Galaxy 11 Days

Day 1 – Baltra Island & Santa Cruz Island
AM: Arrival at the airport and transfer to the boat. Briefing onboard about the boat and the island.
PM: El Chato is a reserve in the highlands of Santa Cruz, where you have the amazing opportunity to observe the magnificent giant tortoise in the wild. This area is vegetated with transition zone vegetation and is located in the humid zone of the highlands of Santa Cruz. The walk to the reserve is one of the best places to observe ground birds, tree and ground finches, the vermillion flycatcher, cattle egrets and occasionally Galápagos rails.
Los Gemelos, Spanish for The Twins, are two volcanic depressions on the highest part of Santa Cruz. The larger of the two volcanic pits is featured here. In contrast to the dry coastal lowlands, the highlands are covered by mist in the garua (foggy) season and receive thus much more moisture and support a more luxuriant vegetation.

Day 2 – Isabela Island
AM: A short distance from Puerto Villamil is the small island known as Las Tintoreras. Here a colony of white tip sharks can often be seen resting in a lava canal. You can snorkel or swim in the unique habitat of these animals. On the nearby sandy beaches, sea lions play and relax in the sun. This is one of Isabela’s most beautiful visitor sites.
The Wetlands of Isabela Island are located just outside of Puerto Villamil. The Wetlands consist of lagoons, swamps and mangroves and are home to a variety of unique bird species such as common stilts, whimbrels, white-cheeked pintails and gallinules. The Wetlands can be visited on foot via a path that winds through the swamps.
PM: The Tortoise Breeding center was created to protect animals in their first years of life from the threats of foreign species such as pigs and donkeys. Giant tortoise eggs are collected and brought to the center where they are hatched and kept for five years before being released to their natural environment.

Day 3 – Isabela Island
AM: Elizabeth Bay is a marine visitor site. As enter you the bay Galápagos hawks can soar overhear and schools of pompanos and dorados can be seen swimming underneath you. Las Marielas, the small islets just outside the bay, are home to the largest concentration of Galápagos penguins living in the Islands. You can also see a red mangrove cove, passing through the red root and green leaf breeding ground for fish.
PM: The waters of Urbina Bay are a good place to see turtles and rays and ashore is a short trail leading to a coral reef, which is evidence of an uplift from the sea which occurred in 1954. This provides the rare experience of walking in the middle of a bed of coral. Marine iguanas, flightless cormorants and pelicans can be seen at this site.

Day 4 – Fernandina Island & Isabela Island
AM: Punta Espinosa is a narrow stretch of land where hundreds of marine iguanas gather largely on black lava rocks. The famous flightless cormorant inhabits this island and Galápagos penguins, pelicans and sea lions are also abundant. Different types of lava flows can be compared and the mangrove forests can be observed.
PM: Tagus Cove was named after a British warship which anchored here in 1814, this cove is located to the west of the island and you can take a panga (zodiac) trip below the high cliffs. Here there is an opportunity to see penguins as well as marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs and sea lions. Blue-footed boobies are also in abundance.

Day 5 – Santiago Island
AM: Puerto Egas, with its black sand beaches, was the site of small salt mining industry in the 1960s. A hike inland to the salt crater is an excellent opportunity to sight land birds such as finches, doves, and hawks. A walk down the rugged shoreline will turn up many marine species. Iguanas bask on the rocks and sea lions laze in the tide pools. At the end of the trail there is a series of grottoes or sea caves where fur seals and night herons are found.
PM: This large coffee-coloured sand beach is just north of the prized fresh water supply that once attracted pirates and whalers. A short walk inland will take you through a mangrove forest normally inhabited by the common stilt. Sea turtles also visit these mangroves to nest. Beyond the mangroves is a brackish lagoon where flocks of pink flamingos and white-cheeked pintails can be seen. Sea turtles often lay their eggs on Espumilla Beach.
Buccaneer Cove is a testament to the fact that Santiago Island was once a refuge for British buccaneers. These pirates would anchor in the protected bay to make repairs and stock up on tortoise meat among other things. The steep cliffs, where hundreds of seabirds perch in front of the dark red sand beach, are a magnificent site.

Day 6 – Santa Cruz Island & Santiago Island
AM: Black Turtle Cove is located on the north side of the island and is only accessible by boat and with a guide. This shallow inlet is surrounded by mangroves and provides natural protection for a variety of marine life, attracting the vulnerable juveniles of many species. Below the surface of the water, you can see both blacktip and whitetip reef sharks, sea turtles, golden cownose rays, spotted eagle rays, and an occasional hammerhead shark. Pelicans and Boobies hunt here, diving gracefully into the water.
PM: The Sullivan Bay lava field has a variety of interesting patterns made by the shapes and textures of trees that once existed there and hornitos caused when pockets of gas or water trapped under the lava exploded. The low-lying mollugo and the lava cactus are the only plants that have managed to take root in this harsh environment. On the shoreline black and white oystercatchers can be seen fishing for crabs and molluscs in the tide pools.
Day 7 – Bartholomew Island & Santa Cruz Island
AM: Bartholomew is the most photographed island in the Archipelago, and its pictures are the most shown next to Galapagos’ name. In fact, a walk through an unusual lava landscape, and then up some wooden stairs, will take you to the top, from where the view is more spectacular than what the images suggest.
PM: Located on the north shore of Santa Cruz, Las Bachas is a swimming beach. One of the few remnants of the U.S. World War II presence in the Galápagos, a floating pier, can be seen here. You may see flamingos, Sally Lightfoot crabs, hermit crabs, black necked stilts, and whimbrels. Sea turtles also nest off the beach.

Day 8 – North Seymour Island & Mosquera Island
AM: The 2km trail crosses the inland of the island North Seymour and explores the rocky coast, passing colonies of blue-footed boobies and magnificent frigatebirds. Daphne Major and Minor can be spotted in the distance and body surfing sea lions play close to the shore. Along the shoreline marine iguanas, white coral and black lava rocks complete the visit to North Seymour.
PM: Mosquera Island is located between Baltra and North Seymour. This is a small islet formed by a geological uplift, with a reef of rocks and coral and a great white sand beach, where a population of sea lions can be found. You can also observe several species of shorebirds. Along the rocks are commonly running Red Lava crabs or Sally light-foot crabs. If the tide is too low a dinghy ride will be made.

Day 9 – Genovesa Island
AM: Prince Phillip´s step is an extraordinary, steep path that leads through a seabird colony full of life, up to cliffs that are 25m high. At the top the trail continues inland, passing more seabird colonies in a thin palo santo forest. Leaving the forest you can overview a rocky plain. You could get a view of masked and red-footed boobies, great frigate birds, swallow-tailed gulls, red-billed tropicbirds and hundreds of storm petrels at the edge of the cliff.
PM: The beach of Darwin Bay is a coral beach where a 750m trail takes you through more seabird colonies. You get to see the cliffs from the seaward side, which are home to a large red-footed booby colony. Once ashore the number of birds seems overwhelming – Nazca boobies soar overhead, great frigate birds display their pouches while resting on the nearby rocks and plants, and mockingbirds scamper quickly across the sand.

Day 10 – Santa Cruz Island & Santiago Island
AM: The Dragon Hill (Cerro Dragon) visitors’ site was established by the Galápagos Islands National Park administration. A hypersalinic (saltier than the ocean) lagoon behind the beach is often frequented by flamingos, common stilts, pintail ducks and other species of birds. There is a short walk to the hill, which has rewarding views of the bay and a nesting site of land iguanas.
PM: León Dormido is a small, distinctive island that comprises two rocks which jut out of the ocean and is home to a large colony of sea birds. Kicker Rock is an excellent dive site where you could see many reef fish as well as hammerhead and Galápagos sharks. Sightings of large rays and turtles are common but not guaranteed.

Day 11 – San Cristobal Island
AM: The Galápagos National Park Interpretation Centre has a series of interactive exhibits providing information about the history and biodiversity of the Galápagos Islands. The self-guided walking tour will take you through the history of the Islands in the context of nature, humankind and conservation.

Transfer to the Airport.

 

Departure	Arrival
Saturday 25th of May 2024	Tuesday 4th of June 2024	[request availability]
Saturday 8th of June 2024	Tuesday 18th of June 2024	[request availability]
Saturday 22nd of June 2024	Tuesday 2nd of July 2024	[request availability]
Saturday 6th of July 2024	Tuesday 16th of July 2024	[request availability]
Saturday 20th of July 2024	Tuesday 30th of July 2024	[request availability]
Saturday 3rd of August 2024	Tuesday 13th of August 2024	[request availability]
Saturday 17th of August 2024	Tuesday 27th of August 2024	[request availability]
Saturday 31st of August 2024	Tuesday 10th of September 2024	[request availability]
Saturday 14th of September 2024	Tuesday 24th of September 2024	[request availability]
Saturday 28th of September 2024	Tuesday 8th of October 2024	[request availability]
Saturday 12th of October 2024	Tuesday 22nd of October 2024	[request availability]
Saturday 26th of October 2024	Tuesday 5th of November 2024	[request availability]
Saturday 9th of November 2024	Tuesday 19th of November 2024	[request availability]
Saturday 23rd of November 2024	Tuesday 3rd of December 2024	[request availability]
Saturday 7th of December 2024	Tuesday 17th of December 2024	[request availability]
Saturday 21st of December 2024	Tuesday 31st of December 2024	[request availability]
Saturday 4th of January 2025	Tuesday 14th of January 2025	[request availability]
Saturday 18th of January 2025	Tuesday 28th of January 2025	[request availability]
Saturday 1st of February 2025	Tuesday 11th of February 2025	[request availability]
Saturday 15th of February 2025	Tuesday 25th of February 2025	[request availability]
Saturday 1st of March 2025	Tuesday 11th of March 2025	[request availability]
Saturday 15th of March 2025	Tuesday 25th of March 2025	[request availability]
Saturday 29th of March 2025	Tuesday 8th of April 2025	[request availability]
Saturday 12th of April 2025	Tuesday 22nd of April 2025	[request availability]
Saturday 26th of April 2025	Tuesday 6th of May 2025	[request availability]
Saturday 10th of May 2025	Tuesday 20th of May 2025	[request availability]
Saturday 24th of May 2025	Tuesday 3rd of June 2025	[request availability]
Saturday 7th of June 2025	Tuesday 17th of June 2025	[request availability]
Saturday 21st of June 2025	Tuesday 1st of July 2025	[request availability]
Saturday 5th of July 2025	Tuesday 15th of July 2025	[request availability]
Saturday 19th of July 2025	Tuesday 29th of July 2025	[request availability]
Saturday 2nd of August 2025	Tuesday 12th of August 2025	[request availability]