Galapagos Athala
ITINERARY DAY BY DAY
8 days / 7 nights
Saturday to Saturday
Day 5
Bartolome Island / Rabida Island
Bartolome is a small island that has beautiful white sand beaches, luxuriant green mangroves and a colony of penguins. Activities will include swimming and snorkelling and a climb to the summit of the island for one of the most breathtaking views in all the Galapagos. From the summit you will have the best view of the often-photographed Pinnacle Rock.
Rabida is known for its unusual red colored beaches. The vegetation consists mainly of Opuntia Cactus, Palo Santo tress and scrubby bushes. Upon your wet landing you will probably see various sea lions and after a short hike you will reach the lagoon to see Flamingos and Pelicans.
Day 6
Punta Espinosa (Fernandina) / Urbina bay, Tagus Cove (Isabela)
Punta Espinosa, a narrow spit of land in the northeast corner of the Fernandina Island, where a number of unique Galapagos species can be seen in close proximity. As our panga driver skillfully navigates the reef, penguins show off by throwing themselves from the rocks into the water. Red and turquoise-blue zayapas crabs disperse across the lava shoreline, while herons and egrets forage through the mangrove roots. The landing is a dry one, set in a quiet inlet beneath the branches of a small mangrove forest. A short walk through the vegetation leads to a large colony of marine iguanas resting atop one another in friendly heaps along the rocky shoreline, spitting water to clear their bodies of salt.
Urbina Bay at Isabela Island is an easy wet landing on a gentle sloping beach. This area is very interesting in that it is a perfect example of the geological activity of the islands. In 1954 over 3 miles (5 kilometers) of the marine reef at the edge of the shore were uplifted by 13 feet (4 meters). Tagus Cove, a tour along the cliffs in a launch will give the visitors a good chance to see the Galapagos penguin, the flightless cormorant and other sea birds.
Day 7
South Plaza Island / Santa Fe Island
South Plaza Island, large sea lion colonies, land iguanas, opuntia cacti, swallow-tailed gulls, and red-billed tropic birds, etc. Duration of land visit 2-3 hours. Possibly snorkeling.
Santa Fe has one of the most beautiful coves of all the visitor sites in the archipelago. A turquoise lagoon with two small white sandy beaches are protected by a peninsula where sea lions rest. A trail runs along the side of the coast and then crosses through an Opuntia Forest. These prickly pear cacti are the largest found anywhere in the Galapagos. The Santa Fe species of land iguanas are also larger and of a paler yellow than on the other islands. After the hike you can swim or snorkel in the bay in the company of sea lions.
Day 8
Interpretation Center, San Cristobal Island departure
San Cristobal is the easternmost island in Galapagos; on its southwestern side is the own town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the capital of the providence of Galapagos.
On Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is the Interpretation Center newly opened by the Galapagos National park in 1998, which is truly an extraordinary contribution to the information and education of the islands communities and the travelers; its 80% is focus in the anthropology of the Galapagos, the 20% is scientific. Free time will be offer at leisure in the town.
Flight back to the Ecuador mainland.