8 days cruise sailing yacht Samba – A

Morning – Arrival at Baltra Airport:

Your TCC (Transit Control Card), also known as the Ingala card (US$20 per person), will be issued digitally after you complete an online form. At the airport, this digital card will be checked, and your luggage will be inspected to ensure that no non-native plant or animal species are introduced. In addition, the Galápagos National Park entrance fee (US$200) must be paid upon arrival if it has not already been paid. Your guide will meet you at the airport, help you with your luggage and will accompany you on the short bus ride to the port. Here you will board the yacht.After greeting the crew and captain, you will be assigned your cabins and then have your first lunch together.

Afternoon – Mosquera: Mosquera is located in the middle of the Itabaca Channel, between Baltra and North Seymour. Mosquera offers beautiful white coral sand and simplifies the landing unlike their neighbors Seymour and Baltra with their rocky coastline. The Galapagos sea lions are real beach lovers. These flink fishermen come through the Itabaca Channel, which is a natural trap for marine life due to the submerged elevation between Baltra and Santa Cruz. Here you will have time to snorkel or take a walk on the beach. Among the rocks, red cliff crabs are waiting to play hide and seek while you try to snap the perfect photo. If you’re lucky, you might even see crab egrets or even a red-footed booby.

Meals: Lunch/Dinner

Morning – Darwin Bay: Within the submerged caldera of Genovesa lies Darwin Bay. This bay with its beautiful sandy beach holds some surprises as you walk over barren lava formations, past tide pools and shrubs, and then climb cliffs at the end. Every single species you observe along the way has its own ecological niche. Whimbrels and migratory sandpipers actively forage in the surf alongside resting Galapagos sea lions. Impressive frigatebirds and red-footed boobies nest in the mangroves, where songbirds such as yellow warblers, Darwin’s finches and Galapagos mockingbirds can also be seen. Something special are the two subpopulations of cactus finches, distinguished only by their song. There is wonderful snorkeling from the sandy beach.

Afternoon – Prince Philip’s Steps (also called El Barranco): In the afternoon you will continue sailing to Prince Philip’s Steps, one of the two visitor points on Genovesa Island. Sometimes Galapagos fur seals rest on the rocky ledges. After climbing the steep stone steps, you will take a guided walk where you will see many different birds such as red-footed and blue-footed boobies. The red-footed boobies are almost only seen on Genovesa and nest in the palo santo trees. The bushes on the edge to the ocean side are loosening up and you can enjoy the incredible view and the ocean breeze. Continuing, you will pass by a colony of Nazca boobies and eventually reach nests of storm petrels, where, if you are lucky, you can also see the short-eared owl hunting.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Morning – Mejía Point (Marchena Island): Marchena Island, which is named after Fray Antonio de Marchena, does not have any tourist sites, though it is possible to dive in the surrounding waters on organized excursions. Most visitors only see Marchena when sailing around the northern part of Isabela Island. The volcano on the island, like many Galapagos volcanoes, has a caldera, which is a crater formation created when the volcano collapsed and the “roof” sank. Marchena Punta Mejia is one of the best dive sites in the Galapagos. The calm, blue waters of the northwest coast and the topography, as well as the unrelenting darkness of the place, give the impression of witnessing the formation of our planet and its underwater world. There is a great variety of fish and you will have the opportunity to see rays, sea turtles and whitetip reef sharks.

Afternoon – Black Beach (Marchena Island): In the afternoon, visit Playa Negra, a place of dark lava rock and black sand in the west of Marchena Island. This famous and beautiful Galapagos beach is known for its amazing seal colony. Sea turtles also come here to lay their eggs. This beach is one of the most impressive places on the Galapagos Islands. Around Playa Negra, you are likely to encounter marine iguanas diving under the calm and blue waters for the seaweed that grows on the lava bed.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Morning – Albemarle Point (Isabela): Albemarle Point is located in the north of the island, this visit site consists of two areas: the first, a mangrove area between the lava flows Pahohoe (lava frozen in a wave or by accordion) and the bays and channels form. This place is ideal for a panga ride. The second point to visit is the old radar station left near the beach by the Americans during World War II.The marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) of Punta Albermarle and West Isabela are the largest in the archipelago. On a panga ride you can observe flightless cormorants (Nannopterum harrisi), marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus), seabirds and various marine animals.

Afternoon – Vicente Roca Point: During lunch you will cross the Bolivar Channel 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 – Espinoza Point (Fernandina): Espinoza Point is the only visitor site on land of Fernandina Island and one of the few places where you can find some bizarre outgrowths of natural selection. The flagship species is the flightless cormorant, which lives exclusively on the remote western side of the Galapagos Islands and represents a kind of holy grail of evolution. You will also love the almost alien view of the cone of La Cumbre volcano with its spectacular scenery. The narrow headland you walk along is the end of the lava tongue that reached the coast and solidified due to contact with the cold sea water.

Afternoon – Urbina Bay (Isabela): Urbina Bay is located on the west coast of Isabela, between Elizabeth Bay and Tagus Cove. It is located near the base of the Alcedo volcano. The coastline underwent a major uplift in 1954, extending the shoreline a kilometer. Here you can find corals, shells and many other calcareous organisms above water. Urbina Bay is home to the large and colorful land iguanas and giant tortoises of the Vulcan Alcedo population. There are also many Darwin’s finches to be seen.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Morning – Elizabeth Bay: Elizabeth Bay can only be visited from the water. Passing the Marielas Islands, home to the largest penguin colony in the Galapagos, you will enter the bay. Here you can admire the red mangroves, their red roots and green leaves. Sea turtles, cormorants, spotted eagle rays, golden rays, brown pelicans and sea lions can be seen here!

Afternoon – 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 undulating lava flow Pahohoe to a complex of coastal lagoons whose main attractions are different species of birds.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Morning – Asylum of Peace: Today you will first visit Asylum of Peace, the hill where the pioneer Wittmer family settled. In fact, the first person born in the Galapagos was Rolf Wittmer. Your guide will tell you the story of this family, but also of tragedies, colonisation and other fascinating events. From there we will explore a freshwater well and an abandoned pirate cave and enjoy the fantastic views of the island from the 450 metre high hill.

Afternoon – La Loberia: La Loberia beach is so named because of the many sea lions which inhabit the island and rest on the sand. It is an ideal place to enjoy the sea and snorkel, just like the cute sea lions.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Morning: Highlands (Santa Cruz): In the highlands of Santa Cruz you can admire different species of birds, such as the small and large tree finches, ground finches, Galapagos flycatchers and cattle egrets (often standing on the backs of turtles). As you drive into the island’s protected area, you can see the contrasts of this diverse ecosystem. The path leads from the coast through the agricultural land and directly to the dense wet forests. Often you can see the Galápagos giant tortoises in the middle of the trail or walking across the pastures and through the grass. This place is an ornithologist’s paradise because almost all the birds either live on the island or pass through here. After this visit you will drive back to the airport on Baltra Island for your return or onward flight.

Meals: Breakfast