Galápagos Islands

Arrive in Guayaquil and transfer to our hotel.

Transfer to the airport after breakfast for our flight to Baltra Island in the Galápagos where we connect to Santa Cruz Island and travel overland to the city of Puerto Ayora, our home for the next two nights. This evening, gather under the hotel’s poolside pergola for a lecture from faculty leader Liz Hadly, followed by dinner.

Visit the Charles Darwin Research Station to learn about programs dedicated to breeding and rearing giant tortoises and to understand the efforts and results of Galápagos biology fieldwork. The rest of the day is at leisure to relax on our eco-hotel’s beach or explore Puerto Ayora and its restaurants.

Today drive into the highlands for a hike at Los Gemelos, enormous twin craters surrounded by verdant foliage, including the endemic Scalesia trees. Here you can spot a variety of the emblematic Darwin’s finches. Look for giant land tortoises as we drive back to Puerto Ayora in time for embarkation.

Hike up to the summit of Bartolomé Island to enjoy an incredible view of the surrounding area. Return to sea level to a beautiful golden sand beach, where we may have a chance to swim with penguins. Later, sail to the northwestern shore of Santa Cruz Island to an area known as Cerro Dragon (Dragon Hill). Walk along a rocky trail where large numbers of land iguanas lounge in the sun. Return to the ship for dinner.

Head to Post Office Bay, where you can drop postcards in the historic barrel that has served as a de facto mailbox for more than two centuries. Learn about the colorful history of the area, as well as the story of how visitors take mail from the barrel and deliver it all over the world today. Later venture to the olivine-tinted beach at Punta Cormorant for a walk across the isthmus past a shallow lagoon that flamingos frequent. Wander around Champion Islet via panga, kayak or paddleboard, or snorkel in its waters.

Our morning stop at Gardner Bay on Española Island includes a short jaunt to admire the sea lions, mockingbirds, and finches with plenty of time to enjoy the beach. Partake in the area’s great snorkeling or traverse the water by kayak or paddleboard. This afternoon at Punta Suarez, take a walk on lava and boulder terrain to gaze at sea bird colonies, including the waved albatross, boobies and swallow-tailed gulls, and the island’s famous blowhole, a geological formation.

Today we disembark at the eastern tip of San Cristóbal Island for a hike offering spectacular views of the shoreline, where three species of boobies are found. Observe frigate birds fluttering their red gular pouches and catch sight of a colony of bachelor sea lions. Following lunch enjoy a panga boat ride along shores lined with banks of tuff-stone layers to reach Cerro Brujo’s wide white coral beach. These are the same shores Darwin walked upon in September 1835.

After breakfast disembark our ship on Baltra Island and fly to Guayaquil, where we check in to our hotel. Gather for a festive farewell dinner before transferring independently to the airport for flights home.