Example Below:   Full Adventure in Galapagos + Quito (10 Day - Itinerary)

Darwin's Triangle Long + Quito (8 Day Itinerary)

Darwin's Triangle Short + Quito (7 Day Itinerary)

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DAY 1:   ARRIVE QUITO or GUAYAQUIL (passengers choice)
Quito Accommodations
Arrive Quito (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) or Guayaquil. We highly recommend adding an extra day before your Galapagos program to accommodate potential flight delays, late night arrivals, or to enjoy an optional City Tour. Overnight Hotel.

DAY 2:   ARRIVE GALAPAGOS – BALTRA – SANTA CRUZ (El Garrapatero Beach)
Red Mangrove Aventura Lodge
AM – Depart to airport for flight to Galapagos (Baltra). Airport arrival pickup and transfer, you will have a short ferry crossing to Santa Cruz Island (10 min-ride). After a 45 minute (approx). you arrive in Puerto Ayora around 11:30 AM (Depending on your flight schedule). Check-in at Red Mangrove Aventura Lodge.

PM - After lunch, we depart to El Garrapatero Beach, about 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) northeast of Puerto Ayora. A 25 minutes bus ride brings us to the start of an easy 15 minute walk that leads to the beach. This beautiful white sandy beach is known as place where you can relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. This is one of Santa Cruz's most peaceful and tranquil settings, the 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) of sand that compose El Garrapatero Beach is a tropical paradise. Surrounded by beautiful mangrove trees, the beach is home to an incredible array of birds, most notably, flamingos, finches and mockingbirds. You can also find marine iguanas, shrimp, Galapagos penguins, oystercatchers, and patillos amongst the white sands and clear blue water. There's also a freshwater lake nearby that is home to even more tropical animals, such as herons, grebes, and many of shore birds. Enjoy an afternoon of wonderful swimming and snorkeling opportunities. Briefing and dinner at the lodge. (B,L,D)

DAY 3:   SANTA CRUZ (Highlands) - FLOREANA
Red Mangrove Floreana Lodge
AM - Breakfast at the Lodge. This morning the adventure starts with a trip to "Los Gemelos" (The Twins), two enormous collapsed lava chambers, a wonderful introduction to the majestic power of the forces of nature and the great biodiversity of the Santa Cruz Highlands. This short, easy hike to each of the twins is swarming with endemic flora and fauna, including a remnant of Scalesia Forest, draped in liverwort, lichens and mosses, where is easy to spot some Darwin finches and perhaps the short eared owls. After "Los Gemelos", a short bus ride will take us to a 600-acre private reserve where the giant Galapagos tortoises freely roam, graze, and sleep. Sometimes it's a bit muddy here, so before setting out, we will provide a selection of field boots (Wellington boots) to choose from, including large sizes for men. Walking among the tortoises in wild, will be one of the most treasured moments of your trip. After visiting these prehistoric creatures on their natural habitat, we'll take a 5-minute ride to the entrance of a 450-meter (1350 feet) illuminated lava tunnel. With a ceiling nearly 20 feet high in most places, this is an incredible opportunity see lava stalagmites, stalactites, sulfur, mineral-colored walls, and the rippled floor formed from lava along this unique lava formations. Return to the Lodge. Lunch will be served at the Aventura Lodge.

PM - After lunch, departure to Floreana. Our navigation will take about 2 hours depending on sea conditions. Arrival at Floreana Island. Upon arrival, and before check in, visit La Loberia, a very beautiful location to swim, snorkel, or simply relax watching a colony of sea lions and great scenery. Walk back to the lodge. Check in at Floreana Lodge. Dinner at Local Family House, briefing and overnight at the Lodge. (B,L,D)

DAY 4:   FLOREANA
Red Mangrove Floreana Lodge
AM – Breakfast at a local family's house. This is a great way to share the insights of Galapagos with a local family.

After breakfast we will take a 20 minutes bus ride in a traditional bus called "chiva" (without windows and doors) until the entrance of Cerro Allieri one of the highest points in Floreana (340m) from you can enjoy an overwhelming view of different landscapes and the town of Puerto Velasco Ibarra. The hike around Cerro Allieri takes around two hours round trip. One of the main attractions of Cerro Alieri is its unique vegetation. Of 48 species of identified plants, 56% are native and 33% are endemic. They are shrubs and trees of Darwiniothamnus tenuifolius, Lippia salicifolia, Lecocarpus pinnatifidus, Linum cratericola, Scalesia pedunculata, and so on. The Linum Cratericol, is a species critically endangered. It was believed extinct until 1997, local scientific personnell rediscovered it. Now, only 40 plants are found, and have not yet regenerated. This is also a good spot to find Darwin finches, and among them, the medium tree finch, a species also consider critically endangered.
Return to town and typical lunch with a local family.

PM – After lunch, enjoy an exciting walk to La Loberia, one of the most beautiful spots in Floreana where you can swim and snorkel, or just take some time to explore the little town of Puerto Velasco Ibarra, and be ready to capture the beauty of the islands as a reminder of this memorable experience. Dinner at Local Family House, briefing and overnight at the Lodge (B,L,D))

DAY 5:   FLOREANA (Highlands) - ISABELA (Las Tintoreras)
Red Mangrove Isabela Lodge
AM - After breakfast we depart in an open-air bus (Chiva) that will transport you up to the highlands of Floreana while your Naturalist Guide begins filling you in on the history of the island, the first settled in the Galapagos. You will walk up to see the Asilo de la Paz (Peace Asylum) where an artisan spring is located. This spring attracted pirates, whalers and later settlers to Floreana as it was one of the very few year-round sources of fresh water in the Galapagos. The Cueva de los Piratas (Pirate's Cave) is quite literally where pirates carved temporary shelter out of soft stone and is also where one of the original settlers, Margret Wittmer, gave birth to a son, Rolf, who is still living. Some have almost jokingly referred to it as the 'Stonehenge' of Floreana due to its interesting shapes. Cerro Pajas (Bird Hill) truly lives up to its name with a multitude of Floreana Finches. It also offers spectacular views of the island and the sea below. We will visit a tortoise reserve where you can watch many of the giant tortoises up close and personal. All the while, your Naturalist Guide will be pointing out the wildlife and filling you in on the colorful history of Floreana's first inhabitants like the Baroness and re-telling the legend of the "Floreana Mystery" which entailed the mysterious deaths of several inhabitants. It has never been solved. Departure at 11:00 AM for Isabela. Sailing time is 1.5 - 2 hours. Arriving in the port is a visual feast with stunning green and turquoise waters so clear, you can see sea turtles, sea lions and penguins as though looking through glass. We will check into the Red Mangrove Isabela Lodge for a delicious lunch.

PM - After lunch, departure to "Las Tintoreras" and Bay Tour. At the main dock, we will board a smaller craft to head out across the port, slowing down to view blue-footed boobies and Galapagos penguins sharing the same rocky sunbathing space, before turning a bend and docking. From there, we take an intriguing walk through a jagged lava field, passing abundant colonies of marine iguanas and sea lions, to see a small canal of shallow waters, full of resting white-tipped reef sharks. The views from here are something you will take with you for the rest of your life! The black, treacherous lava field, the emerald green sea, the green mangroves, and the cloud-capped volcanoes of Isabela, create an afternoon backdrop you are not likely to ever forget. Once you finish the walk, you can snorkel in this warm, shallow bay surrounded by mangroves, for an opportunity to see white-tipped reef sharks, sea lions, sea turtles, and, of course, the mystery of the mangrove below the surface. Don't worry, white-tipped reef sharks are not aggressive, but merely fascinating. Once we return to the lodge, we'll have a bit of time to relax and shower before briefing and dinner. Overnight at Isabela Lodge. (B,L,D)

DAY 6:   ISABELA (Sierra Negra Volcano, Campo Duro)
Red Mangrove Isabela Lodge
AM – Breakfast at the lodge. Departure for Sierra Negra Volcano. Vehicles of local providers will drive us up through the humid highlands of Isabela, to the slopes of Sierra Negra Volcano, considered the oldest volcano on Isabela. We will hike about 400 mts to reach the rim of the caldera (crater) of Sierra Negra, from where the views are breathtaking!. With 4 miles across (10km), it is the second largest caldera in the world (The largest is Ngorontgoro in Tanzania).
On 22 October 2005 an eruption, that lasted one week, occurred in the northeast side of the caldera of Sierra Negra volcano. The lava flow covered much of the interior of the caldera and in some places rose more than two meters. After bordering the caldera some 5 kms on and easy trail, will relax a bit and have a snack at a nice resting site under a "Jaboncillo" tree. For the hardiest of the group, there is an option to continue on an especially difficult one hour walk to Chico Volcano, just northwest of the caldera where fumarole activity is abundant, and again from here, the views are spectacular. This is not an easy hike, however, because it is mostly across sloping lava fields. After returning from Sierra Negra, we will have lunch at Campo Duro.

PM - Campo Duro is a beautiful organic farm whose owners prepare delicious food with vegetables and fruits grown locally at the farm. Prepared at a lava rock-grill, enjoy a healthy meal and after lunch take a walk among the fruit trails or just take a nap in one of their hammocks and breath the clean air above a big Mango tree.
In liaison with the Galapagos National Park, this property also takes care of giants tortoises under a special patronage program that your guides will carefully explain to you. Back to the lodge, you will have time to discover Isabela on your own. Enjoy snorkeling, swimming or simply relax or walk the town to discover the typical Galapagos style of life. Briefing and dinner at the Lodge. (B,L,D)

DAY 7: ISABELA (Los Tuneles)
Red Mangrove Isabela Lodge
AM - Breakfast at the Lodge and departure by fast boat to Los Tuneles (The Tunnels). On this trip, you will enjoy seeing the beautiful Galapagos wildlife such us giant mantas rays, sea turtles, sea lions, and more, as we sail out from the majestic Sierra Negra Volcano. While snorkeling at this site, experience close encounters with many species of fish, rays, sea turtles and perhaps the Galapagos penguins. Only here in Galapagos, you are able to snorkel with penguins and sea lions on the same spot! (This activity and time schedule may change according to sea conditions). Return to the lodge.

PM - Late lunch at Isabela Lodge. Afterwards time to relax and discover the town of Puerto Villamil on your own. (B,L,D)

DAY 8:   ISABELA (Cerro Orchilla, Wall of Tears) – SANTA CRUZ (Darwin Center)
Red Mangrove Aventura Lodge
AM - Breakfast at the lodge. Departure to the "Humedales" (Wetlands) Tour. We begin with a drive out of town along the beautiful white sand palm lined beach of Villami, one of the most beautiful beaches in the entire Galapagos. This beach, straight from the cover of a travel magazine, stretches on for 3 kilometers before the National Park boundaries, where we will walk up the trail to the summit of Cerro Orchilla, for an astounding view from the top. Then, we will visit the "Muro de las Lagrimas" (Wall of Tears), a unique construction built by the backbreaking labor of prisoners of a penal colony centuries earlier. On the path to the Wall of Tears you will see many lava lizards, endemic an native flora, Darwin finches and perhaps, if you are lucky, some young Galapagos tortoises, released after been born at the breeding center Arnaldo Tupiza in Isabela, as part of the rearing program of giant tortoises held by the National Park. Lunch at Isabela Lodge.

PM - 1 PM we depart to Santa Cruz. Our navigation will take about 1.5 to 2 hours depending on sea conditions. Arrival and check in at Santa Cruz Aventura Lodge. Then, enjoy a guided tour to the fascinating Charles Darwin Research Station where you can learn about one of the most successful reptile breeding programs in the world and perhaps, meet the most famous giant tortoise: Lonesome George, also known as the world's rarest creature. Discovered in 1971 on Pinta Island, he is the very last of his kind. Founded in 1964 the Charles Darwin Research Station is supported by over 100 scientists and researchers from around the world, with the unique purpose to study, support and instrument the conservation efforts of the islands. Dinner and overnight at Aventura Lodge. (B,L,D)

DAY 9:   SANTA CRUZ – BALTRA – QUITO or GUAYAQUIL
Quito Accommodations
AM - Breakfast at the Lodge. Depart for your transfer to the Baltra airport, on time for your flight back to the mainland. Transport and guide included from the hotel to the airport. Departure from lodge will be 3 hrs before your flight.
Before entering the 'gate' to depart, you will pass through a line where you need to present the part of your Migratory Control card you have retained and now have handy for the Immigration officer. Board plane for flight to Quito or Guayaquil. Overnight Hotel.

DAY 10:   DEPART HOME (or begin Trip Extension)
Depart to airport for flight home (End of Services). Trip Extensions to other regions in Ecuador or Extra Days can also be arranged. (B)

Key: (B)reakfast (L)unch (D)inner

*Tour Program – 2 person minimum / 14 person maximum (private tour quoted upon request)*