Santa Cruz, Floreana, Isabela - and Santa Fe and Isla Tortuga - Depending on Availability
Experience the Galapagos with a local fisherman and its artisanal fishing activities in Santa Fe and Isla Tortuga, Subject to Availability
(8 Days / 7 Nights)
Introduction
From a local's point of view experience the ins and outs of 3 of the most beautiful islands in the Galapagos: Santa Cruz, Floreana and Isabela. See the real Galapagos... On an Island Hopping Tour you can have some adventure activities like Biking, Kayaking, Snorkeling, Hiking, Trekking...
Ferry crossing to Santa Cruz Island (10-minute ride). Arrival at Santa Cruz around 11:30 AM (depending on your flight schedule).
The adventure will start with a short visit to "Los Gemelos" (The Twins), two enormous collapsed lava chambers-an awe-inspiring visual reminder of the power of nature.
Then to visit the Lava Tunels, which has a ceiling nearly 20 feet high in most places. This is an incredible opportunity to ramble through the remnants of one of the most powerful forces in nature-lava flows. Stalagmites, stalactites, sulfur, mineral-colored walls, and the rippled floor formed from lava can all be experienced in this uniquely Galapagos stroll.
PM
Check in at Aventura Lodge.
Lunch at the lodge.
Get ready for the excitement of kayaking Academy Bay for about 3 hours, through Franklin Bay to Punta Estrada. You'll end where you can snorkel with white-tipped sharks, Galapagos sharks, manta rays, and colorful tropical fish. Or you can take this time to just relax at the beach.
Breakfast at the lodge.
Depart to Floreana via Santa Fe.
Our navigation will take us to Santa Fe, home to one of the most beautiful coves in all the Galapagos, formed from an uplift (rather than a volcano), giving the island a relatively flat surface rather than the typical conical shape of the other islands.
Santa Fe hosts a forest of Opuntia cactus, which are the largest of the archipelago, and Palo Santo trees. This is a great opportunity for bird-watching at the weathered cliffs that provide a haven for swallow-tailed gulls, red-billed tropical birds, and Sehar-Waters petrels. Santa Fe species of land iguanas are often seen, as well as lava lizards. We'll visit a turquoise lagoon and calm waters where you can snorkel alongside sea lions and fluorescent fish or visit a submerged rock where manta rays and marine turtles can be found.
PM
Lunch on board.
We will continue sailing to reach Floreana and on our way have another great opportunity to snorkel, at the cove called Luz del Dia (Light of Day). There is an abundance of life in this cove, and you will most likely see penguins and sea lions on the steep, rocky shore and rays and tropical fish beneath the clear waters.
Arrival at Floreana Island.
Visit to Black Beach to enjoy this beautiful spot and swim, snorkel, or simply relax by absorbing the special scenery or a walk to La Loberia.
Check in at Floreana Lodge.
BBQ dinner at a local restaurant to enjoy Galapaguena food and the warm hospitality of one of the first families to arrive at the island and learn from them about the mysteries of Floreana.
Floreana's shores tour. Depart on great adventure in which you will be able to catch the best of the island.
Short navigations in order to swim, snorkel, or simply relax on the remote and beautiful shores of Floreana.
PM
Lunch on board or on shore.
This is a day of full activity-be prepared to discover the amazing wildlife that surrounds Floreana and catch great pictures as proof of your memorable experience.
Hike about 8 kilometers into the highlands of Floreana while your Naturalist Guide begins filling you in on the history of this, the first settled island in the Galapagos. You will reach the Asilo de la Paz (Peace Asylum), where the spring is located-an artesian spring that attracted pirates, whalers, and later settlers to Floreana because it was one of the very few year-round sources of fresh water in the Galapagos.
The Cueva de los Piratas (Pirate's Cave) is quite literally where pirates carved temporary shelter out of soft stone. It is also where one of the original settlers, Margret Wittmer, gave birth to a son, Rolf, who is still living. Some have jokingly referred to it as the "Stonehenge" of Floreana because of its interesting shapes.
Cerro Pajas (Bird Hill) truly lives up to its name, with a multitude of Floreana finches. It also offers spectacular views of the island and the sea below. We will visit a tortoise reserve where you can watch many of the giant tortoises up close and personal.
All the while, your Naturalist Guide will be pointing out the wildlife and filling you in on the colorful history of Floreana's first inhabitants, like the Baroness, and re-telling the legend of the "Floreana Mystery", which involves the mysterious deaths of several inhabitants. It has never been solved.
MID-DAY
We will approach Isla Tortuga, which is home to many frigates, blue-footed boobies, and other birds that rely on the sea for food. This is a great time to pull out your binoculars.
We will arrive at Isabela between 12:30 and 1:00 PM. Arriving in the port is a visual feast, with stunning green and turquoise water so clear you can see turtles, sea lions, and penguins as though looking through glass. We will check into the Red Mangrove Isabela Lodge and have a hot, wholesome lunch.
PM
Departure to Las Tintoreras and Bay Tour.
After lunch, we will board a smaller craft to head out across the port, slowing down to view blue-footed boobies and Galapagos penguins sharing the same rocky sunning space, before turning a bend and docking. From there we take an intriguing walk through a jagged lava field, passing abundant colonies of marine iguanas, to see a small canal full of resting white-tipped reef sharks.
If the tide is low, they are sometimes a mere two feet below the surface. The views from here are something you may carry with you for the rest of your life! The black, treacherous lava field, the emerald green sea, the forest green mangrove, and the cloud-capped volcanoes of Isla Isabela create an afternoon backdrop you are not likely to ever forget.
Once you return to the dock, you can snorkel in this warm, shallow bay surrounded by mangrove, for an opportunity to see white-tipped reef sharks, sea lions, penguins, and, of course, the mystery of the mangrove below the surface. Don't worry, white-tipped reef sharks are not aggressive, merely fascinating.
We'll have a bit of time to relax and shower before briefing and dinner in the Lodge at 7:00.
Breakfast at the lodge.
Depart for Sierra Negra Tour.
4×4 vehicles will drive us up through the humid highlands to the slopes of Volcan Sierra Negra.
Then we hike to arrive at the caldera of Sierra Negra. At 4 miles across, it is the second largest in the world. The views are breathtaking! We will relax a bit and have a snack on the edge of the caldera. For the more hardy of the group, the option exists to walk an especially difficult hour further to Volcan Chico, where fumarole activity is abundant, and again, the views are spectacular. This is not an easy hike, however, because it is mostly across sloping lava fields.
PM
After returning from Sierra Negra, we will have lunch at Campo Duro.
Campo Duro offers a "tortoise patronage" program that doesn't involve money changing hands. Guests have the opportunity to become patrons to their chosen tortoise at the reserve merely by choosing a tortoise (they're all numbered), naming their tortoise, and then entering a story in the Patrons' Book, such as information on why they chose the name and their contact information. Then, Patrons invite any and all of their friends to go visit their tortoise and provide them with updates.
Back to the Lodge.
Briefing and dinner at the Lodge.
From Puerto Villamil it will take a just an hour to get to Los Tuneles. On this trip you will enjoy seeing the beautiful Galapagos wildlife-giant mantas on the surface, sea turtles, and more as we sail out from the majestic Sierra Negra Volcano.
Experience close encounters snorkeling with many types of tropical fish and penguins! Only in this piece of paradise are you able to snorkel with penguins, tropical fish, and sea lions.
PM
Late lunch at Isabela lodge.
Time to relax and discover Isabela on your own.
Dinner at the lodge.
Breakfast at the Lodge.
Bike ride to visit Muro de las Lagrimas, Cerro Orchilla, and Humedales.
We begin with a bike ride out of town along the most beautiful, white sand, palm lined beach in all of Galapagos, Long Beach.
This beach, straight from the cover of a travel magazine, stretches on for 3 kilometers before the National Park, where we will walk up the trail for astounding views from the top of Cerro Orchilla.
We visit the "Muro de Las Lagrimas" (Wall of Tears), a unique construction built by the backbreaking labor of prisoners of a penal colony centuries earlier. On the path to the Wall of Tears you will see an abundance of lava lizards-the males are larger and striped and the females red-throated.
This ride will be approximately 9 kilometers over flat landscape.
11:00 AM, depart Isabela for Santa Cruz. Sailing time is 1.5 to 2 hours.
PM
Arrive in Puerto Ayora around 12:30 to 1:00 PM.
Check in at Aventura Lodge and lunch.
Depart 3:00 PM for guided tour of the fascinating Charles Darwin Research Station. After the Darwin Station, there will be free time to shop for souvenirs or browse the shops along Charles Darwin Avenue.
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