Galapagos Islands - the world's most popular wildlife destination The eden of the oceans Galapagos Islands Yacht Cruise frigatebirds, boobies, penguins, seals, turtles and a lot more Apr 15 - Apr 23
2011 The Galapagos Islands, no doubt, is the most well-known and most demanded eco-tourism destination in the world. Almost anyone who is interested in wildlife and nature travel, will visit this extremely interesting island group - and the islands never disappoint.
Due to the high demand, travel around the islands is extremely restricted. And once you have a restricted range and many other people to work your way around, it is extremely important to visit the Galapagos the right way. And we believe that by far the best way is to charter your own private yacht for a small group of people, who share the same interest and same enthusiasm about wildlife, ecology and nature conservation, and still want to have an absolutely great time on board.
For this excursion we have chartered the perfect yacht -The M/Y Reina Silvia. This ship is an elegant, spacious, comfortable, superior tourist vessel, with probably the best itinerary among all the yachts in her category! Our week on board this brilliant yacht will take us to all the most interesting and most photogenic wildlife landing sites, will allow us to explore the best underwater world, and will help us to maximize our own space and our own time of adventure on shore.
Joining us on the Reina Silvia is the right choice when visiting the Galapagos Islands! Detailed itinerary: | Apr 15 | Quito |
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| | Our exciting expedition to the wildlife paradise of the Galapagos Islands starts in Quito, the capital city of Ecuador. Nesting high up in the Andes, this is a perfect place for us to arrive, rest and acclimate after our long international flights, then assemble in our comfortable city hotel for an introduction and our Welcome Dinner. Whichever time you arrive from home, you will be greeted at the airport and transferred to our hotel. After your arrival, your time is free for city exploration at your pleasure, until our official trip begins with a Welcome Dinner at 7 pm this evening. After dinner, we will head straight to bed to conserve energy for the exciting adventures awaiting us. | | | Accomodation: Hotel Quito
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| Apr 16 | Quito/Baltra/South Plazas Island |
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| | Our day will start with a very early but great breakfast at the hotel, closely followed by a quick packing session. Once we are ready to go, we will all gather in the main lobby after breakfast, latest by 6 am, and depart to the domestic airport for our flight to the Galapagos Islands.
After landing on Baltra Island, we will transfer to our yacht, take our cabins and have the first of the many delicious lunches that await us on board. While dining, we take off towards our first destination: South Plazas Island. Although only a very small island, South Plaza is an ideal introduction to the Galapagos, with an abundance of wildlife seldom seen elsewhere in such a confined area. The northern coastline, composed of smooth, rounded boulders of lava, forms an ideal habitat for sea lions, which are so unafraid of man that they might even obstruct our path as we go ashore. Not far from the landing point (dry landing), in an area surrounded by tree cacti, we will encounter land iguanas, a subspecies that can only be found here, as well as three species of finches. At the edge of the surf-sprayed cliffs on the opposite side of the landing point, fabulous scenery awaits us, where we can watch the diving-, feeding- and breeding-activity of a variety of seabirds, such as the Swallow-tailed Gull, Audubon Shearwater and Red-billed Tropicbird, among others. As the sun reaches the horizon, we return to the yacht to enjoy a sundowner cocktail on the deck and to take our first dinner on board, followed by discussions about out experiences this afternoon. | | | Accomodation: M/Y Reina Silvia
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| Apr 17 | Tower Island |
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| | Last night we have been sailing NE, thus the morning will find us in front of Darwin Bay of Tower (Genovesa) Island. In order to utilize the fantastic morning lights for photography, we will have an early breakfast and head to shore right afterwards. Darwin Bay is formed by a submerged caldera of an extinct volcano. Not far from the beach, (wet landing) where our dinghy takes us ashore, there is a colony of Red-footed Boobies and frigate birds. It is an unforgettable sight, especially if we are lucky enough to see the male frigate birds with their pouches inflated to attract the females. This is the mating season, so we will keep our fingers crossed for our luck. After our visit, especially those of us not entirely interested in photography, will have the chance to snorkel or to kayak in the bay.
Once it is too hot to be outside, we return to the yacht for an delicious lunch and a short rest, while the Reina Silvia is repositioning just around the corner to our afternoon landing site, called Prince Philip's Steps. A trail here (dry landing) leads to an open area for Masked Boobies, frigates, and Red-footed Boobies. At the end of this trail are thousands of Band-rumped Storm-Petrels at the cliff's edge, where they nest in crevices. Short-eared owls can sometimes be seen here, hunting the storm petrels during daylight hours. If this hike is too strenuous for you, you will be able to approach the cliffs from the sea. This way or another, we will be back on board again for another great dinner and a long discussion about everything we have seen today. | | | Accomodation: M/Y Reina Silvia
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| Apr 18 | Isabela Island/Fernandina Island |
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| | Our yacht takes us westwards overnight, around the north cape of Isabella (the largest of the islands), crossing the Equator en-route. As usual, we will have an early breakfast and get ashore as soon as we can, while the lights are still brilliant for photography. We will first visit Tagus Cove. A narrow inlet with precipitous slopes, Tagus Cove was once a favored anchorage ground of the whalers. Moving slowly along the shoreline in our dinghies, we can observe a great variety of sea birds at a very short distance. From the end of the inlet (wet landing), a small path leads us to a salt lake from where we are rewarded with a magnificent view across the lake and the cove with our yacht at anchor. The path ends at an even higher viewpoint, offering a rare panorama over the ocean with Fernandina Island's hazy contours on the horizon to the west and across the lava flows of Isabela towards the east.
Once we have taken all the pictures we wanted and seen everything possible, we return to the yacht and spend the rest of the morning kayaking and snorkeling in the beautiful bay. During lunch, Reina Silvia will reposition again to yet another landing site, Punta Espinosa. We go ashore (dry landing) in a mangrove-lined bay and explore small inlets, formed by black lava flows. Here we find some of the wonders of nature: the flightless cormorants, marine iguanas, penguins (the second smallest and most northern in the world) and of course the blue footed boobies, which may be observed in what seems to be very risky diving maneuvers. Needless to say, we will watch the end of the sunset from on board and continue enjoying on board life after another delicious dinner. | | | Accomodation: M/Y Reina Silvia
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| Apr 19 | Santiago Island/Bartolome Island |
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| | Reina Silvia will cover a long distance to Santiago Island overnight, so we will awaken to scenery that is very different from what we have seen so far. We will enjoy another early breakfast, and take off as soon as we can to explore this new world. Today's first destination is James Bay, situated on the western side of Santiago Island (wet landing). We walk along the shore to look for fur seals, and there is a good chance that we will encounter a variety of herons, such as the Lava Heron, Common Egret and the Great Blue Heron. And with some luck, we may be able to watch the Galapagos Hawk. After observing these birds for some time, the sun will start to become a bit too intense for us humanfolk, so we return to the beach and jump in the cool water for snorkeling and exploration of the underwater world.
In the early afternoon following lunch, we will cruise along the eastern shores of Santiago and drop anchor at a short distance from the small island of Bartolome. A bizarre, moon-like landscape surrounds us as we climb to the top of the island (wet landing). The impressive view of Pinnacle Rock and the recent lava flows of Santiago in the background is perhaps the most photographed scenery in the islands. Later we may take a refreshing swim from the beach or have another snorkel trip, before our traditional evening activity of dinner and recap comes around. | | | Accomodation: M/Y Reina Silvia
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| Apr 20 | North Seymour/Santa Cruz Island |
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| | Just in case we started to feel the need of the dry land, today we will have an entire day of land-based activities. At first, early in the morning (dry landing), we visit North Seymour, this small, flat, uplifted island that has dense colonies of Blue-footed Boobies and Magnificent Frigatebirds living together. Later Reina Silvia will take us to the South Channel where we will disembark (dry landing) and travel by bus to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island. The short ride will show us the remarkable change in vegetation from the dry coastal areas to the lush greenery of the humid zone. We arrive here at lunchtime, so take the opportunity to taste something else that our otherwise delicious food on board, so we have lunch at a local farm. After our highland visit, the bus will take us to Puerto Ayora. We pay a visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station, where we have the opportunity to observe different species of giant tortoises and receive explanations about the station's breeding and rearing programs. From the Darwin Station a road leads us through the village, past several souvenir shops and restaurants. Meanwhile, our yacht had circumnavigated the island and is now waiting for us at the small port of Puerto Aroya. We will be on board just before the sun goes down and will take our well-deserved dinner. Evening discussions and other activities will take place before we go to bed. | | | Accomodation: M/Y Reina Silvia
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| Apr 21 | Floreana |
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| | Our entire day is dedicated to explore Floreana, one of the most spectacular of the islands. At first, right after breakfast and utilizing the soft morning lights, we go ashore at Punta Cormorant on the north coast of the island (wet landing). Perhaps we are fortunate and may observe green turtles on the beach or stingrays in the shallow waters. Just behind the beach, in a large lagoon, flamingoes sift the sediment of the salty water in a constant search for food. After the shore excursion and a short snorkeling activity tofurther search for turtles and rays, Reina Silvia will take us to nearby Champion Island. The crystal clear waters with an abundance of underwater life are a paradise for snorkelers and divers. We will stay here until after lunch, spending as much time in the water as we like. Floreana has an intriguing human history as well, so in the afternoon we will visit the legendary Post Office Bay and Black Beach, where the Wittmer family resides (wet landing). Post Office Bay is historically the location of a wooden barrel, which was placed there originally in the 18th century by the crew of a whaling ship. Since then, it has been used by whalers, yachtsmen and tourists alike as a post office. If you find a letter or postcard in the box that is addressed to someone living near your next destination, take it with you and continue an ancient tradition. Late afternoon we will travel to Black Beach to visit the Wittmer family and have a great BBQ dinner on shore. And, of course, back to the yacht for an after dinner drink, before retiring and saving energy for our last full day on board tomorrow. | | | Accomodation: M/Y Reina Silvia
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| Apr 22 | Hood Island |
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| | Our first visit this morning is in Gardner Bay on the North East side of Hood (Espanola) Island, near Gardner Island. We anchor in a protected bay which has a beautiful white sandy beach dotted with hundreds of basking sea lions. After our shore visit, we can snorkel around the islet of Osborn, searching for sea lions, which might swim along with us, or penguins that approach us and take a few circles before they take off. Stingrays and turtles might also be spotted here. We will be back on board our great vessel for lunch, during which she repositions to Punta Suarez, our afternoon landing site (wet landing). The path leads us past the nesting sites of Blue-footed and Masked Boobies, rising gently until we get to a plateau with steep cliffs. This is the area where we have the greatest chances to see Waved Albatrosses. A colony of reddish colored marine iguanas usually sunbathes on the rocks along the foot of the cliffs, often one on top of the other as they try to find the most advantageous position. Apart from these most noticeable inhabitants, Hood Island is home to snakes (harmless), finches, mocking birds, owls, lava herons, oystercatchers and Swallow-tailed Gulls, among many others, so we will have a truly exciting natural encounter this afternoon. Sadly, this is our last visit during our unforgettable week in the Galapagos Islands, so once back on board, we all excitedly gather around the dinner table to enjoy the surprise Farewell Dinner our crew had prepared for us tonight. During our farewell celebration, this great little yacht, Reina Silvia lifts anchor and slowly heads back towards Baltra Airport, the main landing strip of the Galapagos. | | | Accomodation: M/Y Reina Silvia
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| Apr 23 | Baltra Airport/Quito/homebound |
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| | After one last delicious breakfast on board, we will assist the crew while they offload our luggage and transport it off towards the airport. Soon enough, we will follow the luggage ourselves, and check in for our flight back to the mainland. After our arrival at Quito international airport, we will pick up our luggage and check in for our international flights homebound. Unless you are joining us on our Easter Island Extension, in which case we will depart for Santiago, Chile, this evening. End of our fantastic Galapagos experience, have a safe trip home! | | | |
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