When you land in Guayaquil, we’ll will pick you up and take you to your accommodation, where you can rest and relax after your journey.

Accommodation: Comfortable 3 star hotel, Guayaquil airport or downtown

We’ll get you back to the airport in time to check in for your two hour flight to San Cristobal airport in the Galapagos! Here, your Galapagos-specialist naturalist guide will meet you and take you on a ten minute drive to the pier to board the Galapagos Legend – your luxury floating home for the next five days!

Our first stop is the Museum of Natural History in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the capital of the Galapagos Islands. Here we can get oriented on the geography, climate, and volcanic origins of this group of islands, that has led over millions of years to the incredible abundance and uniqueness of flora and fauna here.

Later we’ll hike an hour or so up Tijeretas Hill to the foot of a frigate bird nesting colony where we’ll enjoy magnificent panoramic views.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner included

Accommodation: Aboard the Galapagos Legend

This morning we’ll land on a white sandy beach where we can observe sea lions, lava lizards, iguanas, and many, many species of birds, including hawks, oystercatchers, mockingbirds, and three species of Darwin’s finches. Then we’ll take to the crystalline water to swim and snorkel among king angelfish, creole fish, damsel fish, parrotfish, manta rays, and white-tipped reef sharks.

Then we’ll set sail for Suarez Point. Volcanic formations – including a blowhole that shoots water up to 23m (75ft) in the air – provide the dramatic backdrop to a 2.5 hour hike that takes us past large sea lion colonies, and nesting grounds of colourful birds. During mating season (May to November) this place also offers an unsurpassed opportunity to get close to waved albatrosses.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Aboard the Galapagos Legend

This morning’s wet landing at Post Office Bay gives us the opportunity to post a letter in the famous barrel that gave the bay its name, check out endemic vegetation such as Galapagos milkwort, and snorkel among playful sea lions.

In the afternoon we’ll head for a beautiful white sandy beach, one of the most important nesting sites of green Pacific sea turtles. To get here we’ll hike through black mangrove beds and a lagoon that’s home to one of the largest flamingo flocks in the Galapagos. There’s also time to snorkel or swim among sea turtles, reef fish, sea lions and, on a good day, white-tipped reef sharks.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Aboard the Galapagos Legend

This morning we’ll visit the Darwin Station, home of the Galapagos giant tortoise breeding program as well as a prickly-pear cactus forest and an impressive variety of land birds.

After some free time to visit the town of Puerto Ayora and pick up gifts and souvenirs, we’ll set off on a drive that highlights the contrasting ecosystems of the island, as we head from the coast through the agricultural zone and straight up to the dense, humid forest. Along the way we’ll have the chance to see Galapagos Giant Tortoises wandering through the paddocks, and just about every land bird that lives in the entire Galapagos.

Later in the day we’ll visit Ballena (Whale) Bay, a beautiful green sand cove whose beach contains plenty of olivine crystals of volcanic origin.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Aboard the Galapagos Legend

This morning we’ll take a dinghy ride in a turquoise lagoon where we can observe sharks, blue-footed boobies, and different kinds of fish. Then we’ll get you to Baltra Airport in time for your flight back out to Guayaquil.

Meals: Breakfast included