Galapagos - Enchanted Islands Family holiday

This morning you make an early start to fly down to Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city and economic dynamo. After a short stop, your flight continues almost 1000km directly west to San Cristobal. More importantly for you, it's the starting point for your voyage through the so-called "Enchanted Islands". On arrival in Galapagos, you head straight to the harbour and you immediately board the boat that's to be your floating home for the next few nights and set sail.

Upon arrival in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, San Cristobal Island, your crew is waiting at the airport to escort you to your anchored yacht. After the welcome briefing, buffet lunch and safety drill, you travel by bus into the interior of San Cristobal to visit La Galapaguera Cerro Colorado, where the National Park has established a breeding program for the tortoises and set up an information centre for visitors. Along the trail, you find the San Cristobal (Chatham) mockingbird and Calandrinia plant, both endemic to this island. Here, you will see the terrestrial tortoises living in their natural habitat but also learn about their origin, evolution and threats by introduced animals. 

In order to minimise the impact on the islands, we follow a different route on alternate weeks. Please make sure your departure date matches your itinerary (A) or (B). 

Your vessel in the Galapagos is the Eric, Flamingo I or Letty (These boats are identical) - 7 nights - (Twin cabins on the Iguana Deck) (BD)

This morning you have a dry landing at Punta Suarez, Espanola, where you witness the highest rate of endemic species in Galapagos. Sea lions noisily greet you as you land on their beach. Curious Hood mockingbirds peck at your shoelaces. From April to November, the waved albatross, found only on Espanola, perform their wild mating ritual. Colonies of blue-footed boobies engage in “sky-pointing” to show off to potential mates, Nazca boobies busily care for their young. Stunning Swallow-tailed gulls are the only nocturnal gulls in the world. Red-billed tropicbirds take shelter under the cliffs. You also find Darwin’s Finches, Galapagos Doves and Galapagos Hawks. Observe a unique species of marine iguana identified with traces of red and green colourings. Colourful sally light-foot crabs crawl along the shoreline near the famous "blow hole". 

In the afternoon, you have a wet landing at Gardner Bay, Espanola (Hood). Walk along seemingly endless stretches of this white sandy beach where you’ll find large colonies of sea lions. There is no trail to follow so this is a chance to explore and you may find a Galapagos Hawk, Darwin’s Finches or Hood Mockingbird. Swim with sea lions right from the beach, explore by kayak or just relax. There’s an excellent snorkelling site off Gardner Islet with a colourful diversity of sea life near Tortuga Rock, explore caves covered with invertebrates. (BLD)

This morning you visit a hidden gem on Isabela Island called Los Humedales and Muro de Lagrimas which translates to “wetlands” and “wall of tears”. This area has trails from which you find all four species of mangroves, secluded sandy beaches with rocky shores with lava tunnels and natural pools. View a wide variety of migratory birds including Whimrels, Short-billed Dowitchers, Wilson’s Pharlarope, Common Tern, Osprey, Semi-palmated Plovers as well as mating Flamingos. The national park has released young tortoises from the breeding centre in this area so you may encounter tortoises in the wild. The Wall of Tears was constructed between 1946-1959 when Isabela was a penal colony. 

In the afternoon, you visit Sierra Negra Volcano, located in the southwest part of Isabela, the oldest and largest volcano on the island. From Puerto Villamil, you travel by motorized vehicle to Santo Tomas. From here, you continue by horseback to the rim of the caldera, traversing a lava field through a series of craters and fumaroles until you reach Volcan Chico. Along the way, you will usually spot the vermillion flycatcher, Galapagos Martins, Whimbrels, Egrets, Galapagos Hawks and possibly the Dark-billed Cuckoo. (BLD)

This morning, you visit South Plaza a small geological uplift with tall cliffs offering spectacular views. After a dry landing, the trails lead you through Prickly Pear cactus or Opuntia and Sesuvium. Here you can find the Galapagos Land Iguana feeding on cactus leaves. Toward the end of the hill, you encounter a colony of bachelor sea lions. The dominant bulls are in various stages of recovery from vicious battles lost over prime beach territory, that have taken lives in the past. You also find Swallow-tailed gulls, Shearwaters and Red-billed tropicbirds who build their nests along the cliffs. Travel by bus to the highlandsof Santa Cruz Island. The scenery gradually changes as you wind your way through all seven vegetation zones found in Galapagos. Here, you visit the tortoise reserve at one of the private farms in the highlands where you encounter giant tortoises In their natural habitat. You visit Los Gemelos, Spanish for “The Twins”, a pair of large pit craters where you find the bright red male vermilion flycatcher. You stop at "the tunnels", the largest lava tubes found in Galapagos. (BLD)