5 Days Best Of Me Gusta Galapagos Santa Cruz & San Cristobal

Today you will arrive at the airport of Baltra, one of the Galapagos Islands. You will be picked up at the airport and transferred to the island of Santa Cruz. You will first cross the Itabaca channel by ferry boat and then you will continue by car. Your first stop will be at the highlands of Santa Cruz. The “Parte Alta” as the highlands are called in Spanish is very lush and green and is the natural habitat of the giant Galapagos tortoises. You will visit a private ranch where you will have lunch. Here you walk between the trees and search for the giant tortoises that prefer to stay close to the small lagoons. You also will visit the lava tubes, which are formed when the surface of a lava stream solidifies, but the inside stays liquid and flows out like a river. After this tour, you continue by private transport to your hotel. Here you will have a meet & greet with one of our staff members who will explain the rest of your itinerary to you. You have the rest of the afternoon free to explore Santa Cruz on your own. Included: Private transport with Spanish speaking driver – Itabaca canal – Public bus ticket from Baltra Airport to Canal Itabaca - Visit highlands – Lunch – Meet & greet – Welcome package – Overnight BB Not Included: Lunch & dinner – National flight – INGALA Transit Control Card - Entrance fee national park

Today you will have a day tour to North Seymour or Bartolome or Santa Fe or Plazas. Please be aware that you will visit one of these places in your day tour. Which one this is, will be confirmed with you at a later stage. See the descriptions of the day tours below. In all tours, lunch and snorkeling equipment are included.  - Plazas: Your first stop will be a refreshing one; you will be snorkeling at Punta Carrion where you will see colorful fish and sea turtles. Afterward, you continue to Plazas. There are actually two islands, Plaza Norte and Plaza Sur. Only Plaza Sur, the southern bigger island is visited by tourists. This island has a lot to offer. The flora and fauna will astonish you. This island is mostly known for the many land iguanas that live on it. When you are a little further from the coast, it looks like you’ve walked into the movie “Jurassic Park”, because you will be eye to eye with beautiful green, yellow and orange land iguanas. This is all surrounded by beaches, beautiful cacti, and in the background the blue ocean. At the coast, the male sea lions live in peace. The militant lifestyle is only maintainable for males who are in their prime. The elders spend their last days in colonies, of which one can be found at Plaza Sur. It is sensational to see how the sea lions and iguanas mix. They play together as real pals. This island also offers a lot to bird lovers and a so-called “birdwatchers paradise” can be found; a cliff with swallow-tailed gulls, masked boobies, blue-footed boobies, tropical red bill birds, frigates, pelicans, and Audubon's. The gulls, partners forever, are always here cuddling or nesting. - North Seymour: North Seymour is located north of the island of Baltra. The island has a surface area of only 1.9 square kilometers and is almost totally flat. At this island, there are the breeding colonies of the frigates, the blue-footed boobies, and the swallow-tailed gull. To impress the female frigates, the male blows up his red throat bag. To attract more attention they fly around in the surroundings of the female. You can imagine that this is not too easy with a blown-up throat bag, because they lose their balance quicker. It is interesting to watch. Afterward, you will navigate towards the beach of Bachas. Here you can relax at the beach and follow the trails of the nesting sea turtles and snorkel a bit and swim at the beach. There is also a trail leading to a flamingo pool where there might be flamingos, on the way you see the shipwreck of Bachas.  - Santa Fe: The beauty of this Island is best appreciated from the trail which climbs the fault cliff overlooking the southern half of the bay. This plateau is also the best place to find the large land iguanas (Conolophus Pallidus) that are endemic to Santa Fe Island. The Santa Fe land iguana lives nowhere else in the world and, in fact, on no other Galapagos Island. A sub-species of the famous endemic Galapagos land iguana, the Santa Fe variety is yellowish-green in color and can grow to over one meter in length. At the beach of Santa Fe, you can observe a sea lion colony and in the bay, there are often rays, white tip sharks, and sea turtles. At the rocky side of the bay, you will snorkel with colorful fish.  - Bartolomé: This is a day tour and breakfast (in most cases), lunch, and snorkeling equipment are included. Bartolomé is a bit further away than other islands, therefore you start early today. The first stop will be a refreshing one. At Sullivan Bay, you snorkel from the boat or relax at the beach. Here you can find, from December until April, green sea turtles that come ashore to lie in the sun. This is special because in other places the turtles only come ashore at night to lay eggs. During the day they are staying in the safe water. Snorkeling is almost a must here. With a little luck, you will see the “Moorish Idol”; this is the most beautiful fish from the Galapagos. Afterward, you continue to Bartolome. The island has a surface area of only 1.2 square kilometers and the highest point of the island is 114 meters. You can reach this point by taking a path through an almost surrealistic landscape and past recent signs of volcano eruptions. You will visit the highest point of the island with a spectacular view over the lava in different colors, the many volcanoes, and the deep blue sea as well as the famous “Pinnacle Rock”.  Included: Day tour with activities as mentioned – Lunch – Snorkeling equipment Transport - Overnight BB Not Included: Taxiboat - Dinner

You will have the morning off to explore the beautiful island of Santa Cruz on your own. In the afternoon you will be transferred from your hotel to the dock of Santa Cruz from where you will take a lancha (motorized small boat) to the island of San Cristobal. The boat ride will take about 2 hours and depending on the weather, it can be a bit bumpy. Arriving at the dock of San Cristobal you will be transferred to your hotel. Included: Transfer to the dock of Santa Cruz – Transport in lancha from Santa Cruz to San Cristobal –Transfer to hotel on San Cristobal – Overnight BB Excluded: Taxiboats - Lunch – Dinner