Galápagos Islands | Ecosystems and Wildlife Aboard Tip Top V with College of DuPage

Upon arrival in Quito you will be met and escorted to your hotel.

Discover the beauty of the Ecuadorian Cloud Forest considered one of the most bio diverse ecosystems in the planet. Visit a private 650-hectare reserve, home to a multitude of epiphytes (air plants), including bromeliads, orchids, moss and ferns. Visit the hummingbird feeders and watch different species of this beautiful bird. Continue to a butterfly farm with an exhibition of 25 varieties of butterflies flying freely in a greenhouse that is approximately 644 square meters. Enjoy lunch in the area. On the way back to Quito stop at the equator where you can stand with one foot in each hemisphere. If time allows enjoy a short visit in downtown Quito, the largest city in Ecuador and also the capital. This evening, enjoy dinner at the hotel.

Fly from mainland Ecuador to Baltra. After boarding M/C Tip Top V, attend your first orientation and have a light snack. Disembark at Playa Las Bachas and visit a flamingo lagoon. Attend an evening orientation about the origin and evolution of the Galápagos Islands, followed by dinner. Each day there will be a briefing about the next day's activities, and time for optional swimming, snorkeling and/or kayaking.
*Cruise itineraries are subject to change without prior notice for various factors including, but not limited to: safety, weather, mechanical breakdown, unforeseen emergencies, and the discretion of the Captain, Guide, and the Galapagos National Park.

Today go for a panga boat ride and then land on Genovesa Island at Prince Philip's Steps (El Barranco), to walk and observe the interesting lives of the birds here. Enjoy lunch aboard the boat. Later in the afternoon, visit Darwin Bay, home to frigatebirds, herons, mockingbirds, boobies, shore birds, turtles, marine iguanas and more. Eat dinner on the boat, and later attend an evening orientation to learn about conservation efforts to protect the islands.

After breakfast, go ashore at South Plaza Island where a walk through a cactus forest allows you to observe land iguanas and many species of tropical birds. Return to the yacht for lunch and sail to Santa Fé Island to check out a different colony of land iguanas native to the island.

After breakfast, disembark to take the bus to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island for a visit to the native forests in El Chato Reserve, then go to a farm to search for giant tortoises in the wild. After lunch on the farm return to Puerto Ayora to visit the Interpretation Center Fausto Llerena Breeding Center inside the Charles Darwin Research Station. Return to the yacht for dinner and nightly orientation.

After breakfast, disembark on Floreana Island and walk to Baroness Viewpoint, named for the Baroness Eloise von Wagner. Enjoy the beautiful landscape and see the ruins of her house, then continue to Post Office Bay. In the 18th century, whalers placed a wooden barrel at this site to use as an informal post office, and today, visitors continue the tradition by leaving their own postcards in the barrel. Return to the yacht for lunch. In the afternoon, visit Cormorant Point for a short walk to the Flamingo Lagoon of this island. Continue the walk to a beach called "La Picona" to see marine turtles and their spawning grounds. Afterwards visit Champion Island for a snorkeling excursion.

Today we visit Punta Suárez on Española Island to walk along lava beds and observe unique colonies of marine birds. From April to December, this is one of the best places in the world to see the Waved Albatross, which nests primarily on this island. In the afternoon visit Gardner Bay for a walk on the beach. Sea lions inhabit this beach in great quantity during the breeding season. Then take a panga ride around Osborn Islet and the islets of Gardner.

Breakfast on-board, then disembark at Cerro Brujo to walk on a white sand beach and observe sea lions, brown pelicans, marine iguanas and blue footed boobies. Time for those who would like to sea kayak or snorkel in the area before sailing around Kicker Rock (León Dormido), a massive tuff rock that juts almost 500 feet above the ocean surface and which serves as a nesting place for many sea birds. After lunch enjoy sea kayaking or snorkeling in the area.

One last boat ride this morning around Black Turtle Cove, a series of coves and islets surrounded by mangroves, where you can observe white tipped reef sharks, marine turtles, spotted eagle rays, and yellow cow nosed rays. Return to the boat and disembark on the pier to take the bus directly to the airport in Baltra for your flight to Quito. A snack will be served on the flight. This afternoon is at leisure. A farewell dinner will be served at the hotel.

Early morning transfer to the airport in time for your flight home.