habitat in the water and on the rocks, aggressive adult males moving in the water near the coast back and forth patrolling its territory, especially during their mating season. We will also see seabirds taking advantage of the cliffs to rest after fishing and build their nests.

Activities: Bartolome Island

Breakfast at hotel. Tranfer to Itabaca Channel (north of Santa Cruz Island), sailing to Bartolome Island; navigation is approximately 2 hours long. In this island there is a dry landing. First, we will climb to the top of the islet, 400 mt hike in a sandy flat terrain and ascend using a staircase of 372 steps. Upon returning we will have the opportunity to swim and snorkel, enjoying the beach. Lunch on board of the speed boat. Dinner at Puerto Ayora.

Information about Bartolome Island

Is a small island of 1.2 km2 and approximately 114m high. The main attractions are the beach, volcanic landscape, the pinnacle and small colony of Galapagos penguins, which can be seen in the water in your fishing trip or resting on the rocks. Once atop the island we will have the opportunity to enjoy the volcanic beauty and the most representative landscape of the Galapagos Islands. We will also see the famous Galapagos penguins, the only species that breeds in the two hemispheres, north and south. We’ll climb to the top of the islet, 400 mt hike in a sandy flat terrain and ascend using a staircase of 372 steps.

Activities: North Seymour Island – Bachas Beach

Breakfast at hotel. Transfer to Itabaca Channel (north of Santa Cruz Island), sailing to Seymour Norte Island for about 30 min. In this island there is a dry landing. This place will be explored hiking for about an hour and a half. Sailing again for about 30 minutes we will arrive to Las Bachas Beach in northern Santa Cruz Island. In this beach there is a wet landing, so be prepared! We´ll take a short walk to a lagoon in which occasionally you can see flamingos, Galapagos ducks, coastal and migratory birds. Again you will have chance to snorkel and swim at the beach. Lunch on board of the speed boat.Dinner at Puerto Ayora.

Information about North Seymour Island

It is located north of the Baltra Island, which has a path of about 2 km (4 miles). North Seymour is one of the islands formed by volcanic underwater lifting lavas. In 1932 and 1933, about 70 land iguanas were introduced to the island with the intention that these iguanas would able to survive in the wild than in captivity. North Seymour is a small island with a variety of wildlife such as colonies of magnificent frigatebirds, the only island where you can see their courtship throughout the year (magnificent frigatebirds as well as common frigatebirds). If you visit us at the time of blue-footed boobies nesting, you can also observe their unique dance that makes them so special for visitors. In the island you will also find sea lions, swallow-tailed gulls, land birds such as finches, canaries, pigeons and some reptiles like Galapagos land iguanas and lava lizards.

Am: Twin craters – Transfer out to Baltra Airport

Breakfast is at 07:00. Be ready to go to the airport on Baltra Island, check you are carrying all your personal belongings, remind once you leave the hotel you are not going back. There are two pit craters on the way to the Itabaca Channel locally called twins because are similar in shape and size. It is the last walk in your trip around one of the two big holes where you enjoy the view, Scalecia forest, native trees and plants, Galapagos mockingbirds, Galapagos doves, occasionally Vermilion flycatcher and Short eared owls.