7 days cruise yacht Tribute – C

Morning – Arrival at Baltra airport: At the mainland airport, you have purchased your TCC or Ingala card and a luggage inspection has already been conducted to ensure that no foreign plant or animal species are introduced. Upon your arrival at Seymour Ecological airport, your TCC (Transit Control Card) will be stamped. This must be kept in a safe place during your trip, as it must be presented again on your return flight. In addition, the Galapagos National Park entrance fee is due upon entry (US$200), if not already paid. Your guide will meet you at the airport, help you with your luggage and accompany you on the short bus ride to the port of Baltra.

Afternoon – Highlands (Santa Cruz): You will visit the highlands of the island (so have your shoes and rain jacket ready). Observe giant tortoises in their natural habitat as well as a variety of native and migratory birds including tree finches, ground finches, Galapagos flycatchers and cattle egrets, often standing on the backs of tortoises. Lunch in the highlands. Then drive to Puerto Ayora, the capital of Santa Cruz and board the ship.

Meals: Lunch/Dinner

Morning – Tintoreras (Isabela). The guided walk follows a bumpy volcanic rock path (easy/moderate level) to a unique tidal channel. A collapsed lava grotto forms a channel that fills at high tide and closes the entrance at low tide. Marine life is caught, including turtles and elegant spotted eagle rays or golden rays. In the crystal clear waters at this site you can also spot whitetip reef sharks (in Spanish they are called “tintoreras”, hence the official name of the site) resting from their hunt. Here, snorkeling is on the program for the first time.

Sierra Negra is the third highest volcano on Isabela and the 5th highest of the Galapagos Islands (1124m). It is the only major volcano on Isabela whose crater area is open to tourism. A mysterious half-day hike through the cloud forests will lead you to a viewpoint on the edge, offering fantastic views into the impressive caldera (clear weather required, though unpredictable; prevailing winds mean clouds usually tend to disappear at the viewpoint). The caldera measures about 7 x 9km and is the largest in the archipelago. Since the discovery of so-called supervolcanoes like Yellowstone, it is no longer listed as one of the largest craters in the world.

Afternoon – After lunch, you will visit the turtle breeding center, where you can see hundreds of giant turtles of all sizes. The defenseless hatchlings are not big at all, in fact they are smaller than the size of your palm! This project outside of Puerto Villamil was created to save the endangered populations on the southernmost volcanoes.

You will also have a chance to see flamingo colonies in the wetlands that surround Puero Villamil.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Morning – Moreno Point: Punta Moreno is located on the north coast of Isabela Island between the Sierra Negra volcano and the Cerro Azul volcano. The trail leads along the former wavy lava flow Pahoehoe to a complex of coastal lagoons whose main attractions are various species of birds.

Afternoon – Espinoza Point (Fernandina): Espinoza Point is the only visitor destination by land on Fernandina Island and one of the few places where you can find some bizarre outgrowths of natural selection. The poster child for this is the flightless cormorant, which lives exclusively on the remote western side of the Galapagos and is a kind of Holy Grail of evolution. You’ll also love the almost alien view of the cone of La Cumbre volcano with its spectacular backdrop. The narrow headland you walk along is the end of the lava tongue that has reached the coast and solidified through contact with the cold sea water.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Morning – Tagus Cove (Isabela): You will navigate around Tagus Cove along the cliffs. From the rubber boat you have a good chance to see the Galápagos penguins, the flightless cormorants and other seabirds. From the dock it is about a 30-minute walk to the cliff top where you can see Lake Darwin. The lake contains more salt than the sea itself. You can also see some volcanoes from here. Look out for the graffiti on the surrounding cliffs of the bay! They were written by pirates and whalers in the last centuries.

Afternoon – Vicente Roca Point (Isabela): During lunch you will cross the Bolivar Channel for the last time to reach Vicente Roca Point, at the mouth of the seahorse-like shape of Isabela Island. Entering a dark cave under a spectacular arch, the echoes of the waves will accompany you. Just around the corner, the collapsed amphitheater of the Ecuador volcano offers you another impressive view. The calm waters of the bay are well protected from the ocean waves. The water is quite cold, but an excellent place to snorkel among various species of sharks, penguins, puffer fish and seahorses.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Morning – Bartolomé: The beautiful volcanic island of Bartolomé is one of the youngest of the islands, and in geological terms was only recently born from fire. Although lifeless at first glance, Bartolomé offers some of the wildest landscapes and best panoramic views in the entire archipelago. To enjoy the postcard-like view of idyllic ‘Pinnacle Bay’, you’ll need to climb the stairs to the island’s lookout point (114m). Enter a dramatic world of menacing (albeit extinct) nearby spatter cones, craters and light lava drops spewed by fiery fountains. The Summit Trail is also ideal for watching sparse pioneer vegetation, such as lava cactus, struggle to take root in the bare, pristine lava fields.

Afternoon – Sullivan Bay (Santiago): Arriving at Sullivan Bay is like landing on the moon. The desolate, sprawling area seems mostly lifeless, but this island, which is popular with photographers, still offers much to discover. There’s even life! Green turtles burrow on the small white beach, where you can also spot crabs, Canada herons and oysterfischers.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Morning – Dragon Hill: Dragon Hill has two main species that are most likely to appear on any visit to the Galapagos, although not spread too widely across the islands: Galapagos land iguanas and American flamingos. You climb a hill with huge Opuntia cacti where these “dragons” feed and breed.

The short trail crosses the coastal vegetation zone as well as the slightly higher dry zone with endangered tropical dry forest. During the warm and humid season in the first half of the year, everything turns green.
Evergreen giant opuntias with internal water reservoirs chose a different survival tactic in this dry climate than the leaf-dropping palo santo trees; in the end, both were successful. It’s also a very photogenic place, with stunning panoramas over the bay and onto a fascinating, steep volcanic spout of red lava that overlooks the area. Dragon Hill has become famous for its salty lagoons behind the beach; these contain seaweed and shrimp and attract American flamingos seasonally. Dragon Hill is the best place on Santa Cruz to see them.

Afternoon – North Seymour: The shallow little island of North Seymour is an elevated part of the seabed. You can spot Galapagos iguanas among the scraggy bushes. You will also see many seabirds such as the brown pelican, red-billed tropicbirds, fork-tailed gulls and, depending on the season, Nazca boobies. The main attraction, however, is Galapagos’ largest breeding colony of blue-footed boobies – be careful not to step on their nests! – And frigatebirds. At the beginning of the breeding season, adult male frigatebirds inflate their bright red throat pouches to nearly the size of a soccer.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Morning – Bachas Beach: The two small beaches of Bachas are located to the west of Turtle Bay. The sand is made of decomposed corals, so it is very white and soft, making it the favorite place for nesting sea turtles. Behind one of the beaches there is a small salty lagoon. From time to time you can see flamingos or other shorebirds here, as well as the American stilt and the whimbrel. The other beach is longer with two old barges from World War II, when the U.S. used Baltra Island as a strategic point to protect the Panama Canal. Over time, however, these ship ruins have been washed over by the sand and are cur-rently barely visible.

After this excursion you will be transferred to the airport and say goodbye to the guide and crew!

Meals: Breakfast