Galapagos Aboard the Alta & Parranda

Arrive in either Quito or Guayaquil, Ecuador, where you will be met and transferred to your local hotel*. Quito is located in a huge valley of the Andes Mountains at an altitude of 9,455 feet; it’s a great place to extend your stay to explore the city or the surrounding volcanic mountain range. Guayaquil is Ecuador’s largest city, and with its low elevation and more coastal location it is an ideal point from which to fly to Galapagos. Stay overnight at the Swissotel or Patio Andaluz in Quito or the Hotel Oro Verde in Guayaquil, for two nights. (*Hotel/city tour package is not included in cruise rate.)

Quito city tour: Stroll down cobble stone streets and through flowering plazas. Visit the old colonial center of Independence Square, the elegant cathedrals of San Francisco, La Compañía and San Agustín, Quito’s oldest monastery. Drive through the residential section and past the Legislative Palace (Congress). Panecillo Hill overlooks the city and snow-capped mountains. The rest of the afternoon is at your leisure to explore or relax.
Guayaquil city tour: Our first stop is Malecon 2000, an 80-million-dollar riverside complex built along a two-mile stretch of the Guayas River. The waterfront boardwalk features a myriad of restaurants, cafes and shops, and museums with art exhibitions as well as free weekend jazz and classical music concerts. Drive through the colorful streets of one of Ecuador’s most important port cities, Guayaquil. Visit the Public Market, the waterfront and the docks, and Simon Bolivar Park, which is famous for its tree iguanas. Also, admire the watchtower, La Rotonda, Old Santa Ana Fort, and Las Penas, a charming colonial section of town that is occupied by artists. The rest of the afternoon is at your leisure to explore or relax.

Meals: Breakfast

The flight from Quito (via Guayaquil) to the Galapagos is approximately 2 & 1/2 hours on a Boeing 727. Upon arrival at San Cristobal airport, travelers pass through an airport inspection point to ensure that no foreign plants or animals are introduced to the islands and to pay the park entrance fee, which will be pre-paid for you. Guides will meet you, collect your luggage, and escort you on the short bus ride to the harbor. Motorized rafts called pangas will transport you to the yacht and our crew will welcome you onboard. After a briefing and a light lunch, you have your first landing. San Cristóbal is the easternmost island in Galapagos; on its southwestern side is the town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the capital of the province of Galapagos. On Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is the Interpretation Center, newly opened by the Galapagos National Park, which is truly an extraordinary contribution to the information and education of the island community and the traveler.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Tower Island is formed by the remaining edges of a large crater this is now mostly submerged: known as “Bird Island,” it certainly honors its name. At Prince Philip’s Steps, visitors climb to a plateau that is part of the stretch of land that surrounds Darwin Bay on its eastern side. Everywhere one looks, there are masked boobies on the ground and red-footed boobies in the trees. Beyond a broad lava field that extends towards the ocean, thousands of storm petrels flutter like swarms of locusts, and short-eared owls hunt down the more inexperienced ones. Snorkeling can be done at the beach or alongside the cliffs. The water inside the bay is very rich in nutrients, so one never knows what may be encountered. Tower is one of the most fantastic islands because of its animals, its landscape, its remoteness, and its unspoiled nature.
Darwin Bay Beach is filled with frigate birds and their bustling activity. Along the trail are pairs of wwallow-tailed gulls, the only nocturnal gulls in the world, and red-footed boobies, with their contrasting red feet and blue bills. Lava gulls, pintail ducks, yellow-crowned and lava herons, and other birds feed near the shores of a tidal lagoon just beyond the rocky edge that faces the bay. A panga ride along the walls of the crater reveals the variety of animals that find shelter in the ledges and crevices of the lava. Above, the elegant red-billed tropicbirds fly in and out of their nests.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Fernandina is the youngest and westernmost island in the Galapagos. Punta Espinoza is a narrow stretch of land where some of the most unique Galapagos species can be seen. While the panga driver skillfully eludes the reef to reach the landing site near a small mangrove forest, penguins throw themselves off the rocks into the water. Sally light-footed crabs disperse on the lava near the shore, and herons and sandpipers explore the mangrove roots. Marine iguanas conglomerate in larger groups than on any other island. They are everywhere: basking in the sand, swimming near the shore, grazing on the exposed seaweed in the lava, and blocking the way at the landing dock. This is one of the few places where there is the opportunity of watching the iguanas feed underwater.
Following the trail inland, two different types of lava flows can be seen and compared: an aa lava flow and a pahoehoe lava flow. At the tip of one of the small peninsulas, flightless cormorants are found. These birds are flightless because on the islands they had no predators and it was easier to find food in the ocean than on land. They progressively evolved for swimming rather than for flight. To see these fantastic birds, with their long, serpent-like necks arched forward, their wet, fur-like plumage and their bright turquoise eyes, is to witness evolution.
Isabela is the largest island in the archipelago with a total area of 4,588 sq. km (Santa Cruz, the second largest has 986 sq. km.) Composed by six shield volcanoes that have merged into a single land mass, it also has the highest point in the islands, Wolf Volcano. Isabela looks a bit like a sea horse facing toward the west. On the way to Tagus Cove, the boat will sail through Bolivar Channel. These are very productive waters; whales and dolphins are often seen here. Tagus Cove was historically used as an anchoring site for pirates and whalers. The nature trail is an ascent through the typical dry vegetation zone and offers spectacular views of Darwin Lake, a saltwater crater lake and the long narrow inlet that appears to connect with it. At the top of the trail it is possible to observe the different vegetation zones, as well as catch a glimpse of Darwin and Wolf Volcanoes as well as Galapagos penguins, flightless cormorants, and pelicans.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Urbina Bay is an easy wet landing on a gentle sloping beach. This area is very interesting in that it is a perfect example of the geological activity of the islands. In 1954 over 3 miles (5 kilometers) of the marine reef at the edge of the shore were uplifted by 13 feet (4 meters). Located at the “mouth” of the head of the sea horse, which forms the northern part of the islands, is Punta Vicente Roca. Here the remnants of an ancient volcano form two turquoise coves with a bay well protected from the ocean swells. The spot is a popular anchorage from which to take panga rides along the cliff that are the remains of the volcano or explore a partially sunken cave at the water’s edge. Masked and blue-footed boobies sit perched along the point and the sheer cliffs, while flightless cormorants inhabit the shoreline. The up-welling of cold water currents in this part of the Galápagos, give rise to an abundance of marine life which, in combination with the protection of the coves, make Punta Vicente Roca one of the archipelago’s sough after dive spots. One cove is only accessible from the sea by way of an underwater passage. The passage opens to calm waters of the hidden cove where sea lions like to laze on the beach having traveled along the underwater route. The entire area of Punta Vicente Roca lies on the flank of 2,600 foot Volcano Ecuador. This is the island’s sixth largest volcano. Half of Volcano Ecuador slid into the ocean leaving a spectacular cutaway view of the volcanic caldera.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Bartolome is famous for its Pinnacle Rock, which is the most representative landmark of the Galapagos. Precariously walking on the rocks at the base of the Pinnacle Rock are Galapagos penguins, the smallest species of penguin and the only one found north of the Equator. At the beach on the southern side, across the isthmus of the island, there are sea turtles: nesting, wading in the shallow water near the shore or just resting in the sand, exhausted after swimming a long way to these beaches to lay their eggs. White-tipped Reef Sharks patrol close to shore. At the other landing, it is possible to climb to the highest point of the island. The site is like a museum of “volcanology,” an eruption site left untouched after the explosion. If it weren’t for the small lava lizards scurrying around and the pioneer Mollugo plants, the visitor could be well walking on the surface of the moon.
On the northwestern side of James Island is South James Bay (Puerto Egas). The landing is on a black beach with eroded rock formations in the background. The trail crosses the dry interior, where the remains of a salt-mining enterprise can still be seen and then continues along the coast. Intertidal pools are home to a variety of invertebrate organisms. Land iguanas are scattered around feeding on exposed algae while oyster catchers try to capture sally lightfoot crabs. The trail then leads to the fur seal grottos, some of the only places in the islands where fur seals can be seen. Puerto Egas is a good spot for taking pictures. Either at dawn or sunset, the light for photography is perfect. The lava and the black sand seem to catch fire and the animals acquire a surreal quality.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Santa Cruz is the second largest island in the Galapagos. The small town of Puerto Ayora is the economic center of the archipelago, with the largest population of the four inhabited islands (approx. 10,000). Tourism, fishing, boat building, and commerce are the major productive activities. Santa Cruz is also the only island where six different zones of vegetation can be seen: Coastal, Arid, Transition, Scalesia, Miconia, and Pampa Zones.
The Charles Darwin Research Station and the Galapagos National Park offices are based here. Scientists, park rangers, and park managers make huge efforts to preserve and protect the Galapagos Islands, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Station is also a tortoise breeding and rearing center, where tortoises of different subspecies are prepared for reintroduction to their natural habitats.
The lush greenery of the Santa Cruz Highlands is a definite contrast with the arid scenery of the smaller, lower islands. A point of interest is the famed lava tunnels, a fun and geologically informative visit. The trip to the highlands ends with a visit to the Twin Craters.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Espanola is the southernmost island of the archipelago and because it is so isolated, it has a high proportion of endemic fauna. Punta Suarez is one of the most popular and attractive visits of the Galapagos. The quantity and variety of wildlife at this site is remarkable. When landing, young sea lions surf the breaking waves, while a few steps inland groups of the Española variety of iguanas bask in the sun. Further inland, masked and blue-footed boobies nest almost right on the trail, Galapagos doves peck around unaware of visitors, and finches go about their business in the bushes. The trail continues toward the cliffs and the blowhole, a fissure in the lava where water spurts high in the air like a geyser. The cracks in the rock are home to the attractive swallow-tailed gulls and red-billed tropicbirds. Further up the cliff, in an area of low-lying tress, is the only place where the waved albatross nests, and in fact, the 10 to 12,000 pairs of albatrosses on Hood are all the individuals of this species that exist on the planet. They perform one of the most spectacular rituals of the animal world. Watching these large birds (up to 1 meter high) take off is another unforgettable moment. The albatrosses clumsily wobble to the edge of the cliff and launch themselves against the wind to be transformed into gracious flying creatures.
Gardner Bay offers a great possibility for the visitor to enjoy some beach time in the Galapagos. Here, the extroverted mockingbirds sit on top of visitor’s hats, peck at their feet, and investigate their belongings.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Kicker Rock (Leon Dormido) is a magnificent rock in the middle of the sea. Rising 500 feet straight from the ocean, this giant uplifted rock has the shape of a sleeping lion. It has a split with towering vertical walls on either side, forming a narrow channel through which small vessels can navigate. Return to San Cristobal’s airport for your flight back to Quito or Guayaquil, where you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

You will be transferred to the airport for your onward flight.

Meals: Breakfast