Galápagos Islands

Arrive in Ecuador's capital city, Quito, and transfer to our hotel.

Start the morning with an orientation and first lecture from faculty leader Bill Durham, followed by free time to rest from the long journey. After lunch, head out for a walking tour of Quito’s old town, a colonial area considered South America’s best-preserved historical center. Stop at Independence Plaza, the presidential palace, and the monastery of San Francisco, one of the most impressive religious buildings in Latin America. End our first day with a welcome reception and dinner at our hotel’s highly acclaimed restaurant.

Fly this morning to Galápagos and embark the National Geographic Islander II. Take a Zodiac cruise after lunch to Caleta Tortuga Negra, a spectacular mangrove-lined cove teaming with marine life on Santa Cruz Island. Look for green turtles, sharks, and schools of golden and eagle rays.

Call at Puerto Ayora, the largest town, and headquarters of both the Galápagos National Park and Charles Darwin Research Station. Tour the giant tortoise breeding corrals, a pioneering effort and visit the Station. Then head to the lush, green highlands to see giant tortoises roaming in the wild, where we have lunch at a local ranch dedicated to conservation.

Spend the morning on Seymour. Follow trails past coastal groups of Galápagos sea lions and marine iguanas inland through a silvery forest of Palo Santo to colonies of magnificent and great frigatebirds, blue-footed boobies, and other seabirds. See land iguanas clambering over rocks in search of cactus and other flowers. Look for swallow-tailed gulls, noddy terns, red-billed tropic birds and Galápagos fur seals on the rocky walls of this small island. In the afternoon, cruise to Rábida to catch sight of flamingos feeding in a brackish lagoon and clownish brown pelicans entertaining from their nests.

Awaken in the remote western archipelago, haunt of whalers and pirates of yore. Cruise by Zodiacs along the wildly eroded volcanic shores of Isabela, where we might see green turtles, fur seals and even penguins. Keep an eye out for whales and dolphins in the marine-rich waters. After lunch, go ashore on Fernandina for a hike over lava flows past tide pools where young sea lions play and the strange flightless cormorant nests.

Early this morning, go ashore on Santiago to stroll along the wide beach or explore Playa Espumilla, a dense coastal forest filled with mangroves and home to Galápagos hawks and other land birds. After breakfast, swim, snorkel, kayak, and paddleboard along the spectacular coast of Buccaneer’s Cove, a secluded atelier where pirates once careened their ships. After lunch, explore tide pools and look for fur seals sheltered in quiet grottos of black basalt at Puerto Egas, where we see evidence of an old salt mine and other human history. Swim and snorkel from the beach, which is frequented by sea lions and marine iguanas.

Disembark after breakfast and transfer to Baltra Island for the flight back to the mainland. Check in to rooms at an airport hotel, and rest before late night flights back to the United States.

For those with morning flights, transfer to the airport after breakfast.