The Place Where Luxury and Adventure Meet

After breakfast, we will flight from Quito to Baltra Island, then we will drive to Puerto Ayora on the Santa Cruz Island where we will take our fast boat to Floreana for about 2 hours. As one of the southernmost islands, Floreana boasts rich soil and crystal clear water. As a result, Floreana was one of the first Islands to become inhabited on a permanent basis, and was always seen as a feeding spot by whaling ships and other boats due to its supposedly inexhaustible supply of tortoises.

We will stay in a basic lodge. Each cabin has its own bathroom, front porche, reading and shade area to allow you privacy and enjoyement of the outdoors as you observe the sea.

We will cruise a cove where it is allowed to visit only with fishermen. There is an abundance of life in this cove. You will most likely see penguins and sea lions on the steep, rocky shore. It is a great place for snorkeling were we can see sharks, rays and tropic fish.

We will return to the lodge for our lunch and then in the afternoon we will visit the highlands of the Floreana, You will walk up to see the Asilo de la Paz (Peace Asylum) where the spring is located, an artisan spring that attracted pirates, whalers and later settlers to Floreana as it was one of the very few year round sources of fresh water in the Galapagos. The Cueva de los Piratas (Pirate’s Cave) is quite literally where pirates carved temporary shelter out of soft stone and is also where one of the original settlers, Margret Wittmer, gave birth to a son, Rolf, who is still living. Some have almost jokingly referred to it as the ‘Stonehenge’ of Floreana due to its interesting shapes. Cerro Pajas (Bird Hill) truly lives up to its name with a multitude of Floreana Finches. It also offers spectacular views of the island and the sea below.

Back to the hotel.

After breakfast we will take our fast boat and we will travel back to Santa Cruz to visit with our artisan fisherman on of the coves where you can snorkel with white tip sharks, sea tourtles and marine iguanas, after lunch we will return to Santa Cruz and drive to our special tented camp on the highlands of Santa Cruz.

Galapagos Safari Camp is a 55-hectare farm in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island bordering the national park, 30 minutes from the sea. The farm is rich in birdlife with finches, warblers, mockingbirds, galapagos doves, egrets and owls—tortoises also make frequent visits. The farm has many local species of trees, such as scalesia, guayabillo, and palo santo which are rapidly regaining a foothold after years of cattle farming.

The camp has 8 luxury safari tents perched on a hill, providing comfort and privacy in the wilderness. All tents have a balcony with views of the park and the ocean— they are spacious, attractively decorated, and each has a private bathroom, with hot shower and loo. Guests can gather by the fireplace in the main room to view the sunsets, taste our chef’s creative dishes that cater for the international palate in the panoramic dining room or enjoy the tranquility of the infinity pool with fabulous ocean scenery.

After 40 minutes and 8 nautical miles of navigation northwest from Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island, we approach Bahia Ballena, an inlet from the ocean. We will land at a sandy beach and with a short walk you can observe Galapagos Sea Lions lounging and unique Marine Iguanas basking in the sun, sometimes resting on the succulent Sesubium plant, which is commonly known as carpet weed, and lava rocks. The endemic Darwin’s Finches and Yellow Warbler subspecies fly among Candelabra and Prickly Pear Opuntia cacti to search for food and nesting sites.

Frigate Birds perch on Mangrove trees and circle the sky to try to steal fish the Blue Footed Boobies hunt by plunging dives into the water. Here, different species of mangroves such as Red Mangrove, Black Mangrove, and White Mangrove grow among the lava fields providing nutrients into the water that attract colorful tropical fish that can be observed as you snorkel. As you look out from the inlet, you will observe a series of channels where clusters of lava rocks form small reefs. Among the rocks you may observe fish such as the multicolored King Angel Fish, Barberfish, schools of Striped Salemafish, Damselfish with a unique mixture of yellow lips and blue eyes, Surgeonfish, and gnarled Sea Cucumbers. The depth of the ocean at Bahia Ballena is approximately 30 feet and in many places there is a sandy bottom, where you will often see Pacific Green Sea Turtles resting or gracefully swimming to find their food and Long Tailed Stingrays of different sizes. Occasionally, you may see Leatherback Sea Turtles during their migratory stage. As you leave Bahia Ballena, you will see the small island of Santa Fe in the distance.

Arrival to Tortuga Bay which is a favorite place for Sea Turtles (who gave the name to the beach), Sea lions, Marine Iguanas, Pelicans, Flamingos and Lava Gulls which are endemic to the Islands and are commonly found along the shore of most beaches. You’ll also be able to see beautiful birds including the famous Galapagos finches as you walk.

Kayak in the west side of the beach where the waters are calm or you can swim and just relax. Return to Puerto Ayora walking to the trail which is paved and marked.

In the morning, we will take a speed boat from Puerto Ayora to San Cristobal Island, the easternmost island in the archipelago. The island is one of the oldest in the chain, and thus its volcanic peaks are greatly eroded and vegetation is more abundant than on many islands. Upon arrival in the provincial capital and second-largest town in Galápagos, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, we will kayak from Puerto Baquerizo to Tijeretas Bay and back to Puerto, this will take about 1 hour and a half. Then we will go in our yacth to Puerto Grande to camp.

Bahia Valdizan lies at the most northeastern point of San Cristobal. This part of the island is very arid. This is the only place, you can see all three species of boobies at the same time. There is a whole colony of red-footed boobies (the other one is on Tower) and you also can see Nazca (masked) and blue-footed boobies. You dive on the southeast side of an exposed rock. Here the surge hits quite hard but it is also good for large schools of fish like grunts, snappers and jacks.

After our snorkeling in Bahia Valdizan we will visit Wizard Hill and then Kickers Rock, a small islet that rises steeply to 148m (some say 152m), with a massive split through the middle. From far it looks like a sleeping lion, thus the Spanish name Leon Dormido. This is the remnant of a tuff cone, so it is actually a pillar of compacted ash. No seals can live here, but underwater are huge schools of salemas and Jacks, barracuda, rainbow runners and Galapagos sharks. On the rocks live nudibranchs, crustaceans and other invertebrates. The dive is interesting because you can snorkel in the narrow channel with the vertical cliffs on both sides - very impressive. Underwater the better part is actually outside, usually on the west where you can also find large fish like sharks and rays. Return to camp

We will take the fast boat to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and then we will go to the airport to fly back to Quito.