The Galapagos Adventure

Day 1: You will be met at Quito airport from your flight and transferred to the hotel. The rest of the day will be spent at leisure, allowing you some time to acclimatise and soak up the atmosphere of Quito.

Day 2: Today we will visit the Otovalo handcraft market, situated outside of Quito. The indigenous Otavaleños are famous for their weaving, usually with wool. There are also stalls selling textiles, tagua nut jewellery, musical instruments, dream catchers, leather goods and much more, all traditional handicrafts of the local people. Today we’ll enjoy our lunch at Hacienda Pinsaqui.

Day 3: Today we will head out north-west of Quito, where the landscape becomes dry and sandy. In this desert-like place, we will pass the small towns of San Antonio de Pichincha and Calacalí. As we drive along you will notice that the vegetation becomes denser and the leaves of the plants and trees become larger until we reach the Mitad del Mundo, the middle of the earth as calculated and measured by the French Geodesics Mission. We will also stop at the archaeological site of Tulipe where we’ll look at the ruins of ceremonial pools used for ritual baths and sacraments by the Yumbos, a pre-Incan population. Here an explanation of their way of life and their organization of an important trading route between the coast and the highlands will be given. The Yumbos and the Spanish conquerors were contemporaries and at the museum a guide will tell you more about how the arrival of the Spanish affected the Yumbo people.

Next on today’s itinerary is our canopy adventure in the town of Mindo. Here the cloud forest has more than 400 species of bird and the second highest number of endemic species of butterfly in the country. A team of professional and prepared guides will take us on an amazing journey above the cloud forest on a series of zip lines. Harness up and enjoy the forest from above and the adrenalin of flying through the air with the birds. After a safe landing we head to a local restaurant for lunch.
In the afternoon we will visit a butterfly farm and see the different phases of a butterfly’s life cycle. From here we will take a short walk into the cloud forest, keeping an eye out for exotic birds and mammals amongst the lush vegetation and listen to the gentle background hum of life in this mega diverse place. As the afternoon light fades we travel back up into the mountains and up to Quito.

Day 4: After breakfast we will enjoy a city tour. We will walk down quaint cobbled streets lined with beautiful brightly coloured colonial houses with balconies dressed in flowers, watched over by the winged virgin of Quito sitting up on the Panecillo. The Panecillo, so named for its bread like shape, is a parasitic crater formed by magma from Pichincha Volcano. We walk along streets used by the past Incan people on their own route to the Panecillo which is thought to have been a Centre of worship to the Sun and Moon Gods. This Incan avenue was transformed into a place heavily influenced by Christianity when the Spanish arrived. Theyerected seven crosses along the avenue in an effort to make the indigenous people believe in their God. We walk along this street to the Plaza de la Independencia. On the south side of the square lie one of the oldest cathedrals in South America and the modern sacred heart of the city: La Catedral de Quito, an impressive white walled building with green glazed ceramic domes. Look out for the plaque marking the spot on which President Gabriel Garcia Moreno was killed. The symmetrical Palacio de Carondelet, the Presidential Palace, runs along the western side of the square. Its overhanging balconies were a gift from the French Government and are originally from the Palace of the Tuilleries in Paris. We look in at the ancestral interior courtyard of the Centro Cultural Metropolitano, whose previous lives include: tobacco factory, prison and university. A few buildings up past the Biblioteca Nacional is the incomparable Iglesia de la Compañia, a Jesuit church overflowing in Baroque art, it’s tragic history covered in gold concealing the devastating fire and earthquake that shook it.

The great Plaza de San Francisco and its church has been a Centre of activity since pre-Incan times when the square was the Tianguez (main market place). We will search for the mythical stone of Cantuñas legend in the church’s vestibule and visit the museum, which houses four thousand pieces including sculptures and oil paintings from the Éscuela Quiteña’. The works of art on display by artists like Miguel de Santiago, ‘Caspicara’ and Bernardo de Legarda show the mix of indigenous and European styles: angels with Andean features and virgins dressed in wide skirts shaped like volcanoes.

Day 5: After breakfast today we will transfer to the airport for flights to the Galapagos. There we will be met at Cristobal Airport and transferred to our yacht, Majestic. The brand new Majestic Motor Yacht was specifically designed and built to cruise the Galapagos. Majestic offers 9 double cabins and ample social areas including a superb sundeck with a large Jacuzzi. What better way to see the amazing Galapagos islands?

Once on board we will begin our cruise and make an afternoon shore excursion to the Jacinto Gordillo breeding centre. Here we will enjoy an easy / moderate walk of about 1km through the trees and shrubs surrounding the site looking for birds like warblers, finches and mockingbirds, and giant tortoises. The creatures live wild but are in a protected area to assure their survival by sealing them off from introduced predators like pigs and goats.

Day 6: This morning we will visit Santa Fe Island, home to the small picturesque bay and anchorage on the island’s northeast coast. The bay has two visitor trails, one leading to a scenic viewpoint atop a cliff, and the other spanning from a small beach to a tall prickly pear cactus forest. Here we may see land iguanas and giant tuna.
Today we will also visit South Plaza Island. This small island with steep cliffs was formed by rising lava and is now covered by Opuntia cacti. It is also home to a large sea lion colony.

Day 7: Home of the famous Pinnacle Rock, Bartholomew Island is our destination for this morning. It consists of an extinct volcano with a variety of red, orange, black and even green volcanic formations. A trail of stairs leads to the summit of the volcano, boasting one of the best views of the islands. The beach is perfect for snorkelling and possible sightings of the Galapagos penguin. The walk up to the top of the volcano is moderate to difficult but the panoramic views make it well worth the effort for those who adventure there.

This afternoon we will anchor off Egas Port, also known as James Bay. This is home to the curious Galapagos hawk and quick-footed Galapagos lava lizards. There is a moderately difficult trail along the coastline which will take you to gorgeous tide pools and grottoes full of the local fauna. Here the Galapagos fur sea lions bask in the sun. Snorkellers will be rewarded with views of beautiful underwater rock formations.

Day 8: This is another great place for snorkelling and hiking. From Tagus Cove, take a trail up to Darwin Volcano or to Lake Darwin where you might be lucky enough to see flightless cormorants or boobies. This area has been used regularly as a shipping anchorage since the 1800s. Spectacular views.

Day 9: We will spend this morning at Fernandina Island. No foreign species have ever invaded Fernandina Island, and therefore it is one of the world’s most pristine island eco systems. The volcano ‘La Cumbre’ dominates the land space with lava fields reaching the ocean. The island’s highlight features the flightless cormorant’s nesting site. This area provides another great opportunity to see the Galapagos hawk. This afternoon will be spent at Vicente Rocha Point, looking for penguins, blue footed boobies, terns, sea lions, sea turtles and puffer fish. Enjoy snorkeling and a dinghy/panga ride.

Day 10: Santiago Island was once a haven for British Buccaneers. Pirates anchored here to repair their ships and stock up on tortoise meat to eat on the journey home. Tortoise is now strictly off the menu, but the spectacular sea bird colonies on the steep cliffs make this an excellent spot for our morning destination. Take a short walk along the beach and enjoy a spot of snorkeling. We will move on for the afternoon to Sullivan Bay, where we will make a coral beach landing in order to walk across the lava fields which stretch as far as the eye can see. It has been 100 years since the last volcanic eruption and plant life has begun to emerge. A truly amazing up close and personal volcanic experience. Be sure to wear good solid walking shoes or boots as the lava is very sharp and pointy.

Day 11: Santa Cruz. This morning we will walk through the El Chato Tortoise reserve. Keep your eyes wide open to observe tortoises in the wild and also short eared owls, Darwin’s finches, yellow rails, Galapagos rails and paint-billed crakes. After lunch we will move on to visit the Charles Darwin research station, a hatchery for different types of turtles. Babies are kept here until they are about 4 years old, making their survival in the wild much more likely. We may also be lucky enough to see giant tortoises. Another unmissable Galapagos experience.

Day 12: As this is our last morning aboard Majestic there will be no shore landing this morning, but we will still make the most of the amazing Galapagos Islands with a final excursion to Kicker Rock. This amazing rock formation is located a couple of hours from the western shores of San Cristobal. Jutting out of the water, the rocks stand vertically hundreds of feet above the ocean, divided by a small channel. There are no landing areas here but kayaking and scuba diving allows visitors to spot a variety of marine life- look for sharks, tropical fish, and manta rays.
This afternoon we will depart Majestic and transfer to the airport for our flights back to Quito, Ecuador. When we arrive at the airport we will be transferred back to our hotel in Quito where we will spend some time at leisure before our farewell dinner.

Day 13: Breakfast at the hotel. We will be transferred from the hotel to Quito airport to catch our return flights to London.