Upon your arrival to Baltra Airport, you will be transferred to Endemic Catamaran. During the afternoon, after lunch, head to Bachas Beach, a beautiful white sand beach, located on the northern coast of Santa Cruz Island. This is a seasonal nesting place for sea turtles, and is also a nice site for snorkeling. End of the day and dinner onboard the catamaran.
Full itinerary map here: http://bit.ly/endemic-8-days-a
Early in the morning, you will visit DarwinBay at Genovesa Island, a white sand coral beach, where you will take a trail that winds through mangroves filled with land birds. Nazca boobies, red-footed boobies, and swallow-tailed gulls can be spotted here. Further down the path, you will find tidal pools where sea lions swim playfully. After this activity, head to El Barranco, also known as Prince Phillip ́s Steps, it ́s a step rocky path that leads to a cliff, from where you can appreciate an amazing view of Genovesa Island. End of the day and dinner onboard.
The first activity of the day will be landing in Santa Cruz Island, where you will take a bus ride to the Twin Craters, located on Santa Cruz Highlands, these are not real craters, these are formations that were created by the collapse of surface material in underground holes and chambers. You will also visit a private reserve to see giant tortoises in the wild. During the afternoon, after lunch, you will visit Sullivan Bay, located on the east coast of Santiago Island, that is a recently formed lava field, where you will see species like sea lions and sally light foot crabs, and various species of shorebirds. You can also swim and snorkel at the beach. End of the day and dinner onboard
Early in the morning, the catamaran will land at Isabela Island, and then you will take a bus ride to the Humedales, that are a complex of trails of 6 kilometers long, located south of the island. They have a wide variety of flora and abundant bird life, including gallinules, finches, stilts and ducks among others. You can also visit Sierra Negra Volcano crater, one of the largest in the entire Archipelago, and from where you will have a view of the entire island. After lunch, you can either visit Arnaldo Tupiza Tortoise Breeding Center or the Wall Of tears, been built in the 40’s by prisoners, since Isabela island was once an Ecuadorian penal colony and building up the wall was part of the punishment. End of the day and dinner onboard the catamaran.
The first site to visit this day will be Elizabeth bay, which will be carried out in a zodiac, since there is no landing point. The ride starts at Marielas Islets, where the largest colony of penguins on the entire archipelago resides; the excursion continues into a cove surrounded by red mangroves where you can spot sea turtles, flightless cormorants, spotted eagle rays, golden rays, brown pelicans and sea lions. In the afternoon, you will head to Urbina Bay, one of the recent examples of geological uplift in the Galapagos where seasonally is a nesting area for many tortoises, Galapagos Penguins, flightless cormorants, and brown pelicans.
After breakfast, you will visit Tagus Cove. A zodiac ride will give you the opportunity to see the Galapagos Penguin, flightless cormorant and other sea birds. Then you will take a hike to the top of this place ́s hill to visit Darwin Lake. During the afternoon you will head to Espinoza Point, one of Fernandina ́s visit points, and where you can spot pelicans, marine iguanas, and flightless cormorants. End of the day and dinner onboard the catamaran.
In the morning, you will have the opportunity to visit Buccaneer Cove, that is located just north of James Bay. It was known as a safe haven in the 17th and 18th century for pirates to stash their loot, take on fresh water and capture tortoises for food. It is a nice place for a zodiac ride, snorkeling and kayaking. Or you can visit Espumilla Beach, a nesting place for marine tortoises and home to marine iguanas and light foot crabs. You can practice snorkel here. In the late afternoon, you will visit Rabida Island, a red sand beach, famous for its rock formation scenery where you will see brown pelicans nests and a lagoon where flamingoes can be seen.
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
At the beginning of the final day, visit Mosquera Islet, between Baltra & North Seymour Islands. It also hosts the largest populations of sea lions and orca whales that can be seen occasionally depending on the season you visit the islet. After this activity, you will be transferred from the boat to Baltra airport to take your flight back to the continent.
Breakfast
