OCT 12 SAT. ARRIVE-QUITO:

Arrive in Quito, Ecuador on your own flight arrangement.  After going through customs
and immigration, you will be transferred to our four star hotel Dann Carlton.

OCT 13 SUN. QUITO: City & Equatorial Line

The morning is at leisure.

Afternoon sightseeing tour of Quito’s colonial quarter, the largest and best preserved of South America, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We will stroll at the Independence Plaza, flanked by the Cathedral, the Presidential Palace, the Municipal Building and the Archbishop’s Palace.

We will visit the temple of *La Compañía de Jesús and its awesome gilded interior. We will continue on to the Monastery of San Francisco, one the of great religious buildings of the New World; its impressive façade and atrium that lead to its Baroque interior influenced by Moorish style, with the winged Virgin of Quito at its main altar. Continue to the Equatorial line and visit to the local museum. (B)

HERE WE WILL STAND ON THE EQUATOR ITSELF AND WITNESS THE DEMONSTRATION IN WHICH WATER IS POURED DOWN TWO SINKS – ONE ON EACH SIDE OF THE EQUATOR.  YOU CAN WATCH IN AMAZEMENT AS YOU WITNESS THE WATER GOING DOWN THE DRAINS IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS – DEMONSTRATING THE TRUE POWER OF THE EARTH’S GRAVITATIONAL PULL BEING DIVIDED AT THE EQUATOR!

OCT 14 MON. QUITO-BALTRA-GALAPAGOS

Transfer to airport for flight to Galapagos. Arrive in Baltra and transfer to the M/V Legend Cruise ship. 

All shore excursions are included on our cruise.  We will enjoy a shore excursion this afternoon, a shore excursion tomorrow morning, another tomorrow afternoon, an excursion the following morning and afternoon and then a final excursion on the next morning, before we end our cruise and are taken to Guayaquil Ecuador for two more days of site-seeing on land..
 

In Baltra, all passengers are picked up at the airport by our naturalist guides and taken on a ten-minute bus drive to the pier to board the M/V Galapagos Legend. The ship holds only 100 passengers.

This legendary, one hundred-passenger, Luxury vessel offers all the amenities of a large cruise liner without sacrificing the intimacy you'd expect on a small sailing craft. The luxurious Legend is equipped with five decks, a swimming pool, and a library. She also has exercise equipment, international phone/fax/Internet, 24-hour/pay medical service, the most technologically advanced safety system in the archipelago, and much more. Enjoy the wonders of the Galapagos while being catered to by its talented staff.

The M/V Galapagos Legend has been specifically designed to cruise the Galapagos Islands. It has all the amenities of a large cruise liner, yet it is small enough for a close up experience with nature. This 100-passenger luxury expedition vessel has been completely refurbished in 2012. It has all-new passenger accommodations with 1800 square meters of social areas so you’ll enjoy all the amenities of a luxury cruise liner, and the privacy of a small ship.

All cabins on the M/V Galapagos Legend come with lower beds, air conditioning, background music, safety deposit boxes, private facilities, closed-circuit television, telephone, 110/220 volt outlets, and wall-to-wall carpeting.

Each cabin is also furnished with a private bathroom that offers fresh hot and cold water and a hair dryer. Cabin interiors feature marine details and original pieces of art that refer to the nature of the Islands, and each cabin is individually decorated with paintings of Galapagos species, such as a blue footed boobie or a waved albatross.

While on The M/V Galapagos Legend you’ll be able to soak up the sun on the Sky Deck by the pool, and socialize with fellow travelers. The broad observation deck allows you to spot dolphins and whales as the ship smoothly navigates the rich Galapagos waters.

The spacious passenger lounge is a great place to relax and view the scenery through picture windows; and in the evening it sets the stage for live shows and folkloric entertainment. All shore landings are in small groups of 16 in Zodiacs (rigid inflatable boats) with convenient access to and from the sea deck.

The elegant lounge/bar on our ship the MV Legend.

ALL SHORE EXCURSIONS ON THE CRUISE ARE INCLUDED IN YOUR TRIP COST

THIS AFTERNOON’S SHORE EXCURSION

North Seymour Island

This flat, uplifted, island is an important spot to see both magnificent and great frigate bird males courting the females by clicking, bill-clapping, shuddering and flapping their wings, all while showing off their grossly inflated, bright red, gular pouch.

We will also likely see courting blue-footed boobies displaying their unique feet while ‘dancing’ to a prospective mate.

Sea lions, swallow-tailed gulls, crashing surf and distant views of the Daphne Islands top off a great visit.

Duration: 2-hour walking tour with 30 minutes snorkeling

OCT 15 TUESDAY –GALAPAGOS CRUISE

MORNING INCLUDED SHORE EXCURSION

 – Bartolome island

. Considered the most iconic landscape of the entire Galapagos archipelago, the view from the top of Bartolome Island, overlooking the famous Pinnacle Rock and the austere Santiago Island beyond, is well worth the climb up the wooden boardwalk.

This volcanic scene has often been likened to a lunar landscape.

Our subsequent snorkel here might put us face to face with Galapagos penguins, white-tipped reef sharks and playful sea lions.

Duration: 1 ½-hour walking tour  / 1-hour snorkeling

AFTERNOON INCLUDED SHORE EXCURSION

 – South Plaza Islet

Sea lions, swallow-tailed gulls and land iguanas are all present at the landing site.

The small island is covered with a carpet of a red succulent studded with Opuntia cacti.

At the cliff edge, we spend time watching birds fly past at eye level in the up draught. These include, frigate-birds, flocks of Galapagos shearwaters and of particular note, flights of displaying red-billed tropicbirds.

Back at sea level, we once again encounter land iguanas, some of which have hybridized with their resident marine cousins.

Duration: 2-hour walking tour

OCT 16 WEDNESDAY GALAPAGOS

MORNING INCLUDED SHORE EXCURSION

Pitt Point & Islet (San Cristobal Island)

This morning we are taken in zodiac boats to the unique San Cristobal Island.

Sea lions will greet us as we land on the beach and prepare for our climb to a high point on the steep eroded tuff cone.

This is the only place in the islands where we will enjoy the chance to see all three of the booby species in the same place.

 The red-footed boobies  will be perched on the Cordia lutea and small trees, the Nazca’s on the ground near the cliff edge while the blue-foots will be a little further inland.

Frigate birds will be all around and the views are breathtaking.

This morning’s walk is more demanding than the walks on our other shore excursions, but the views and wild life we will see this morning is well worth the extra effort.

    
THE DISTINCT APPEARANCE OF THE BLUE FOOTED BOOBIE

Duration: 2½-hour walking tour / 40-minute snorkeling or kayaking

AFTERNOON INCLUDED SHORE EXCURSION

Cerro Brujo (San Cristobal Island)

This afternoon we will be taken by zodiac boats to Cerrro Brujo.

 Here we are first humbled by the immensity of viewing the stunning cliffs of “Sorcerer’s Hill.”  

We can enjoy simply sharing the beach with sea lions, snorkeling from shore or taking a leisurely walk to a hidden lagoon where we might spot black-necked stilts, ruddy turnstones, whimbrels and white-cheeked pintails.

This afternoon’s beach walk is easy and the opportunity to snorkel from the shore of the beach itself is magnificent.

Duration: 1-hour walk / 1-hour snorkeling



OCT 17 THURSDAY GALAPAGOS-SAN CRISTOBAL-GUAYAQUIL

This morning’s included shore excursion

 – Cerro Colorado Tortoise Reserve (San Cristobal Island)

In the moist highlands of San Cristobal we will visit the giant tortoise breeding center ìLa Galapagueraî to witness the most iconic creature of the archipelago in its various life stages. The tortoises wander in a semi-natural habitat which lends itself to good photographic opportunities. The aim of the reserve is to help restore populations of the threatened San Cristobal tortoise back into the wild. In town, there are shops to purchase local handicrafts and souvenirs.

Difficulty level: moderate

Duration: 40-minute bus drive to the Reserve / 1-hour visit

After the visit you will be taken to San Cristobal Airport for flight to Guayaquil with transfer to hotel Guayaquil Unipark for our final two night’s stay with included city tour tomorrow morning. (B)


OCT 18 FRI. GUAYAQUIL –City tour

AM City tour of Guayaquil –

The visit starts along the main avenue of Guayaquil, the heart of the business district of the city, by the Centennial Park that honors the heroes of Guayaquil's independence. Then Bolívar Park, also called "the park of the iguanas", as they roam around the park undisturbed. Beside the park is the neo-gothic Metropolitan Cathedral. Drive through the open market of La Bahía, and the Spanish shipyard, now a Naval Museum.

Then, a stroll along Guayaquil's new and ravishing Malecon 2000, a 2.5 Km. (1.5 mile) waterfront, running parallel to the River Guayas and featuring historical, cultural and entertainment areas. To the north of the waterfront is Santa Ana Hill and the oldest neighborhood of Guayaquil, Las Peñas, which has been beautifully restored, and then drive along the newest neighborhoods in the Sanborondón area. (B)

OCT 19 SAT GUAYAQUIL-DEPART  (B)

Transfer to the airport to fly home OR FLY TO SANTIAGO TO CONTINUE ON OUR TOUR OF CHILE AND EASTER ISLAND OCTO. 19-29. (See that trip listed separately on our site)