Day 1: Arrive in Quito:
Airport pick up and escorted to lodgings.
Day 2: El Centro - Old Town Quito tour:
Including a visit to the World Heritage UNESCO site known for its unique architecture, and Quito Baroque, which is a fusion of Moorish, Flemish and Italian influences, Overnight in Quito.
Day 3: Fly to San Cristobal:
Arrive around lunch or early afternoon. We will visit the Darwin Center for an introduction to the Galapagos Islands, scout out the town, hike Las Tijeretas, and Snorkel. Sunset photo shoot at Las Tijeretas, known for the frigate bird nests, and beautiful crater bay. We overnight in a guesthouse run by a local artist.
Day 4: Galapaguera Real:
An early morning boat will take us to the northern part of San Cristobal where we hike to see and photograph the land tortoises in their true natural habitat. This section of the island has two personalities depending on what time of year you visit: 1) scrub, deserty environment in one season 2) Lush and green in another season (swamp hike).
Day 5: Visit Isla Lobos:
At this small island, we visit with blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, marine iguanas, and mother sea lions with their young. A flexible day, we can also visit Playa Ochoa, and there is an option to sea kayak to this site. We will visit a sea lion colony off the coast of San Cristobal and have a snorkel option.
Day 6: Transfer by boat to Isabela:
We explore on an orientation hike of the wetlands, which is a series of lagoons where you will find marine birds such as flamingos, grebes, oystercatchers, and finches, mangroves, and a colony of iguanas. Then we hike to the Wall of Tears, a mark of human history in the Galapagos. Isabella used to house a penal colony, where the local warden had the prisoners build a wall out of sharp lava rock in the hot Galapagos sun. The evening is flexible for shooting and we overnight at a guesthouse.
Day 7: Explore and Photograph on Isabela:
Isabela is the largest island in the Galapagos archipelago. It is home to the largest and most active volcano in the Archipelago. It is home to the oldest settlements, Villamil on the coast, and Santo Tomas inland high on the side of the volcano. We travel by truck to the highlands, and hike to Sierra Negra, where we stand at the edge of the third largest crater in the world. Here we enter a surreal lava landscape, hike to Volcan Chico to gaze into its smoking fumaroles, and see incredible vistas of the whole island.
Day 8: Sea kayak:
This is a very flexible day for photographing and exploration. In the early morning, we explore the system of islets protecting the bay in search of the shy Galapagos penguins.
Day 9: Early morning boat to Santa Cruz:
We hike to Tortuga Bay, a beautiful pristine white sandy beach, where sea turtles nest and lay there eggs. If we are lucky we might catch in action hundreds of sea turtles mating on the shore. Late afternoon, we head to the highlands where we will camp (safari style) under the stars and most likely next to the tortoises that roam the private property.
Day 10: Exploration and Photographing:
Complete contrasts to the arid coast, the Highlands are lush tropical zones. Returning to town, our afternoon is free. We overnight in a great little coastal town.
Day 11: Fly to Quito:
We have free this afternoon in Quito, and a farewell dinner.
Day 12: Transfer out.
Difficulty: Easy
Dates: May 9, 2008 departure |
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