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B2B Access > 5 Day Cruise Itinerary 2012
5 Day Cruise Itinerary 2012
Day 1 (Friday)

MORNING FLIGHT FROM QUITO OR GUAYAQUIL TO BALTRA (GALAPAGOS) - EL CHATO

Assistance at the airport by our representative for your Galapagos flight.

You will arrive at Baltra Island in the morning. After passing through immigration and baggage claim, you will be met by the Galaven staff and transferred to the yacht. You will be shown to your cabin where you will have some time to settle in before lunch and a welcome briefing.

Afterwards you wil enjoy El Chato reserve, which is divided into two areas: Caseta and Chato. The trail begins at Santa Rosa (13.7 miles / 22 km) from Puerto Ayora, with the Caseta route being the most challenging. The reserve allows visitors to observe giant tortoises in the wild during the dry season and is also a good place to spot short-eared owls, Darwin’s finches, yellow warblers, Galapagos rails and paint-billed crakes.

EL CHATO

Activities: Swimming, snorkeling, kayaking.
Difficulty: Easy.
Type of Landing: Dry landing.
Highlights & Animals: Gorgeous white sand beach, flamingos, herons, grebes, stilts.

Day 2 (Saturday)

SANTA CRUZ: DRAGON HILL / BACHAS BEACH

In the morning you will visit Dragon Hill on Santa Cruz. The visitors’ site at Dragon Hill is located in northwestern Santa Cruz Island, and consists of a trail that runs through three different environments at just 1,600 m long. The beach is very rocky. At high tide it's a nice place for snorkeling. At this visiting site you can find vegetation of typical the intertidal zone and dry zone.        

DRAGON HILL

Activities: Panga ride & short hike   
Difficulty: Easy
Type of Landing: Dry landing
Highlights & Animals: frigatebirds, herons, blue-footed boobies, rays, reef sharks

The afternoon visit, Bachas Beach, located on the north shore of Santa Cruz, is a swimming beach. One of the few remnants of the U.S. World War II presence in the Galapagos, a floating pier, can be seen here. You may see flamingos, Sally Lightfoot crabs, hermit crabs, black-necked stilts, and whimbrels. Sea turtles also nest on the beach.

BACHAS BEACH

Difficulty: Easy
Type of Landing: Wet landing
Highlights & Animals: World War II remnants, Sally Lightfoot crabs, hermit crabs, black-necked stilts, whimbrels, sea turtles

Day 3 (Sunday)

FLOREANA ISLAND: POST OFFICE BAY & CORMORANT POINT OR DEVIL’s CROWN

You will visit two sites on Floreana Island. In the morning, you will visit the famous Post Office Bay. You’ll land on a beach and head to a spot where 18th century whalers placed a wooden barrel for use as an unofficial mail box. The custom continues to this day with Galapagos visitors. So don’t forget your postcards, and don’t be surprised if the post card arrives to its destination before you even get home!

POST OFFICE BAY

Possible Activities:  Short hike (less than 0.6 miles / 1km) & snorkeling
Difficulty: Easy
Type of Landing: Wet landing
Highlights: Post office barrel, nice sandy beach

In the afternoon, you will head to Cormorant Point. Here you’ll enjoy a hike to a salt-water lagoon which is home to flamingos.  You will also get to swim in the crystal clear waters of the Devil’s Crown. This extinct volcano peaks out of the waters just off of Floreana’s coast and offers a magnificent snorkeling experience. 

CORMORANT POINT

Activities: Snorkeling & panga ride & hike (1.2 miles / 2km)
Difficulty:  Easy
Type of Landing: Wet landing
Highlights & Animals: Flamingos, Devil’s Crown:  The best snorkeling site in the Galapagos Islands with sharks, rays, rock formations, lots of tropical fish.

Day 4 (Monday)

ESPAÑOLA ISLAND: SUAREZ POINT & GARDNER BAY

Española Island is the southernmost island of the Galapagos and is the breeding site of nearly all of the waved albatrosses in the entire world. Española is densely populated with mockingbirds, blue-footed and Nazca boobies, Darwin finches, Galapagos doves, hawks, red and green marine iguanas, and loads of sea lions.

The morning trip will head to Suarez Point on a trail where you will have the chance to see blue-footed boobies, albatrosses and Nazca boobies.  It is the breeding site of nearly all of the world’s 12,000 pairs of Waved Albatrosses.  You will also visit a beautiful site on the ocean front where there is a cliff that the large albatrosses use as a launching pad! You’ll have the chance to see the famous blowhole that spurts water into the air. The landscape is great for photography.

 

SUÁREZ POINT

Activities: Hike (1.9 miles / 3 km)
Difficulty: Difficult
Type of Landing: Dry Landing
Highlights & Animals: Hood mockingbird, Nazca boobies, waved albatross, red-billed tropicbirds, lava lizards, Galapagos hawk, blue-footed boobies, blow hole, amazing landscape

In the afternoon, you will visit the spectacular Gardner Bay. After landing, you can walk across a lovely white-sand beach amongst a busy sea lion colony or dive into the water to swim with sea lion pups. You can also see curious mockingbirds on the beach.

GARDNER BAY

Activities: Snorkeling, panga ride, kayaking, short hike of (0.6 miles / 1km)
Difficulty: Easy
Type of Landing: Wet landing
Highlights & Animals: White sandy beach, sea lions, mockingbirds. Snorkeling: colorful fish, sea lion nursery

Day 5 (Tuesday)

SAN CRISTOBAL: INTERPRETATION CENTER & DEPARTURE

In the morning you will visit The Interpretation Center which was opened in 1998 as a phase of the project “Interpretation and Environment Education Project.” Visitors enjoy expositions on natural history, human history, and conservation. The conservation efforts represent the movement to protect the wildlife and natural environment through means of population and tourist control. The Interpretation Center has an outdoor stadium, audio-visual equipment, and meeting rooms.

INTERPRETATION CENTER

Activities: Short Hike
Difficulty: Easy
Type of Landing: Dry
Highlights: Information and history about the Galapagos Islands.

After this final visit, you will be transferred to the airport in time to catch your flight back to the mainland.

VTA 31-ENE-13
Galaven Yacht ® . Galapagos Islands, Ecuador