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Galapagos
– Baltra Airport
We will set out from Quito or Guayaquil
to Baltra airport in Galapagos. Then we
will head for the quay to get on the M/V
Galapagos Coral.
2° Santa Cruz (Dragon
Hill)
We will visit Dragon Hill. After a dry
landing, we will visit the salt-water
lagoon, situated near the beach which
is often visited by pink flamingoes.
We will cross a lignum vitae forest
to walk along a path to the top of Dragon
Hill, where we can appreciate the unique
view of the whole bay. In this area,
the land iguanas are bred; this species
was introduced by Charles Darwin Scientific
Station.
Santa Cruz (Venecia)
We will sail on boat along the coast
of Santa Cruz Island. The land iguanas
that live in Venecia have been protected
against wild dogs which live in Santa
Cruz Island.
On Santa Cruz, we will have the opportunity
to see the vegetation and sea animals
such as the red mullet, eagle ray, gold
ray, white pointer shark and turtle
that live in the calm waters of coves
and channels.
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Rabida (Jarvis)
We will have a wet landing on a red-sanded
beach; this color is due to the oxidation
of iron, element that is plentiful in
the island. Rabida Beach is visited by
sea lions and blue-footed boobies. We
will go through a path that will take
us to a salt-water lagoon with mangrove
swamps, and where we will see flamingoes
very occasionally.
From July to September, the brown pelican
nest in the salt mountains. During the
trekking, we will have the opportunity
to see Darwin's finches; when we get back
to the beach, we can do some snorkeling
activities.
3° Santiago (Puerto Egas)
Puerto Egas is situated in the north of
Santiago Island; there we will have a
wet landing on a black beach formed by
the erosion of volcanic lava.
At the end of 1950s and beginning of
1960s, Hector Egas, who was born in Guayaquil,
Ecuador, lived in this place to extract
salt from a mine located at 3km from the
beach. Today we can see the remains of
Egas' old factory; they had to leave the
island because they went bankrupt.
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Fernandina (Punta Espinoza)
After disembarking at Punta Espinoza,
we will go to see the rookeries of the
biggest marine iguanas of the archipelago,
besides watching red crabs or zayapas
(Grapsus grapsus), which are colorful
crabs.
We will watch not flying cormorants,
Galapagos penguins and sparrow hawks,
and sea lions. Here we can see volcanic
formations such as Brachycereus cactus
and lava formations such as pa-hoe-hoe
and AA lava. And finally we will see the
mangrove swamps.
Isabela (Tagus Cove)
We will have a dry landing on the biggest
island in Galapagos. We will learn about
the 5 volcanoes that formed this island.
We will go along the path that will take
us to the Darwin salt-water lagoon, where
we will enjoy a spectacular view of the
volcanic formations. Here we can watch
Galapagos penguins.
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Bartolome
We will have a dry landing. On the island,
we will watch volcanic lava bombs and volcanic
ash cones. At the top, we can enjoy a wonderful
view of the neighboring islands; we can
also see the eroded rock Pinaculo.
When descending, we will find lava lizards
and autochthonous plants such as tiquilla
and local cactus. We will have the opportunity
to swim under water (snorkeling) and watch
Galapagos penguins, turtles and white
pointer sharks.
Santa Cruz (Black Turtle
Cove)
We will visit Black Turtle Cove, which
is near Las Bachas beach to the north
of Santa Cruz Island. We will sail on
a motor boat through the mangrove swamps,
where pelicans and herons nest; we will
turn the motor off so we can watch the
turtles, white-pointer sharks, eagle rays
and gold rays.
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Santa Cruz (Charles Darwin Station)
Charles Darwin Station is formed by scientists
from around the world that do biological
research and projects on species preservation.
An example of this is the program on
the breeding in captivity of giant turtles
and their offspring. On the island, we
can see giant cactus and land birds. After
visiting the station, we will stroll around
the town. We will disembark at Baltra
Island to go by bus to the airport and
fly to Quito or Guayaquil.
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