Galápagos Islands | Investigating Endemic Wildlife aboard Tip Top II

arrival in Quito, you will be met and escorted to your hotel.

After breakfast this morning, transfer to Otavalo. The Otavaleños are a merchant Indigenous community by tradition, and are known worldwide for their wonderful work on textiles and tapestries. Visit the artisan market, where locals show their products and crafts for sale. Have closer contact with the community while bargaining for their products and crafts (bargaining is allowed). Visit a local Indigenous family in the town of Peguche, who will introduce you to their weaving and music traditions and will show you their ancestral knowledge of medicinal plants to cure minor illness and the importance of the cuy (guinea pigs). Enjoy a traditional lunch with typical ingredients and products of the Ecuadorian highlands. Continue to the town of Cotacachi, which is famous for its art of making leather products. Have time to visit the equator. In the afternoon, transfer back to Quito in time for dinner at the hotel.

Fly from mainland Ecuador to Baltra. After boarding M/C Tip Top II, attend your first orientation and have a light snack. Disembark and visit a flamingo lagoon at Playa Las Bachas, a beach that was used by the U.S. Army during World War II. Optional time is offered each day for swimming, snorkeling and/or kayaking. Attend an evening orientation about the origin and evolution of the Galápagos Islands, and meet the entire crew, followed by dinner. Each night during the cruise there will be an orientation to discuss the events of the day and the next day’s plans. *Cruise itineraries are subject to change without prior notice due to unforeseen circumstances (e.g. weather) or at the discretion of the captain, guide, or the Galápagos National Park.

Today go for a panga boat ride and then land on Genovesa Island at Prince Philip’s Steps (El Barranco), a steep naturally formed path that leads up to a cliff face. Walk and observe the interesting lives of the birds here, such as the Red-footed Booby, Galápagos Short-eared Owl, Galápagos Doves, and storm petrels. Return to the boat for lunch. Later in the afternoon, visit Darwin Bay, home to frigatebirds, herons, mockingbirds, boobies, shore birds, turtles, marine iguanas, and more. After dinner, attend an evening orientation to learn about conservation efforts to protect the islands.

After breakfast, go ashore at South Plaza Island, where a walk through a cactus forest allows you to observe land iguanas and many species of tropical birds. Return to the yacht for lunch and sail to Santa Fé Island to check out a different colony of land iguanas native to the island.

After breakfast, disembark to take the bus to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island for a visit to the native forests in El Chato Reserve, then go to a farm to search for giant tortoises in the wild. After lunch on the farm, return to Puerto Ayora to visit the Fausto Llerena Breeding Center and Interpretation Center inside the Charles Darwin Research Station. Return to the yacht for dinner and nightly orientation.

After breakfast, disembark on Floreana Island and walk to Baroness Viewpoint, named for the Baroness Eloise von Wagner Bosquet. Enjoy the beautiful landscape and see the ruins of her house, then continue to Post Office Bay. In the 18th century, whalers placed a wooden barrel at this site to use as an informal post office, and today, visitors continue the tradition by leaving their own postcards in the barrel. Return to the yacht for lunch. In the afternoon, disembark at Cormorant Point and take a short walk to the Flamingo Lagoon. Continue the walk to La Picona beach for the chance to see marine turtles and their nesting grounds. Afterwards, visit Champion Islet for a snorkeling excursion.

After breakfast, visit Punta Suárez on Española Island to walk along lava beds and observe unique colonies of marine birds. From April to December, this is one of the best places in the world to see the Waved Albatross, which nests primarily on this island. In the afternoon, visit Gardner Bay for a walk on the beach and observe a colony of sea lions,
which inhabit the beach in great quantity during the breeding season. Then take a panga ride around Osborn Islet and the islets of Gardner.

After breakfast, visit Cerro Brujo to walk on a white sand beach and observe sea lions, Brown Pelicans, marine iguanas, and Blue-footed Boobies. Later, sail around Kicker Rock (León Dormido), a massive tuff rock that juts almost 500 feet above the ocean surface and which serves as a nesting place for many sea birds. After lunch, explore Isla Lobos, where we can enjoy of blue footed boobies, frigates, sea birds, rays, and sea lions. Optional: time for those who would like to snorkel or panga ride. In the afternoon, disembark at Baquerizo Moreno Port on San Cristóbal Island and visit the Interpretation Center, which tells the story of the geological and human history of the islands and their conservation. Return to the yacht for dinner and a nightly orientation..

After breakfast, take one last panga ride around Black Turtle Cove, a series of coves and islets surrounded by mangroves, where you can observe white-tipped reef sharks, sea turtles, spotted eagle rays, and yellow cow-nosed
rays. Return to the boat and disembark on the pier to take the bus directly to the airport in Baltra for your flight to Quito. Your guide will accompany you on the bus ride directly to the airport. A snack will be served on the flight. Enjoy the afternoon in Puembo at leisure before gathering for a farewell dinner at the hotel this evening.

Today you will transfer to the airport for your flight home.