Prices are “from” per person and based on twin share based on current exchange rates and subject to change. Single rates available on request. Subject to availability, limited seats available, seasonal surcharges may apply.
Trip Overview
Discover the wonders of the Galapagos Islands and the historical charm of Quito on this unforgettable Ecuador adventure. Experience nature as it flourished in Darwin’s era.
Quito
Trip Includes
Trip Excludes
Prices are “from” per person and based on twin share based on current exchange rates and subject to change. Single rates available on request. Subject to availability, limited seats available, seasonal surcharges may apply.
GO Quito Hotel
A sustainable hotel with spectacular views of Quito, and a design inspired by the natural beauty and cultural richness of the Andes, GO Quito Hotel is one of the premier accommodations in the new town of Quito. GO Quito Hotel provides a peaceful atmosphere for both work and play, with gourmet dining, refreshing drinks, and a range of leisure activities available. With everything you need in one place, the hotel caters to your travel needs. With an on-site swimming pool, ground-floor gardens, and a rooftop restaurant, plenty to enjoy on-site when you're not out exploring the city and countryside.
Duration
3 Night Stay
Meal Plan
Full Breakfast
Ecuador is history, fascinating indigenous cultures, slow winding rivers and lush tropical forests, spectacular snow capped volcanoes and some of the most exciting wildlife on earth. Today's private-guided tour of the Middle of the Earth begins just 30 minutes north of Quito. Your guide will first take you on a brief journey to visit the Pululahua volcanic crater for a peek into the crater floor where patchwork fields gleam far below. Later you will visit the Ciudad Mitad del Mundo, a group of buildings designed to explain the significance of the Ecuadorian equator, as well as the Intiñan Museum, located directly on the Equator. Here you will have the chance to plant your feet in two hemispheres at the same time, try to balance an egg on the head of a nail, and see the unique water dynamics that occur! Back in Quito and after lunch, you will visit the city's impressive colonial center. Quito was the first city to be named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations (alongside Krakow, Poland in 1978), and touring the historic core highlights why it is so widely lauded. First on the agenda is a walk through the Main Plaza, the Plaza de la Independencia, where you will see the Government Palace, the Cathedral, and some of the most important churches built around the XVI and XVII centuries, including the San Francisco Monastery, a building begun only five days after the founding of the city. Winding down, you'll enjoy a chocolate tasting experience in the old town at Yumbos; a small artisanal chocolate factory that uses fine Ecuadorian cocoa. During the visit, you will be able to learn the secrets behind making fine chocolate, and soon after, you will be returned to your hotel.
Leaving Quito after an early breakfast at your hotel, your guide will drive you to the Pahuma Orchid Reserve to take a short walk to a nearby waterfall and orchid display. Pahuma Orchid Reserve helps to protect this spectacularly biodiverse region of Ecuador, and the unique micro-climate you'll explore is the perfect home to dozens of species of birds, a seemingly endless array of orchids, not to mention a wide variety of amphibians and mammals. After touring Pahuma, you will continue on to Mindo to admire and enjoy an interactive butterfly garden where, surrounded by hundreds of colorful butterflies, you will be able to observe the four stages of a butterfly’s life. While you are in the garden, you will be able to feed one or more of the 25 different species of butterflies. You'll then break for a local lunch, and shortly after, carry on to visit a chocolate factory, the ultimate destination for cocoa and culinary enthusiasts alike. Here you will see and taste every step of the chocolate making process, sampling delicious chocolates made from the highest quality, world famous Ecuadorian cocoa. After visiting the chocolate factory, your guide will return you back to your hotel in Quito.
Depart from Quito or Guayaquil to Baltra Island, a flight lasting roughly two hours and 30 minutes (included). Arriving in the Galapagos, you will be picked up at the airport by naturalist guides who will welcome you to the archipelago and assist with the transfer to the nearby pier. After getting acquainted with the vessel, you'll soon disembark on the tiny, low lying Mosquera Islet which is located between North Seymour and Baltra Island. This flat, sandy island is home to a group of sea lions that come to laze on the soft white sand. It is also an excellent site to observe shorebirds such as herons, lava gulls, and boobies. There is no trail on the islet so you can enjoy the open area. Most of the islet is covered with sand and barren lava rock. You can also see here very little Vesuvius Portulacastrum plants grow on the sand.
Quito - Old Town to Quito Airport
Meal
Dinner, Lunch
Baltra Airport & Mosquera Islet
Your Accommodation
M/V Legend
This legendary, 100-passenger, first-class vessel offers all the amenities of a large cruise liner without sacrificing the intimacy you'd expect on a small sailing craft, and consequently allows you to have it all.
In the morning, discover the black volcanic sand beach that was visited by Darwin in 1835. It is best known for the dramatic shoreline where you will meet a host of species that chose to live between land and sea. Among these are the endemic Galapagos fur seals which maintain a small colony at the end of your walk. Other species you will discover include American oystercatchers, sea lions, waders, herons, lava lizards, and even Galapagos hawks. An optional visit to an abandoned salt mine famous in its day for supplying salt to mainland Ecuador is also available. In the afternoon, you'll make a wet landing on Rabida Island. Lying at the heart of the archipelago, this dramatic island with its distinctive red-sand beach is home to sea lions, mockingbirds, finches, endemic Galapagos doves, and vermilion flycatchers. A walk will take you through the forest of Palo Santo and cacti to a beautiful overview of the bay. Snorkeling can be excellent here, often with large schools of black striped Salemas, sea lions, and the ubiquitous turtles.
Meal
Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch
Egas Port & Rabida Island
Your Accommodation
M/V Legend
This legendary, 100-passenger, first-class vessel offers all the amenities of a large cruise liner without sacrificing the intimacy you'd expect on a small sailing craft, and consequently allows you to have it all.
At the far end of a long, level hike this morning, you will find a strange phenomenon where large blocks of coral lie exposed after a dramatic geological uplift in 1954. Located at the western base of Alcedo Volcano, you might run into a few very impressive land iguanas as well as some of the volcano’s endemic Galapagos giant tortoises during the wet season. In the afternoon, you’ll find a well-known hideout and deep-water anchorage in the days of pirates. Tagus Cove was also one of the few sites visited by Charles Darwin and the HMS Beagle in 1835. A beautiful hike will lead you past an overview of Darwin Lake and on to a stunning volcanic landscape revealing Isabela Island’s dramatic northern volcanoes. Once back at sea level, the perfect activity is to snorkel along a submerged wall with turtles, lots of fish, penguins, and potentially flightless cormorants. You might even be tempted by a panga ride or kayak!
Meal
Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch
Urbina Bay & Tagus Cove
Your Accommodation
M/V Legend
This legendary, 100-passenger, first-class vessel offers all the amenities of a large cruise liner without sacrificing the intimacy you'd expect on a small sailing craft, and consequently allows you to have it all.
This morning, discover the youngest island of Galapagos and one of the most pristine in the world. Fernandina is simply the marine iguana capital of the world. This desolate volcanic backdrop is home to a huge concentration of these enigmatic reptiles. Incongruously, sharing the same shoreline, you can find the diminutive Galapagos penguins. Here you will also have the exciting opportunity to snorkel with marine iguanas feeding underwater, penguins, turtles, and the bizarre, endemic, flightless cormorants. In the afternoon, experience a spectacular visitor site, surrounded by immense cliffs of the eroded volcano. Studded with resting sea birds such as brown noddies and Nazca boobies, you will enjoy them in close proximity from the dinghies. Snorkeling here is superb, with certain species of fish only found in the west of the archipelago. You will also have a very real chance of swimming with penguins and potentially a plethora of green turtles.
Meal
Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch
Punta Espinosa & Punta Vicente Roca
Your Accommodation
M/V Legend
This legendary, 100-passenger, first-class vessel offers all the amenities of a large cruise liner without sacrificing the intimacy you'd expect on a small sailing craft, and consequently allows you to have it all.
After breakfast, make a dry landing in the mountains of Galapagos. Enjoy admiring different kinds of birds, such as tree and ground finches, vermilion flycatchers, paint-billed crakes, yellow warblers, and cattle egrets (usually standing on the tortoises' shell). Your journey to the reserve offers great opportunities to see the contrasts that the island offers in reference to the variety of ecosystems. The road goes from the coast through the agricultural zone and straight up to the dense humid forests. Often, Galapagos Giant Tortoises are also seen on the way, wandering through pastures in the paddocks. This spot is a birdwatchers' haven, since almost every land bird present on the island lives or migrates here. After visiting Highlands Tortoise Reserve, you will be transferred to the airport ahead of your return flight to Guayaquil or Quito.
Meal
Breakfast
Highlands Tortoise Reserve & Departure
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