Galapagos Explorer II
ITINERARY DAY BY DAY
8 days / 7 nights
Wednesday to Wednesday or Saturday to Saturday
Day 1
Arrival airport, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (San Cristobal Island)
Fly to the Galapagos to begin the cruise, arriving on San Cristobal, easternmost of the Galapagos Islands. Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is the capital of the Galapagos province and the location of the extraordinary Interpretation Center for Galapagos National Park. You’ll board ship and settle into your cabin. Your first day in Galapagos you'll visit one location near San Cristobal Island. At Ochoa Beach you can take a short trail to a good swimming beach. It’s an excellent spot to view Pelicans and other Galapagos sea birds. Free time to walk on the beach. You can do snorkeling . Beautiful beach for swimming.
Day 2
Punta Suarez (Española Island) / Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz Island)
This morning you visit Española, southernmost island of the archipelago. Because it is so isolated, the island has a large population of indigenous wildlife. You will explore Punta Suarez, one of the most spectacular spots in the Galapagos, where you’ll look for sea lions surfing the breaking waves and groups of iguanas basking in the sun. Further inland, Masked and Blue-footed Boobies nest beside the trails.
The second largest of the Archipelago and colonized since the 1920’s, Puerto Ayora, the populated part of the island, is the most important harbor of the Archipelago. The headquarters of the Galapagos national Park and the Charles Darwin Station are located on Santa Cruz. Visit Darwin Station to learn about the research conducted on the island. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a Galapagos tortoise breeding and rearing center, where tortoises of different subspecies are prepared for reintroduction to their natural habitats. Afterwards, you can stroll through Puerto Ayora, largest town on the islands.
Day 3
Prince Phillip’s Steps / Darwin Bay (Genovesa Island)
You will visit Genovesa Island, one of the smaller Galapagos, and the only northern island in the chain open to visitors.
Your first stop is at the southern tip of Genovesa Island at the birding paradise of Prince Phillip’s Steps. This is the breeding ground for the tree-loving Red-Footed Booby and the ground-nesting Masked Booby. This is also home to four species of finch.
In the afternoon, you visit horseshoe-shaped Darwin’s Bay, created by the curve of a collapsed volcanic crater. You make a wet landing on the beach, wading ashore from our panga. Here you can observe Frigatebirds, and Red-Footed and Masked Boobies. Just behind the beach, you explore tide pools frequented by Wandering Tattlers, Whimbrels, Lava Gulls and Fiddler Crabs. Lava and Black-Crowned Night Herons are seen at times. You may also see Yellow Warblers on the beach and Swallow-Tailed Gulls swooping around the cliffs.
Day 4
Bachas Beach / Dragon Hill (Santa Cruz Island)
Bachas Beach, White sand beach where you can see some nesting site for sea turtles, a small lagoon, whimbrels, heron, pelican, Sally Lightfoot crab and other species
Dragon Hill a bay located at the northwest site of the Santa Cruz Island, known as Cerro Dragon since long time ago by the whaling men because of the important colonies of iguanas that lived in this area. During almost all the year, you can see flamingos in marshland lakes. You will also have the opportunity to see Darwin finches, hood mockingbird, lava lizards. This place has a wonderful landscape as you can see the Rabida Island at the west
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