Archipel II 8 Days - Itinerary A5+B4

Arrival at Baltra Airport. Then you will take a bus ride to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island at the National Park boundary, to visit the Twin Craters and a local ranch to observe the giant tortoise of Santa Cruz Island in its natural habitat. After these activities you will be transferred to the catamaran to settle in and rest.

Full itinerary map here: http://bit.ly/archipel-ii-a5b4

Early in the morning visit to the Tintoreras Islet, where you will be able to see sea lions and Galapagos Penguins, and also White tipped reef sharks. After lunch, you will land at Puerto Villamil in Isabela Island, the largest and one of the youngest island in the archipelago. First you will visit the Flamingos Lagoon, and then the breeding center Arnaldo Tupiza, where you will see hundreds of giant Galapagos tortoises; this project was created to rescue endangered populations of tortoises that live around the island. In the early afternoon, return to the catamaran and dinner.

After breakfast, visit Moreno Point in the north coast of Isabela, between volcanoes Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul, through a trail of solidified lava until a coastal lagoon where you will see several species of birds. During the afternoon you will go to Elizabeth Bay, the excursion has no landing point. You will visit the Marielas islets, and see the most important penguin colony and a cove that is surrounded by red mangroves and observe seas turtles, flightless cormorants, spotted eagle rays, brown pelicans and sea lions. End of the day and dinner onboard.

Early in the morning, go to Tagus Cove to see the Galapagos penguins, flightless cormorant and other seabirds. Then go to a hike along the trail to the top of the cliff where you can view Darwin Lake and uplifted lake, and the graffiti on the surrounding cliffs of the cove, done by pirates, whalers and buccaners in paste centuries. After lunch, visit Espinosa point in Fernandina, where you will see large groups of marine iguanas. Dinner onboard and end of the day.

At the beginning of the day, you will visit Bachas Beach, at the west of Turtle Cove, these are two small beaches and its sand is a nice nesting place for sea turtles. Behind this beaches there is a small blackish water lagoon, where is possible to observe flamingos and coastal birds, like black necked stilts. The other beach was a strategic point during WWII using as a strategic point to protect Panama Channel. After this activity,you will visit North Seymour to see the various species of birdlife that inhabit there, like blue footed boobies and frigate birds. Return to the catamaran and dinner.

The first activity of the day will be the visit to the beautiful volcano islet of Bartolome, which offers the most iconic landscape and panorama view of the entire Archipelago. You will have to climb the stairs to the reach the top of the island called Pinnacle Bay, and from here you will have an amazing view of the island. After lunch, you will visit Espumilla Beach, which is an important breeding site for turtles that return year after year to bury their eggs in the sand. At nearby Buccaneer Cove you can practice snorkeling.

Early in the morning, you will visit Puerto Egas, a beach located at the west side of Santiago Island, its main attraction is the black sand beach. After lunch you will go to Rabida Island, to see the red color of the rocks and sand, due to the volcanic material that lies there. A short walk along a trail leads you to a coastal lagoon behind the beach, to observe finches, doves and mockingbirds, and also a colony of flamingos.

At the beginning of the last day you will visit Charles Darwin Research Station to learn about the protection and conservation of the tortoise’s species of the National Park. After this activity, we take a shuttle to Baltra Airport, to take your flight back to the continent.