Galapagos Eclipse
ITINERARY DAY BY DAY
8 days / 7 nights
Saturday to Saturday
Day 5
Urbina Bay / Elizabeth Bay (Isabela Island)
You will then head to Urbina Bay a unique site where the coral reef was extraordinarily raised out of the ocean, by the volcanic activity of Alcedo, in 1954. This rather flat and distinguished place is home some monstrous land iguanas and the resident population of giant tortoises.
You will head out to Elizabeth Bay, set on the western shore of the island, it is an extremely interesting location for observing bird and marine life of many different forms. Due to the lack of landing sites you will have to stick to the waterways to catch sightings of the local inhabitants such as penguins, sea turtles, white-tipped reef sharks and the inevitable sea lions.
Day 6
Puerto Ayora / Highlands (Santa Cruz Island)
Heading to the main island, Isla Santa Cruz you visit the Charles Darwin Research Centre, where you can learn more about the islands` natural history and conservation, before popping into the station’s tortoise rearing centre.
In the afternoon you head up into the Highlands, for a close encounter with 250 kg of wild tortoise to be found roaming the area around the town of Santa Rosa, before visiting the extraordinary twin sunken craters of "Los Gemelos".
Day 7
Gardner Bay / Punta Suarez (Espanola Island)
Today’s visit takes you to the southernmost Island in the archipelago, Espanola (Hood), which, due to its distance from the rest of the chain, is host to many animals found nowhere else in the islands, such as the fascinating Waved Albatross.
The rocky point of Punta Suarez sustains one of the most impressive and varied colonies of sea birds in Galapagos. Along its southern shore, high cliffs rise up from the sea, for spectacular views of soaring birds, and the famous blowhole where water spouts up to 50 or 75 feet into the air. After lunch you will head to the picturesque white sands of Gardner Bay, where you can join the sea lions playing in the surf, and admire the strange, but familiar shape of the Tortuga Islet.
Day 6
Black Turtle Cove (Santa Cruz Island) / Baltra Island departure
The morning allows a final trip to the to the impressive marine site of Black Turtle Cove on Santa Cruz, surrounded by mangrove thickets of three species.
Its waters are still and usually rather murky, but are the resting (and sometimes mating) place for marine turtles, rays and sharks. During breakfast the yacht will return to Baltra airport for your afternoon flight back to the mainland.