Galapagos Angelito Cruise

AM: Upon arrival, you will have to pay your Galapagos National Park entrance fee and your luggage will be inspected to make sure no foreign substances are introduced.

PM: A beautiful place to start our tour through the Galapagos, just in the north of Baltra.
It is a flat, uplifted island in the rain shadow of the island Santa Cruz, and so the vegetation is typical
dry Arid Zone.

• Activity:Arrival, Hiking.
• Meal:Lunch, Dinner.
• Accommodation:Double or Single Cabins.

AM: The shape of the volcanic island looks like a Chinese hat. The scenery is very charming.
The wet landing is on a small, white coral beach with many sea lions. The smooth and short trail leads along the coast with very fragile lava. There are a lot of small lava
tubes and tiny but very attractive vegetation.

PM: With the Pinnacle Rock, a classic beauty, and the most photographed scenery of the
Galapagos! The dry landing is on a jetty, and then the summit trail leads to Bartolome’s highest point on a wooden footbridge and steps to protect the fragile environment.

• Activity:Hiking, Snorkeling.
• Meal:Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
• Accommodation:Double or Single Cabins.

AM: The trail follows the shore vegetation of red mangrove, saltbush, and the unique prickly pear cactus that here often grows like a hanging cactus with soft hairy spines. Under the shore vegetation, the swallow-tailed gulls do nest, and in the bushes and trees nest the red-footed boobies and magnificent frigate birds.

PM: Then, the easy trail leads first through a small nesting colony of masked boobies and then crosses a low and dense forest of palo santo trees where red-footed boobies have their nests. Arriving on the edge of the island, thousands of small petrels fly around! These little birds have their nests in the crevices and tubes of the fragile lava.

• Activity:Hiking, Snorkeling.
• Meal:Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
• Accommodation:Double or Single Cabins.

AM: The landmark of Puerto Egas is the large tuff formations of cliffs with relief structures. The wet landing is on a black beach. Here, it is an excellent place to discover shore life. The hike with the intertidal life during the constantly changing tide levels shows an unusual, unique fauna.

PM: Incredibly unique is the red sand of the beach, contrasting with the saltbush vegetation and
the silvery palo santo trees on the slopes. The source of the peculiar red color is the lava that contains a high proportion of ferric oxide.

• Activity:Hiking, Swimming, Snorkeling.
• Meal:Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
• Accommodation:Double or Single Cabins.

AM: We visit the Station early in the morning to learn about the significant scientific effort to protect the National Park Galapagos. Especially the raising programs of the different subspecies of the giant tortoises are well documented.

PM: Here, the problems of introduced animals and plants are pretty noticeable. On the highest point of the road, the National Park area starts again. In the highlands, we visit the Rancho Primicias to enjoy the Galapagos tortoises living here in liberty; these are easy to view on this small farm where they are refreshing in the water pools or taking a snore in the shadow.

• Activity:Hiking.
• Meal:Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

AM: For this visit, you do not need shoes. There is no trail, and the open beach offers the opportunity to observe finches and mockingbirds in the saltbush vegetation, so as Galapagos sea lions sleeping in the sun.

PM: Even at the first steps of the trail, the colorful Española marine iguana and Galapagos sea lions welcome us. Everywhere the curious Española mockingbird approaches the visitors. The path leads through the nesting colonies of blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, and waved albatrosses. Also, the big Española lava lizards are to find everywhere.

• Activity:Hiking, Snorkeling, Swimming.
• Meal:Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
• Accommodation:Single or Double cabins.

AM: Santa Fe has a large colony of sea lions living in this beautiful bay. After the wet landing on
the beach, the trail leads through dry vegetation of the Arid zone to a beautiful cliff with notably high prickly pear cactus, then back to a second beach. Only very attentive visitors may detect the endemic land iguanas of Santa Fe because their camouflage is perfect, and their territories are quite significant!

PM: Incredibly attractive are the beautiful prickly pear cactus trees and, of course, the big colony of land iguanas. Depending on the season, the sesuvium ground vegetation changes its color from intense green in the rainy season to orange and purple in the dry season.

• Activity:Hiking, Snorkeling.
• Meal:Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
• Accommodation:Double or Single cabins.

AM: Before breakfast, we leave the boat to enjoy a beautiful panga ride into the big, protected mangrove cove. In the far away, small corners, we turn the motor off to row noiselessly and observe the marine turtles: many of them are in this cove during their mating and nesting season from December to February!

PM: With the bus, drive to the airport for a morning flight back to the continent. Our guide takes
care until the last minute!

• Activity:Hiking, Departure.
• Meal:Breakfast.
• Accommodation:Double or Single cabins.

AM: Upon arrival, you will have to pay your Galapagos National Park entrance fee and your luggage will be inspected to make sure no foreign substances are introduced.

PM: Las Bachas is a white coral beach in the north of the island of Santa Cruz and a genuinely lovely place to begin our tour. The walk along the beach is easy. There are small brackish water lagoons behind the dune where it is possible to observe coastal birds like black-necked stilts, whimbrels, white-cheeked pintail ducks, and, occasionally, flamingos.

• Activity:Arrival, Hiking, Swimming.
• Meal:Lunch, Dinner.
• Accommodation:Doube or Single cabins.

AM: This small sandy island located between North Seymour and Baltra is the home of one of the more significant sea lion colonies of the Galapagos, with several harems. It is an excellent place o observe their behavior.
PM: Dragon Hill is a very scenic visiting point. The hike passes first a flamingo lagoon behind the beach vegetation and leads through an impressive forest of prickly pear cactus. The following loop trail goes to a small hill where land iguanas live and nest. The view from this little peak over the surrounding landscape is spectacular.

• Activity:Hiking, Snorkeling.
• Meal:Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
• Accommodation:Double or Single cabins.

AM: We start with a dry landing, and then the scenic hike leads uphill through the Dry zone vegetation to Darwin Lake, a saltwater crater lake. At the end of the trail, we go up to a parasitic spatter cone and have a fantastic view of the Darwin Volcano’s lava field. Tagus Cove is a fascinating snorkeling place to discover many marine invertebrates in the vertical walls if the
water is clear.

PM: This visit to one of the youngest islands of the Galapagos is undoubtedly a highlight of a cruise in the Galapagos. The terrain of Fernandina is rocky due to its volcanic nature. It depends on the tide if the dry landing is on the pier in the mangroves or directly on the lava.

• Activity:Hiking, Snorkeling.
• Meal:Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
• Accommodation:Double or Single cabins.

AM: Another exclusive site! It is an area that was uplifted out of the sea, at the foot of Volcan Alcedo. Along the shore, occasionally, we find flightless cormorants and huge marine iguanas. On the trail leading inland, we watch out to see the colorful land iguanas. If we are lucky, we cross with a Galapagos tortoise along the pathway!

PM: This afternoon, we do not walk but drive into the protected mangrove cove with the zodiacs. The entrance through a very narrow channel is not always easy, but our experienced crew manages it carefully, and so we find ourselves in the midden of this peaceful lagoon.

• Activity:Hiking, Snorkeling.
• Meal:Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
• Accommodation:Double or Single cabins.

AM: Early in the morning, we start a hike on Punta Moreno’s rough lava field. It is a place where we can see all three cactus species. The lava field turns out to be fantastic scenery, with oases with brackish water pools with flamingos, common gallinules, white-cheeked pintail ducks, and paint-billed crakes. We also may see the flightless cormorant. The Galapagos surprises never end!

PM: Just before the dark, we arrive in the small harbor of Puerto Villamil. Villamil is the main settlement in the south of Isabela Island. The village has grown up in the last years but is still
small and calm with its scenic beaches and peaceful ambiance.

• Activity:Hiking, Snorkeling.
• Meal:Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
• Accommodation:Double or Single cabins.

AM: The Sierra Negra (Spanish: Black Mountain) is a massive shield volcano, and it is one of the most active of the Galapagos, with the most recent eruption in June 2018. Often it is a little bit rainy or misty and foggy, but it is therefore why here it is so unexpected green.

PM: We start at the Tortoise Breeding Centre to discover different subspecies of the Galapagos Giant Tortoises and the station’s efforts to restore the endangered populations. We take a beautiful trail going from lagoon to lagoon on the walk back to town, watching out for flamingos, common gallinules, white-cheeked pintail ducks, and black-necked stilts.

• Activity:Hiking.
• Meal:Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
• Accommodation:Double or Single cabins.

AM: YOn a short walk, we find ourselves at the White Flour Sand Beach, named because of the fineness of the sand of white corals. It is a famous nesting beach for marine turtles, so it is crucial not to walk on the dune. Often, we can see many stingrays in shallow water. The Corona del Diablo, a leftover of a volcano looking like a black crown emerging from the sea, is one of the most famous snorkeling places in the Galapagos.

PM: It is named after a barrel put her by whalers in the 18th century to start a first post service to send letters home. We fulfill the unwritten law and visit this place where the most peculiar stampless system of sending mail functions since then!

• Activity:Hiking, Snorkeling.
• Meal:Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
• Accommodation:Double or Single cabins.

AM: Daphne is a tuff cone with little vegetation. This island is famous for the studies by Peter and Rosemary Grant about the Darwin Finches. The perfect literature to read about: Is the Beak of the Finch, written by Jonathan Weiner.
PM: Baltra: drive back to the airport for a morning flight back to the continent. Our guide takes care until the last minute!

• Activity:Hiking, Departure.
• Meal:Breakfast.
• Accommodation:Double or Single cabins.