Tip Top Fleet . Galapagos

Friday, Day 1

Flight from mainland Ecuador (Quito or Guayaquil) to Baltra, with AVIANCA Airlines; arriving at 09:20 a.m. approximately.Your guide will meet you at the arrivals gate, our crew will take care of your luggage.Your guide will conduct you to a bus and after a short 5-kilometer ride to the pier; you board the Yacht immediately. As the crew weighs anchor, we greet you with our first orientation and we offer a light snack. After lunch, you make an early wet landing on Mosquera Islet, a reef of rocks and coral (the result of an uprising) and a great white sand beach and tide pools. You observe colonies of sea lions, brown pelicans, blue-footed boobies and sally light-foot crabs, the contrast between these bright red crabs on top and blue on the bottom and the black lava is stunning. In the evening, we have an orientation about the Galapagos Islands in general: their origin and evolution. Welcome cocktail with the entire crew, and dinner.

Saturday, Day 2

After breakfast, we make a wet landing on Sullivan Bay, a perfect place to get a feel of the volcanic origin of the islands. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. We return to the boat for a delicious lunch. After this, you make a wet landing on Rabida, to walk and observe marine iguanas and sea lions, pelicans, blue-footed boobies, masked boobies and brown pelicans. You make a little walk and you arrive at a small saltwater lagoon where you can see pink flamingos. Optional: time for those who would like to swim or snorkel. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Sunday, Day 3

After breakfast, we make a dry landing on Punta Espinoza to observe and see a large colony of sea lions, marine iguanas and the flightless cormorants and clumps of lava cactus. You come aboard for lunch. In the afternoon, you make a panga ride around the islets of Elizabeth Bay to see marine iguanas, penguins, marine turtles, seabirds and shorebirds, herons and blue-footed boobies. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Monday, Day 4

After breakfast, you make a wet landing on Urbina Bay to take a walk and observe a coral area, land iguanas, flightless cormorants and giant tortoises. Optional: time for those who would like to swim or snorkel. Return to the Yacht for lunch. In the afternoon, we make a panga ride on Tagus Cove, a cove between the shoulders of two volcanic craters, which protect it from the open sea; we observe penguins, marine iguanas, sea lions and a variety of birds including flightless cormorant and blue-footed boobies. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel and/ or kayak. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation

Tuesday, Day 5

After breakfast, you make a wet landing on James Bay (Puerto Egas), to walk and observe sponges, snails, hermit crabs, a variety of shorebirds, barnacles and the endemic four-eyed blenny, marine iguanas and sea lions. Optional: time for those who would like to swim or snorkel. You return to the boat for a delicious lunch. In the afternoon, you make a dry landing on Bartholomew Island, to hike to the summit; during the hike, you observe colonies of marine iguanas and lava lizards. On the summit, you see an impressive view of the surrounding islands, including the eroded tuff cone of Pinnacle Rock. You return to the yacht for a delicious dinner and our nightly orientation.

Wednesday, Day 6

After breakfast, you make a wet landing on Chinese Hat (Sombrero Chino), a small island off the coast of Santiago Island, you can observe on the rocky shoreline: Galapagos penguins, eagle rays, sea lions and marine iguanas. This is an excellent snorkeling site. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel and/ or kayak. You return to the boat for lunch. Later in the afternoon, you make a dry landing on Dragon Hill, where you can see land iguanas; you walk to a hypersaline lagoon (saltier than the ocean), where you can observe flamingos, common stilts, pintail ducks and other species of birds. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Thursday, Day 7

After breakfast, you will disembark to take the bus to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island for a visit to the native forests, Twin Craters, then, you will go to one of the ranches to see the giant tortoises in the wildlife. You will be delighted with the lunch in the ranch. After lunch, you will return to Puerto Ayora to start the visit to the Interpretation Center Fausto Llerena. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation

Friday, Day 8

After breakfast, you make an early dry landing for a walk along the coast and the interior of North Seymour Island, a low, flat island that was uplifted from the sea by underground seismic activity. You observe blue-footed boobies (they nest from May to November), marine iguanas, pelicans, frigate birds, shorebirds, sea lions and endemic Palo Santo. You return to the Yacht for disembarking on the pier at 09:00. Your guide accompanies you on the bus ride directly to the airport.

Saturday, Day 2

After breakfast, you make a wet landing on Darwin Bay to walk and observe frigate birds, herons, mockingbirds, boobies, shorebirds, turtles, marine iguanas, etc. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel or kayak. You come on board for a delicious lunch. Later in the afternoon, you take a panga ride and you make a dry landing on Prince Phillips’s Steps (Barranco), you walk and observe the interesting lives of the birds here. Dinner on the Yacht, and then your orientation about conservation efforts made to protect the Islands.

Sunday, Day 3

After breakfast, you make a dry landing on the pier of the South Plaza, where you can enjoy the antics of the sea lions. A walk through a cactus forest allows us to observe land iguanas and many species of tropical birds. Return to the Yacht for lunch. Then, you make a wet landing on Santa Fe Island to visit the cactus forest and a colony of land iguana’s native from Santa Fe. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel and/or kayak. At the end of the afternoon, we return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Monday, Day 4

After breakfast, you will disembark to take the bus to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island for a visit to the native forests, Twin Craters, then, you will go to one of the ranches to see the giant tortoises in the wildlife. You will be delighted with the lunch in the ranch. After lunch, you will return to Puerto Ayora to start the visit to the Interpretation Center Fausto Llerena. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Tuesday, Day 5

After breakfast, you make a wet landing on Post Office Bay, a historic site that recalls the days of the whalers, who presumably placed a wooden barrel in the 18th century to use it as a post office. Then, you will continue to the Baroness Point view, named due to the presence of a particular character who lived on Floreana Island, it is the Baroness Eloisa von Wagner, you will enjoy of the beautiful landscape and the ruins of her house. Return to the Yacht for lunch. In the afternoon, you visit the Devil’s Crown, a submerged volcano, for snorkeling for those who wish it (this is one of the best snorkeling sites in the Islands), then you make a wet landing on Point Cormorant for a short walk to the Flamingo Lagoon of this island. You then continue the walk until we reach the beach called "La Picona" to see marine turtles and their spawning grounds. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Wednesday, Day 6

After breakfast, you make an early dry landing on Punta Suarez to walk along lava beds where you will observe unique colonies of marine birds, including Albatross (May - December). Return to the Yacht for lunch. In the afternoon, you make a wet landing in Gardner Bay for a walk on the beach and observe a colony of sea lions, which inhabit the beach in great quantity during the breeding season; this is also an important nesting area for sea turtles. Then we make a panga ride around the Osborn Islet and the islets of Gardner. Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Thursday, Day 7

After breakfast, your experienced Captain sails easily around Kicker Rock (Leon Dormido), a massive tuff-rock that juts abruptly almost 500 feet straight from the ocean. Kicker Rock serves as a nesting place for many seabirds. Then you make a wet landing on Cerro Brujo to walk on a white sand beach and observe sea lions, brown pelicans, marine iguanas, and blue-footed boobies.

In the afternoon, you make a dry landing on San Cristobal port, after a short drive, you arrive at Jacinto Gordillo Interpretation Center where you learn about its reproductive process and the programs to maintain the species. You take the bus back to the port to visit the Interpretation Center of Human History of the Islands; this tour takes you through the geological and human history of the islands and its conservation. You return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Friday, Day 8

After breakfast, you make a panga ride on Black Turtle Cove, series of mangrove-surrounded coves and islets; here you can observe white-tipped sharks, marine turtles, spotted eagle rays, and yellow cow-nosed rays. You return to the Yacht for disembarking on the pier at 09:00. Your guide accompanies you on the bus ride directly to the airport.