Galapagos Mary Anne
ITINERARY DAY BY DAY
8 days / 7 nights
Wednesday to Wednesday
Day 1
Baltra arrival / South Plaza Island
Arrival at Baltra airport. Transfer by our guide to the yacht. Afternoon disembarkation on South Plaza, a small island off the east coast of Santa Cruz. South Plaza is home to a large number of species and is frequently visited for its extraordinary flora, including beautiful prickly pear cactus trees, as well as the great number of birds that make this island their home, such as nesting tropic birds and fork-tailed seagulls.
Day 2
Gardner Bay / Punta Suarez (Española 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 3
Punta Cormorant, Devil’s Crown (Floreana Island) / Charles Darwin Station, Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz Island)
Punta Cormorant (Floreana Island) offers two highly contrasting beaches; the landing beach is of volcanic origin and is composed of olivine crystals, giving it a greenish tinge. At the end of the short trail is a carbonate beach of very fine white sand, formed by the erosion of coral skeletons; it is a nesting site for green sea turtles. Between these two beaches is a salt lagoon frequented by flamingos, pintails, stilts, and other wading birds. An old eroded volcanic cone called Devil's Crown is a popular roosting site for seabirds such as boobies, pelicans, and frigates and it is not uncommon to see red-billed tropicbirds in rocky crevices.
Santa Cruz is the only inhabited island to be visited during this Galapagos cruise. Puerto Ayora, with a population of about 10,000 people is the location of the Charles Darwin Research Station, world famous for its tortoise breeding programs. Travelers will have the chance to investigate, staffed with international scientists conducting biological research and conservation projects. Here you can also admire giant tortoises that are part of the breeding program. Travelers can also admire the impressive giant prickly-pear cactus forest and many land birds.
Day 4
North Seymour Island / Chinese Hat
North Seymour Island (dry landing) for a walk along the coast and the interior of the island, observing bird colonies of blue footed boobies, frigate birds, swallow tailed gulls and also sea lions and marine iguanas.
In the Chinese Hat (Sombrero Chino) you will find that little has changed since its first discovery many centuries ago. Today one will still be amazed by the lava formations, spatter cones, lava tubes and the lava Cactus struggling to grow in the scarce soil. You will be greeted by colorful Sally Lightfoot Crabs fleeing from the crushing waves on the shore, and flabbergasted by underwater schools of fish, Manta Rays and sharks.