

|
Cruising Adventures in the Galapagos Islands: Galapagos Explorer II
Come aboard the five-star cruise ship, the Galapagos Explorer II, to explore the extraordinary natural beauty of the Galapagos Islands, located six-hundred miles west of the coast of Ecuador. The vessel not only provides an opportunity for discovery, adventure and environmental education, but it also offers the highest levels of comfort and safety, while complying with the standards of the Galapagos National Park Service. |
| On a 3,4, or 7-night cruise you will fly to the Galapagos to begin the cruise, arriving on San Cristobal, easternmost of the Galapagos Islands. Onboard, passengers have the pleasure of enjoying the pool, solarium, reading room, and the finest cuisine in the Galapagos with beverages (including house wines) complementary. Dress is always casual while the services remain luxurious. |
| |
| Accommodations - All the spacious queen and twin bed suites offer outside views, include air conditioning, private bathrooms with marble decor, and a small sitting area with a TV/VCR, mini-bar, and satellite communitcation. |
| |
| Sample Itinerary |
Day 1: Ochoa Beach where you can take a short trail to a good snorkelling and swimming area. It’s an excellent spot to view Pelicans and other Galapagos sea birds, lagoon birds, sea anemones, and beach vegetation including mangrove trees. |
|
Day 2: Española Island -
Because it is so isolated, the island has a large population of indigenous wildlife. You will explore Punta Suarez, one of the most spectacular spots in the Galapagos, where you’ll look for sea lions surfing the breaking waves and groups of iguanas basking in the sun. Further inland, Masked and Blue-footed Boobies nest beside the trails. You can hike a trail towards the cliffs to the Blowhole, a fissure in the lava cliffs where seawater jets high in the air.
Santa Cruz Island -
The second largest of the Archipelago and colonized since the 1920’s, Puerto Ayora, the populated part of the island, is the most important harbor of the Archipelago. The headquarters of the Galapagos national Park and the Charles Darwin Station are located here. Visit Darwin Station to learn about the research conducted on the island. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a Galapagos tortoise breeding and rearing center, where tortoises of different subspecies are prepared for reintroduction to their natural habitats. Afterwards, you can stroll through Puerto Ayora, largest town on the islands. |
| |
Day 3:
Genovesa Island -
The birding paradise of Prince Phillip’s Steps and the breeding ground for the tree-loving Red-Footed Booby and the ground-nesting Masked Booby. This is also home to four species of finch: the Large Ground Finch, Sharp-beaked Ground Finch, Large Cactus Finch and Warbler Finch. Natural history enthusiasts will recall that Charles Darwin’s observation of varied adaptations of finch beaks helped inspired his theories on natural selection. Genovesa is also home to the indigenous Galapagos Mockingbird and the Galapagos Dove. If you have time, we’ll snorkel at El Barranco on the west side of Darwin Bay.
Darwin’s Bay - You make a wet landing on the beach created by the curve of a collapsed volcanic crater, wading ashore from our panga. Here you can observe Frigatebirds, and Red-Footed and Masked Boobies. Just behind the beach, you explore tide pools frequented by Wandering Tattlers, Whimbrels, Lava Gulls and Fiddler Crabs. Lava and Black-Crowned Night Herons are seen at times. You may also see Yellow Warblers on the beach and Swallow-Tailed Gulls swooping around the cliffs. |
| |
| Day 4: San Cristobal Island -
Isla Lobos situated less than an hour's ride from Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, Lobos Islet is a seasonal nesting location for the Blue-footed Booby. Snorkeling.
Cerro Brujo a beautiful beach located in San Cristobal Island. Hiking and swimming, snorkeling is available. Sandy beach Sally-lightfoot Crabs, Brown Pelicans, Blue-footed Boobies. |
| |
| Day 5:
Bartolome Island - An island of varied volcanic formations with a 350-foot summit and a fabulous 360º view. Depending upon the weather, you may be able to spot five other islands, one of the most spectacular views of the archipelago. You’ll make a wet landing in a cove to see a small colony of Galapagos penguins—the only penguins north of the equator. Sea lions are also found here. Behind the beach can be found red and white mangroves, salt bush, morning glory and prickly pear cactuses. |
| |
| Puerto Egas, James (Santiago) Island- On a black beach with eroded rock formations in the background, you will find a trail that crosses the dry interior, where the remains of a salt-mining enterprise can still be seen and then continues along the coast. Intertidal pools are home to a variety of invertebrate organisms. Land iguanas are scattered around feeding on exposed algae while Oyster Catchers try to capture Sally Lightfoot Crabs. The trail then leads to the Fur Seal Grottos, one of the only places in the islands where Fur Seals can be seen. |
| |
Day 6:
Fernandina Island - On the youngest and westernmost island in Galapagos, you’ll land at Punta Espinoza, a narrow stretch of land where some of the most unusual Galapagos species can be seen. While the panga driver skillfully eludes the reef to reach the landing site near a small mangrove forest, look for penguins diving off the rocks into the water. Sally Lightfoot Crabs disperse on the lava near the shore and herons, sandpipers and wimbrels explore the mangrove roots. Marine iguanas congregate in larger groups here than on any other island. They are everywhere: basking in the sand, swimming near the shore, grazing on the exposed seaweed in the lava and blocking the way at the landing dock. This is one of the few places where there is the opportunity, if the water is clear, of watching them feed underwater while snorkeling.
Punta Vicente Roca, Isabela Island - Largest of the Galapagos islands, Isabela is composed of six shield volcanoes merged into a single land mass. Wolf Volcano on Isabela is also the highest point in the archipelago. The Galapagos Explorer II is one of only a few faster, better-equipped boats able to make the long journey from the central islands to the visitor sites on the western side of Isabela. The trip is more than worthwhile, however, for the unique species that occur only in this part of the archipelago, and because the landscape, with massive volcanoes silhouetted against the sky, offers a striking contrast to the lower-lying islands of the east.
Located on the north-western tip of Isabela island, the visit of Pta Vicente Roca is completely by dingy. Launch on a coastal dingy-ride that skirts 400-500-feet cliff sides. Blue-footed boobies, masked boobies & pelicans can be seen here along with sea-turtles feeding along this shoreline. Reaching a rocky pile of large basalt, there are colonies of fur-seals & marine iguanas in groups, basking in the sun. Sea lions are also present. Continuing along the sheer cliffs, the dingy approaches a secluded cove where, at it's end, dark and yellow rock are superposed. Now we are close to the large cave that allows for snorkeling or sight seeing.
Snorkeling at the cave produces a great variety of marine life, specially marine invertebrates. One starts at the intersection between the dark and yellow rock and swims all the way around the small point into the cave, all the way into the cave & then out of the cave until the next point. The water is often murky and very cold as it is called the Galapagos Ice-box . Therefore, one must snorkel very close to the rock in order to see anything but it may produce some of the most exiting snorkeling in Galapagos. Manta rays, sea turtles, sea-lions, sting-rays, many fish, even dolphins & sunfish have been seen and snorkeled within this bay. Along the cave there are Galapagos penguins, marine iguanas, swallow-tailed gulls, masked boobies, brown noddy 's, blue footed boobies and a breathtaking scenery unparalelled. |
| |
Day 7:
North Seymour- A small flat island. Rocks then a long sandy stretch where sea lions and marine iguanas hang out next to a surf wave. The interior has a Palo Santo small Opuntia cactus forest with Bluefooted boobies and magnificent Frigate bird colonies. An hour and a half visit. Dry landing.
Highlands & Lava Tunnels - You and your family will board a bus for a 45-minute ride through changing vegetation zones to the Santa Cruz Highlands. Here, about 40 giant tortoises live in the wild. By approaching quietly, you can find and observe a turtle on your own. You also hike to tunnels made by cooling lava. |
| |
| Day 8 : Return to the visitor's center before you depart for Quito. |
|
|
|
|
Proud Members of:






Qualified Merchants for:




|
|
| |
For more information on any of our Great Expeditions Travel Adventures, contact us today!
Collage header photos courtesy of the Galapagos Aggressor I & II, and the Lammer Law.
|
|
|
| |
|