10 Days / 9 Nights

DAY 1 WED: Arrival in Quito
Transfer to Dann Carlton Hotel. Overnight at the hotel.

DAY 2 THU : San Cristobal – Highland (Junco & Highlands)
Early morning transfer to Quito´s airport for your flight to Galapagos.

Also known as Chatam, this island of 558 sq km is the fifth largest in the archipelago and has the second largest population. The provincial capital of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is found on the south west point of the island. Arrive at San Cristobal Airport, where you will be greeted by our naturalist guide. Transfer to the MONSERRAT YACHT. Check in and have lunch on board.
In the afternoon, our first stop will be Laguna El Junco, the largest fresh water lake in the Galapagos. Visit La Galapaguera, a reservation for giant tortoises. (BLD)

DAY 3 FRI: Espanola Island
This Island, often called by its English name of Hood, is the most southerly in the archipelago. It is a medium sized island of 61sq km. Punta Suarez lies at the western end of the island. A wet landing is necessary. There is a trail of about two km in length which takes the visitor through a beach full of marine iguanas and masked and blue–footed booby colonies before reaching the main attraction, the waved Albatross colony.

Gardner Bay is a beautiful white sand beach at the east end of Española. It is reached with a wet landing and there is good swimming, and a sea lion colony. An islet rock, a short distance away, provides with good snorkeling. You can often see white – tipped reef sharks around it. (BLD)

DAY 4 SAT: Santa Fe – Plazas
Santa Fe (or Barrington in English) is a 24sq km island lies about 20km southeast of Santa Cruz and is very popular for day trips. There is a good anchorage in an attractive bay on the north. A short 300 meter trail takes you to on of the tallest stands of opuntia cactus in the island to look out for land iguanas. Other attractions include a sea lion colony, excellent snorkeling, marine iguanas and of course birds.

Plazas: These two small islands are just off the east coast of Santa Cruz. A dry landing on a jetty brings you to an opuntia cactus forest where there are many land iguanas. A one km trail circuit leads visitors through sea lion colonies and along a cliff top walk where swallow – tailed gulls and other species nest. After returning on board, we cruise for Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island where you will have the chance to disembark on the evening after dinner. (BLD)

DAY 5 SUN: Santa Cruz Island
In the morning we will visit the “Fausto Llerena” giant tortoise breeding and rearing center. The facilities are named after this individual, who with a lot of care and passion for his job, has been in charge of this breeding center for decades. He has helped save many giant tortoise generations for more than 30 years. Return to the Monserrat for lunch.
In the afternoon we will board a coach to visit the highlands of Santa Cruz (35 mins) where we will visit the Gemelos, two collapsed craters that serve as a reminder of the volcanic origins of the
archipelago. (BLD)

DAY 6 MON: Sullivan Bay and Bartolome Island
This morning we visit Sullivan Bay lava field where we can set foot on Santiago’s last volcanic eruption, nearly 100 years ago. Here we can find shapes and textures of trees that once existed here and Hornitos caused when pockets of gas or water trapped under the lava exploded. The Sullivan Bay Lava is known a Panoehoe (Hawaiian for rope). This thin‐skinned lava's molten material cools down after an eruption causing the surface materials to buckle creating a rope like appearance. Panoehoe Lava is rare to the rest of the world except for the volcanoes of Hawaii and the Galapagos Islands.

Following lunch, we will visit Bartolome Island. From here we can see the most frequently photographed and hence most famous vista of the islands. There are two visitor sites and footpaths. One begins from a jetty (dry landing) from where we walk 600 meters to the 114 mt. summit of the island. The other visitor site is a small sandy beach in a cove (wet landing). Here there is good snorkeling and swimming and the opportunity to swim with the endemic Galápagos penguins which frequented this cove. (BLD)

DAY 7 TUE: Mosquera – North Seymour Island
Between North Seymour and Baltra is the small island of Mosquera. The island consists of a long narrow stretch of white sand, rocks, and tide pools. Created by geological uplift, the island has a flat look to it rather than the conical shape of the volcanically formed islands. Mosquera is a regular first or last day visit for boats operating out of Baltra.
Mosquera calm waters offer excellent snorkeling opportunities and a stroll down the beach offers views of the brown pelicans, boobies and colonies of sea lions that can be found here.
On the afternoon we will visit North Seymour Island. Here we will visit a circular trail leading through some of the largest and most active seabirds breeding colonies in the islands. Magnificent frigate birds and blue footed boobies are the main attractions. (BLD)

DAY 8 WED: Punta Pitt – Islas Lobos
In the northeast of the island is Punta Pitt, a unique volcanic formation. The area is a nesting site for all three species of the Galapagos booby and home to an endemic species of lava lizard.
Cerro Brujo and Turtle Bay, where flamingoes and turtles can be seen, are often visited during trips to Punta Pitt.
Heading up the coast from Wreck Bay and Puerto Baquerizo, you will see Isla Lobos across a small channel off the coast of San Cristobal. The basalt island outcropping lives up to its name of "Sea Lion Island" with a noisy population of frolicking and barking beasts. It is also a nesting place for blue‐footed boobies and an excellent spot for snorkeling. (BLD)

DAY 9 THU: San Cristobal Island:
Early this morning we will visit Sleeping Lion, a little rocky island which because of a fanciful resemblance to a sleeping lion, is named Leon Dormido. The English name, however, is Kicker rock. The island is a sheer walled tuff cone which has been eroded into two smaller rocks.
After our arrival to San Cristobal, we visit its Interpretation Center where we can walk through the Galapagos Islands’ volcanic origins, its first human settlements and the great challenges we face ahead.

Later, transfer to the airport for your flight back to Quito. Arrival in Quito and transfer to DANN CARLTON HOTEL. Overnight at the hotel. (B)

DAY 10 FRI: Depart Quito to North America
Transfer to Quito’s airport for return flight home. (B)