|
    
|
 |
Home > Galapagos Islands > Galapagos Adventures >
Galapagos with Amazon Jungle
17-day adventure
Detailed, day-by-day itinerary for this adventure!
Accommodations are noted, and meals are coded as B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner
This itinerary varies on Day 2 and Day 3 depending on your Galapagos yacht, Integrity or Reina Silvia. Please refer to departures for schedule of departures on both yachts.
Top: Blue morpho butterfly, a regular sight along the Rio Napo. (Pat Huey)
|
|
Day 1 |
Arrive in Quito, Ecuador |
|
Fly from your home city to Quito, Ecuador. Upon arrival, you will be transferred to the Hilton Colón Quito hotel with check-in to your Executive Floor accommodations.
Hilton Colón Quito |
Day 2
Integrity |
To the Galapagos—Santa Cruz Island & Royal Palm Resort |
This itinerary varies on Days 2 and 3 depending on your Galapagos yacht, Integrity or Reina Silvia. Please refer to departures for schedules of both yachts. |
Transfer to the airport for an early morning flight to Baltra, Galapagos. While our luggage is being collected, we enjoy refreshments in the air conditioned Royal Palm Resort's VIP airport lounge. We transfer to the Island of Santa Cruz where we travel with our naturalist in a spacious air conditioned vehicle up into the highland rainforest to the Royal Palm Resort where we'll spend the night.
After a rest (or a dip in the pool) we enjoy lunch. Later, we explore the Santa Cruz Highlands to view endemic Galapagos plant species and visit lava tubes and sinkholes. We'll hike through tall grasses among the grazing tortoises and then have some leisure time before dinner. Afterwards, we retire for a good night's sleep in the very quiet Royal Palm Resort.
Royal Palm Resort, BLD |
Day 2
Reina Silvia |
Quito, Equatorial Monument |
|
We spend the day exploring colonial Quito known for its many churches, peaceful squares, fountains, balconied houses, steep narrow streets and secluded gardens. We also visit the Equatorial Monument where you can stand with one foot in each hemisphere. There will be time to do a bit of shopping before we meet for a welcome dinner.
Hilton Colón Quito, BLD |
Day 3
Integrity |
Santa Cruz, boarding the Integrity |
|
We head down to the village of Puerto Ayora to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station where we learn about conservation issues and the tortoise and iguana hatching and rearing programs. We'll even get to view some of the hatchlings. We may catch a glimpse of Lonesome George—the sole survivor of the Pinta tortoise subspecies. After an exploration of the village of Puerto Ayora, we lunch at a waterside restaurant overlooking Academy Bay. We board the luxurious 141 foot yacht Integrity mid- to late afternoon in Academy Bay.
Integrity, BLD |
Day 3
Reina Silvia |
Fly to Galapagos, board the Reina Silvia |
|
We have an early morning flight to the Galapagos Islands, where we embark on the Reina Silvia, our home for the next eight days. We then cruise out into the Galapagos National Park for our in-depth exploration of the wonders of Darwin's Islands.
Reina Silvia , BLD |
Days 4-9 |
On the Boat—Snoozin', Cruisin' and Snorkelin' |
|
We live aboard our spacious yacht for a week, spending as much time ashore as the Park rules permit. With our licensed, INCA selected Class III naturalist, we learn about the birds and animals, geology, marine life and oceanic systems of the Galapagos Islands. We swim and snorkel with tropical fish, sea lions and sometimes with penguins!
The Integrity's current itinerary (set by the Galapagos Park) includes visits to one or more sites on the islands of Española (Hood), Floreana, Fernandina, Isabela, Santiago, Bartolomé, Tower, North Seymour and South Plazas.
Integrity or Reina Silvia , BLD |
Day 10 |
Galapagos, Quito |
|
From our anchorage in the Baltra harbor, we say "adios" to our yacht and its dedicated crew, and adjourn to the Baltra airport to await our mid-morning flight to the Ecuador mainland and Quito. On arrival, we transfer to the Hilton Colón Quito hotel for an overnight. You will have time to shop before dinner.
Hilton Colón Quito, BLD |
Day 11 |
Quito |
|
This is a day of leisure on your own. You may elect to explore the Old Town, walk in the park, visit the Botanical Gardens, work out in the hotel health club, have a massage, swim, do a bit of shopping and rest and relax. Lunch and dinner are on your own.
Hilton Colón Quito, B |
Days 12-15 |
Sacha Lodge on the Rio Napo |
|
We depart in the early morning from Quito on a 30-minute flight to Coca in the Upper Amazon Basin. Then it's down river by motorized canoe, heading ever deeper into the Ecuadorian jungle, where we spend five days experiencing firsthand this diverse and fragile wonder-of-the-world.
After check-in, we are ready to explore the jungle from many "points of view"-from the miles of hiking trails (some of the most pristine in the Amazon), from dugout canoe, or from a platform built 130 feet above the rain forest floor in a giant kapok tree.
We'll see butterflies and exotic flowers, including bromeliads and orchids, and will learn about medicinal plants. We can spot parrots, hundreds of which gather at a nearby natural salt deposit, toucans, the prehistoric hoatzin (a bird which has claws on its wings when young), anteaters and monkeys.
We can try to identify the makers of all the various weird and wonderful sounds we hear coming out of the forest canopy. As we canoe along the Amazon, we may see caimans dozing on shore as they have for thousands of years. Yet even in this lush and humid climate, there are hardly any biting insects!
At bedtime you drift off to sleep listening to the "night music" of the jungle. Throughout our jungle adventure, English-speaking naturalist guides share their knowledge and experience with us, helping to enrich our encounter with this immense tropical rain forest.
Sacha Lodge , BLD |
Day 16 |
Rio Napo to Quito |
|
When it's time to depart the jungle, we motor back upriver for a flight to Quito. We arrive in the late afternoon. Dinner is on your own tonight.
Hilton Colón Quito, BL |
Day 17 |
Quito to home or other adventures |
|
Transfer to the airport with check-in to your homeward bound flight unless you are remaining for more adventures. |
|
