Galapagos Evolution
ITINERARY DAY BY DAY
8 days / 7 nights
Sunday to Sunday
Day 5
Punta Espinosa (Fernandina Island) / Tagus Cove (Isabela Island)
Fernandina is the youngest and most active volcano in the Galapagos with eruptions taking place every few years. The flat lava of Punta Espinosa offers a stark and barren landscape, but here flightless cormorants build their nests on the point, sea lions sprawl on the beach or play in the tide pools and marine iguanas dot the sand.
On the towering cliffs of Tagus Cove, 19th and early 20th century ships' graffiti can be seen. After hiking beyond Darwin Lake, a saltwater lagoon above sea level, you will be rewarded with extraordinary views of Darwin and Wolf volcanoes.
Day 6
North Seymour Island / Bartolome Island
North Seymour is an uplifted (as opposed to volcanic) island and so is generally flat and strewn with boulders. There are good nesting sites here for a large population of magnificent frigate birds. Blue-footed boobies perform their courtship dance in the more open areas and swallow-tailed gulls perch on the cliff edges. Despite the tremendous surf that can pound the outer shore, sea lions haul out onto the beach and can be found together with marine iguanas.
Bartolome is a small island that has beautiful white sand beaches, luxuriant green mangroves and a colony of penguins. Activities will include swimming and snorkeling 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.
Day 7
James Bay (Santiago Island) / Black Turtle Cove (Santa Cruz Island)
This island has several sites to visit at the western end of James Bay. Puerto Egas with its black sand beaches was the site of small salt mining industry in the 1960s and a hike inland to the salt crater is an excellent opportunity to sight land birds such as finches, doves, and hawks. A walk down the rugged shoreline, especially at low tide, will turn up many marine species as iguanas basking on the rocks and sea lions lazing in the tide pools. Just north of James Bay is Buccaneer Cove, a particularly scenic area of steep cliffs and dark beaches. The panga will take you into a tidal lagoon to see three kinds of mangrove plants, red, white and black. White-tipped sharks, spotted rays, mustard rays and Pacific marine turtles frequent the waters here.
Day 8
Kicker Rock / Lobos Island / San Cristobal Island departure
Isla Lobos means Sea-Lion Island, and the name is certainly appropriate because the frolic, leap and make a racket here. Isla Lobos is located North of San Cristobal, 1 hour across a small channel. It is also a nesting place for blue-footed boobies and a good place for snorkeling; an early paga ride will be offer.
Kicker Rock is a magnificent rock in the middle of the sea. Rising 500 feet strait from the ocean, this giant uplifted rock has the shape of a sleeping lion. It has a split with towering vertical walls on either side, forming a narrow channel through which small vessels can navigate.
Transfer to the harbor Baquerizo Moreno to drive to the airport and flight back to the mainland to Guayaquil or Quito, Ecuador.