Galapagos Coral II
ITINERARY DAY BY DAY
8 days / 7 nights
Sunday to Sunday
Day 1
Baltra Island arrival / Highlands (Santa Cruz Island)
Departure from Quito or Guayaquil to Baltra airport in Galapagos. Passengers are greeted by guides at the airport and transferred to the Itabaca canal, cross to the Santa Cruz and travel to Puerto Ayora.
One of the options is to cross the highlands of Santa Cruz. Passengers will visit Cerro Chato. In this visit, you’ll be able to observe the famous giant tortoises that gave the name to these islands. Additionally, travelers can literally get into the Galapagos by walking in the dormant lava tubes.
Day 2
Punta Suarez / Gardner Bay (Espanola Island)
Travelers enjoy a dry landing at Suarez Point. Upon landing visitors will learn more about the lava terrain while crossing the inactive lava fields. Aside from the sea lion colonies, this is one of the most important sites for bird watching. As soon as visitors step on this island many species can be spotted and observed closely. Among the many species, the hooded mocking bird and red billed tropic.
In the afternoon, passengers will visit Gardner Bay. Wet landing on a white coral beach amidst a large colony of sea lions. This site has no trails, therefore hiking, is not possible. But it is considered as an open area where you can spot Galapagos hawks, American oystercatchers, Galapagos doves, and hood mockingbirds, three species of Darwin finches and yellow warblers, lava lizards, marine iguanas. All of these species are endemic to this island. This is a great place for swimming and snorkeling.
Day 3
Punta Cormorant / Post Office Bay (Floreana Island)
Wet landing on a greenish colored sand beach. Passengers will hike a well-marked trail beginning in the Black Mangrove beds heading towards the back of the lagoon. The large, brackish lagoon holds one of the biggest populations of flamingos in the Galapagos. This island is best known for its endemic plant life, such as: the Galapagos millwork, passion flower, and unique button mangrove. Novice snorkelers can practice back on the main beach where the sea lions are playful, while experienced snorkelers can roam the waters around Devils Crown.
Post Office Bay located on the north side of Floreana Island. A short walk from the famous barrel, across typical vegetation of the island, we come to a tunnel formed by lava flows. It’s quite a tricky way down to a path where we can observe land birds such as Galapagos mockingbird, some species of Darwin’s finches, yellow warblers and lava lizards.
Day 4
Seymour Island / Dragon Hill (Santa Cruz Island)
In Seymour Island guests will encounter swallow tailed gulls and sea lions. This site is also known for being a major nesting colony of blue footed boobies and the largest colony of the magnificent frigate bird, . Travelers will also spot both endemic species of iguanas, the marine iguanas and land iguanas.
During this excursion visitors head for Dragon Hill. After a dry landing, passengers walk to a hypersalinic lagoon behind the beach. Occasionally visited by Galapagos pink flamingos. The trail then leads up to Dragon Hill, which offers a beautiful view of the bay. This area is a nesting site for a large number of land iguanas that where reintroduced by the Charles Darwin Research Station.