NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ISLANDS
(Monday – Thursday)  4 days / 3 nights.

ITINERARY A 

DAY BY DAY 

DAY 1 - MONDAY
AM – Baltra Airport

AM: Departure from Quito or Guayaquil to Baltra Island (2 ½-hour flight). Arriving in the Galapagos, passengers are picked up at the airport by our natural guides and taken to a ten-minute bus drive to the pier to board the M/V Galapagos Legend.

PM – Highlands Tortoise Reserve (Santa Cruz Island)

PM: Dry landing. In the mountains of Galapagos is possible to admire different kinds of birds, such as tree and ground finches, vermillion flycatchers, paint-billed crakes, yellow warblers, and cattle egrets (usually standing on the tortoises’ shell). The journey to the reserve offers great opportunities to see the contrasts that the island offers in reference to the variety of ecosystems. The road goes from the coast through the agricultural zone and straight up to the dense humid forests. Often, Galapagos giant tortoises are also seen on the way, wandering through pastures in the paddocks. This spot is a bird watchers’ haven since almost every land bird present on the island lives or migrates here.

Difficulty level: easy
Type of terrain: flat & muddy sometimes (seasonal conditions)
Duration: 45-minute drive / 1 ½-hour walk.

DAY 2 - TUESDAY
AM – El Barranco, Prince Philip’s Steps (Genovesa Island)
AM: Riding our pangas to the far side of the caldera, red-billed, tropicbirds display vociferously overhead while Galapagos fur seals can be seen on the shoreline. Once at the top of the rocky stairway we are immediately met by Nazca boobies, red-footed boobies,
mockingbirds and finches that line our way through a palo santo forest until we arrive at an expansive open lava field. Wedge-rumped storm petrels swarm above the lava where we keep our eyes peeled for short-eared owls.

Difficulty level: moderate
Type of terrain: rocky – lava
Duration: 45-minute walk

PM: – Darwin Bay (Genovesa Island)

PM: From within the flooded caldera of Tower Island we set foot onto a sandy beach to be greeted by swallow-tailed gulls often said to be the most beautiful gull in the world. Our short, flat, trail leads us past stands of mangroves and saltbush on which we have our best possible looks at nesting red-footed boobies and great frigatebirds. At the tidal lagoon we may also see the rarest gull in the world, our very own, endemic lava gull.

Difficulty level: moderate
Type of terrain: Sand & Lava
Duration: 2 ½-hour walk approx

DAY 3 - WEDNESDAY
AM – Dragon Hill

AM: Arriving to a small lava dock our first encounters are with marine iguanas that blend-in perfectly to the dark rock. As we walk past large prickly pear cacti we arrive to one end of a long, sickle-shaped, beach with Dragon Hill standing in the distance. Our walk takes us on a circular path, past a shallow lake where flamingoes frequently come to feed. Waders such as stilts, turnstones and sandpipers work the muddy edges frenetically looking for food as we continue inland to a dry, forested habitat where land iguanas nest and burrow.

Difficulty level: intermediate
Type of terrain: rocky
Duration: 2-hour walk

PM – Santa Fe Island

PM: After a fabulous snorkel in the turquoise waters of the protected bay we may have enjoyed time with sea lions, turtles, reef sharks and spotted eagle rays. Landing onto a sandy beach we are immediately distracted by the abundant sea lions there with us. We begin a walk
past a forest of island-endemic giant Opuntia cacti. Here we search for another islandendemic the Santa Fe land iguana, paler than its cousins on other islands. Galapagos hawks and even endemic rice rats are also things to look out for.

Difficulty level: intermediate
Type of terrain: rocky
Duration: 1 ½-hour walk / 1-hour deep-water snorkeling

DAY 4 - THURSDAY
AM – Bachas Beach (Santa Cruz Island)

AM: Named for some wrecked World War II barges whose ribs are still visible in the sand this visitor site offers great swimming, a lovely walk along the shore and a visit to a lagoon behind the high tide line with wading birds, marine iguanas and sometimes even flamingoes. The two beaches are also favourite nesting sites for green turtles which often leave tractor-like tracks in the sand.

Difficulty level: easy
Type of terrain: sandy
Duration: 1-hour walk / beach time

PM - Baltra Airport.

PM: After the visit, passengers will be transferred to the airport for their return flight to Guayaquil or Quito.