GALAPAGOS ISLAND TRIP 2022
The Galapagos Islands is a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. It’s considered one of the world’s foremost destinations for wildlife viewing. A province of Ecuador, it lies about 1,000km off its coast. Its isolated terrain shelters a diversity of plant and animal species, many found nowhere else. Charles Darwin visited in 1835, and his observation of Galapagos species later inspired his theory of evolution.
Miami 6:56 PM Guayaquil 10:22 pm AA643
Miami MIA ~ Guayaquil GYE
Transfer from Airport to Hotel with English Assistance
guide will be waiting at international arrivals holding a GoWay sign.
HOTEL ORO VERDE
1 KING ~ $126 NIGHT
4.6/5 Wonderful Breakfast included
Hotel to Airport with English Assistance
Pick up at 7:30 am - be ready early!
Meet in the Hotel Lobby
Airport - Domestic flight - booked by Kleintours ~ check in at teh airline counter
American Airlines 1632/ Apr 30/
Guayaquil 9:53am to Baltra - 10:48am
TRANSFER FROM AIRPORT to IKALA HOTEL
Pick up at 10:48 Am for a private vehicle and shared boat
Arrival at Airport and enter the airport through VIP lounge ECOGAL
The assistant will meet you outside the lounge to the Lobito public bus (included) to the Itabaca channel where you will take the ferry boat to Santa Cruz Island.
There you will have a private transfer car to Puerto Ayora Town.
Private vehicles but shared ferry.
We are adding 1 night at the hotel in the Galapagos Islands before the 4 day cruise departs. We'll have extra time to visit a beach / Tortoise Reserve.
This all means we are arriving 3 days earlier than our travel companions - part of these days ~ we are heading to the Islands a day earlier and meeting them at our ship. It will be our 4th day when we board the ship.
IKALA HOTEL
Thomas de Berlanga 110 Y, Puerto Ayora, Ecuador
$187 ~ Breakfast Included
Check in 3:00pm
DAY 4: Sunday, May 1
Pick up at hotel @ 9:30 am
Be in lobby 15 minutes earlier.
Private transfer from Hotel to Itabaca Channel, board a ferry to Baltra Island dock, take the Lobito bus to the Seymour's airport in order to meet the Galapagos Cruise Guide.
Arrival at Baltra Island , the cruise guide will be waiting for you in the arrival hall of the airport. Meet up with the rest of the group
Board the ship ~ catch up with the group.
Sunday May 1
The rest arrive in Guayaquil April 30th.
Coral I and Coral II
3 sundecks, a jacuzzi and dining room and lounge.
Today -
Make a dry landing and visit the tortoises and land iguanas.
Difficulty = easy
Terrain is flat
duration = 1.5 hour walk
Supplement Migration Control Card
Supplement Galapagos Park National Park Tax ~ $110
Supplement Galapagos Domestic Air ~
Fights - Guayaquil - Galapagos - Quito ~ $500
Tour operators generally arrange flights for their clients, and some absolutely require it, so you might end up avoiding this planning process altogether. Keep in mind that these costs are reflected in the price of our tour.
April and May
These months are typically regarded as the best months to visit the Galapagos. volume of travelers to the Islands is relatively low, so this is a good time to look for a deal.
Great Blog for inspiration touring Galapagos
Day 4 continued : Sunday May 1
Am - Baltra Airport: Departure from Quito or Guayaquil to Baltra Island (2.5 hour flight). Arriving in the Galapagos, passengers are picked up at the airport by our naturist guides and taken in a 10 minute bus drive to the pier to board the M/Y Coral I or M/Y Coral II.
Turtle Cove, an impressive Galapagos marine site, consists of a deep maze of a tranquil seawater inlet. Its waters are still, often murky, and are the resting (and sometimes mating) place for marine turtles, rays, and small sharks. Cerro Dragon, a newly opened visitor site, is located in the north of Santa Cruz Island, and provides access to a hypersaline lagoon, which is saltier than the ocean.
- Difficulty level: easy
- Type of terrain: flat
- Duration: 1.5-hour walk
Day 5 : Monday May 2
AM – Mosquera Islet: Wet Landing, Mosquera Islet is located between North Seymour and Baltra Island. This flat, sandy island has a large colony of sea lions. It is also an excellent site to observe shorebirds such as herons and lava gulls. There is no trail on the islet, the visitor can enjoy the open area. Most of the islet is covered with sand and barren lava rock. Very little sesuvium portulacastrum plants grow on the sand.
- Difficulty level: easy
- Type of terrain: sany
- Duration: 1.5-hour walk & snorkeling
PM – North Seymour Island: Dry landing. This is perhaps one of the busiest tourist destinations on the archipelago. Off of Baltra Island (where the airport is located) and not far from Santa Cruz, North Seymour is the most accessible for day trips out of Santa Cruz’s main port, Puerto Ayora.
An approximately two-hour walk amidst large nesting colonies of blue-footed boobies, magnificent and great frigate birds, and swallow-tailed gulls for an in-depth encounter with sea bird breeding cycles and as well as sea lions. You will also encounter sea lions, land iguanas, and on a lucky day, you might even come across a Galapagos Snake.
- Difficulty level: Intermediate
- Type of terrain: rocky ground
- Duration: 2-hour walk /30-minute snorkeling
Day 6 : Tuesday May 3
AM – Santa Fe Island: Wet landing. Santa Fe shows white sand beaches surrounded by sea lion colonies; through the island path, an endemic cactus forest is passed, home the Santa Fe land iguanas (the largest in the islands). This island is the habitat for a number of species, including the Galapagos hawk, Galapagos snakes, rice rats (one of the few endemic Galapagos rodents), a variety of finches and one of the four mockingbird species of the archipelago.
- Difficulty level: intermediate
- Type of terrain: rocky
- Duration: 1.5-hour walk / 1-hour deep-water snorkeling
PM – South Plaza Islet: Dry landing on the northern part of the Islet. The walk begins with an impressive cactus forest surrounded by land and marine iguanas; as we reach its highest point, be on the lookout for tropicbirds, a Nazca and blue-footed boobies, swallow-tailed gulls. In South Plaza, there is a large colony of the smaller sized land iguanas. Approximately, there is a population of 300 individuals. They feed on all kinds of vegetation, but during the dry season survive on the fruits and flowers of Opuntia cacti. Due to their proximity to marine iguanas, this is the only place on Earth where we will find the Galapagos hybrid iguana.
The population of penguins on the islands is about 2,000 individuals, most of which live on this western portion of Isabela; others are scattered further south. We will have an opportunity to snorkel in deep water. Graffiti believed to have been left by 19th-century pirates is a curious reminder of an intriguing past.
- Difficulty level: intermediate
- Type of terrain: rocky
- Duration: 2-hour walk
AM – Kicker Rock Circumnavigation & Cerro Colorado Tortoise Reserve (San Cristobal Island): Kicker Rock can be seen directly from the vessel. In the sea northeast of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is this ancient and eroded volcanic tuff lava named Leon Dormido or Kicker Rock it is formed by two rocks approximately 148 m, named for its resemblance of a sleeping lion.
It serves as home to many of the typical Galapagos sea animals, such as birds, sea lions, blue and Nazca boobies and frigate. With rare sightings of swallow turtle gulls, tropicbirds, and pelicans.
- Difficulty level: easy
- Type of terrain: sandy
- Duration: 40-minute bus drive to the Reserve / 1-hour visit
HOTEL : CASA ALISO BOUTIQUE
$50 nightly
Breakfast included
I am an admirer of eclectic historical hotels but if you want something more there is the JW Marriott @ $140 for king.
DAY 8 : THURSDAY MAY 5
TOUR OF THE CITY AND EQUATOR LIE FOR LUNCH
Somos Ecuador Restaurant - #2 on tripadvisor
My Nephew and his wife ~ along with 3 children ~ even when they were newborn ~ have been traveling the world for the last 11 years. Hit the link to see their trip to Galapagos.
Hotel 1 $126 double
Hotel 2: $187 double
Cruise : $2522 per person
Flights : $500 per person
Migration Card : $50? each
Park : $110 each
2 nights 3rd hotel :$100 double
Total $3389 per person
not showing ground transport from airports, hotels and ship.
not showing taxes ++
Charged $4199
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