AIDA MARIA ITINERARY A1 - 5 DAYS
ITINERARY A1- 5 DAYS
SUNDAY
AM: Baltra: Arrival and Transfer to the boat
PM: Santa Cruz: Bachas Beach / Carrion Point (HK)
MONDAY
AM: Genovesa: Darwin Bay (HK/SN)
PM: Genovesa: El Barranco (HK)
TUESDAY
AM: Bartolome (HK/SN)
PM: Santiago: Sullivan Bay (HK/SN)
WEDNESDAY
AM: Santa Cruz: Black Turtle Cove (HK)
PM: Santa Cruz: Dragon Hill / Black Turtle Cove (HK)
THURSDAY
AM: Santa Cruz: Charles Darwin Station (HK)
Baltra: Transfer to the Airport
HK: HIKE / SN: SNORKEL / PR: PANGA RIDE / KY: KAYAK /
PB: PADDLE BOARD
DAY 1: SUNDAY
AM: BALTRA TRANSFER TO THE BOAT
Fly from the Ecuadorian mainland to the islands on an early morning 90-minute flight. As you prepare to land in Baltra, look out the window. The landscape below will seem otherworldly – you’ll truly be landing in a place like no other. The Galapagos Islands are completely unique and you’re about to see why. Your bilingual naturalist guide will greet you at the airport and meet you after customs. During lunch he/she will introduce you to the islands, specifically the flora and fauna that you will encounter at our first destination, Las Bachas Beach.
PM: SANTA CRUZ: BACHAS BEACH
On the sandy white beaches of Las Bachas you will get a close look at a sea turtle nesting area as well as a lake frequented by pink flamingos and other migratory birds. Afterwards, you’ll cool off with a dip in the beautiful, blue Pacific Ocean. As this is the first evening together, the crew will invite everyone to a pre-dinner cocktail on the yacht before the welcome dinner. If the night is clear, as it usually is, the stars above will sparkle; look for the Southern Cross, the Big Dipper (turned up-side down!) and Orion.
DAY 2: MONDAY
AM: GENOVESA ISLAND: DARWIN BAY
A beautiful bay area due to the great diversity of seabirds that nest in the mangroves that dominate the area. These include red-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, swallow-tailed gulls, Galápagos petrels, seabirds, Darwin finches, mockingbirds, and Galápagos doves.
PM: GENOVESA ISLAND: PRINCE PHILIP'S STEPS
We will climb 25 meters of stairs at one of the best bird nesting sites on the islands. We will have the opportunity to snorkel, hike, and take a ride in a panga.
DAY 3: TUESDAY
AM: BARTOLOME ISLAND
Bartolome Island, which at its highest point is 114 meters, is one of the most photographed vistas in the archipelago. This island is quite young and quite volcanic, therefore, it's relatively unpopulated; only a small handful of die-hard plant and animal
species have survived long enough to call this lava-land home.
PM: SANTIAGO ISLAND: SULLIVAN BAY
After the visit to Bartolome Island you’ll visit nearby Sullivan Bay. At the turn of the century a huge lava flow spilled right down to the sea and today you can stroll across this black volcanic expanse, admiring its time-frozen ripples, bubbles and ropes.
DAY 4: WEDNESDAY
AM: SANTA CRUZ: BLACK TURTLE COVE
Black Turtle Cove, is a red mangrove lagoon on Santa Cruz and is a nursery for many sharks and rays. It’s also a great location to observe mating turtles around this time of year. You might see a large groups of resting White-Tip Reef Sharks, schools of Golden Rays and Spotted Eagle Rays, and a few juvenile Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks and Black-Tip Sharks. The water very calm so we often used paddles instead of the loud panga engines to move around the area.
PM: SANTA CRUZ: DRAGON HILL
After this visit you’ll navigate for a couple of hours to Dragon Hill, where you’ll make a dry landing on lava rocks. Dragon Hill is a small bay on the west coast of Santa Cruz and got its name from the many land iguanas that live in the area. Land iguanas are endemic to the Galapagos Islands where they have found good mating and nesting areas.
DAY 5: THURSDAY
AM:SANTA CRUZ ISLAND: CHARLES DARWIN RESEARCH STATION
Charles Darwin Station. After breakfast you’ll sail to Santa Cruz Island, where you’ll visit the world-famous Charles Darwin Station, a non-profit institution that dedicates itself to studying and protecting the flora and fauna of the Galapagos. This is one of the best places to see land tortoises, including Lonesome George museum. Then you’ll visit the station’s Tortoise Rearing Center. Here you can find baby, hand-sized tortoises, between the ages of one and five, and marvel at how they achieve such large sizes as adults (500 lbs. or more!). Galapagos tortoises are believed to have a lifespan of over 100 years, so the young ones have a long life ahead of them as long as they receive the protection they need.
BALTRA: TRANSFER TO THE AIRPORT
After this visit, the passengers who finish the cruise must go to the airport to take the departure flight, the transfer is coordinated previously
