What’s included in the trip

• All airport transfers
• Southern Crossings bilingual guides
• All other internal transport (excluding transport to optional restaurants, bars, sights and excursions)
• Five day/four-night Galapagos cruise – including all food, excursions, snorkeling opportunities, fuel surcharge of $90.00 and Galapagos National Institute Migration Control Card (US$20.00)
• Galapagos National Park Tax – US$200.00, US$100 for children under 12.
• Four nights of 4-star hotel accommodation, four nights aboard ship in the Galapagos, three nights of jungle lodge
• Domestic flights – Quito-Galapagos Islands, Galapagos Islands-Quito
• Breakfast – included with all hotel stays
• Private Quito City and Middle of the Earth Tour including entrance fees, private vehicle, driver and professional guide
• Private Cotopaxi day excursion
• Four-day Amazon rainforest excursion – all meals included
• 24-hour customer support line while on tour

What’s not included

International flights, pre- & post- tour accommodation, visas, vaccinations, personal insurance, meals except where specified above, drinks, laundry, souvenirs, tips while on optional excursions and other items of a personal nature. Medical travel insurance is not included through Southern Crossings and cancellation insurance is advisable. On the Galapagos Islands tour the following is not included: wet suit – optional (US$ 25.00 for the whole tour), alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages medical services, travel cancelation insurance and tips (optional).

Detailed trip itinerary

Day 1

Arrive in Quito anytime today and private transfer to your hotel.

Day 2

Today you will enjoy a city tour of Quito. Quito displays the largest colonial town of the Americas and is the first Unesco’s World Heritage Site. The tour includes parks like El Ejido and Alameda, the monument of Simon Bolivar, Independence Square developed over the past five centuries and flanked by the Presidential and the Archbishop’s palaces and, the Metropolitan Cathedral. Walk along the so-called street of the seven crosses and pass by the Jesuit convent, El Sagrario church with a unique orthodox cross lay out dated back to the seventeenth century and the jewel of the crown, the Jesuit temple of La Compañía de Jesús. From there continue to the plaza of San Francisco, with temple and convent known to be the largest of the once Spanish colonies on the Americas. You will then be taken to the Middle of the World complex and the Equator Monument situated at 0°0’0” latitude, where you will have the chance to step one foot in the northern hemisphere and the other one in the southern hemisphere. The ethnographic museum located inside the monument is filled with clothing, artwork, and lots of information about Ecuador’s indigenous cultures. North of the complex is the Inti-ñan Museum that means “Museum of the Path of the Sun” in Kichua.

Day 3

Galapagos Legend Cruise Itinerary B

(Note: This itinerary is an example itinerary, it may vary depending on your travel dates, cruise length, ship cabin, availability and ship choice. Each ship has a slightly different itinerary – click here for details)

Galapagos (Baltra Airport). Departure from Quito or Guayaquil to Baltra (approx. two-and half-hour flight). Passengers will be picked up at the airport by our guides and taken to the pier to board the boat.

Mosquera Islet.

Day 4

Egas Port (Santiago Island). Wet landing. This visitor site located at the northwestern portion of Santiago Island, and of important geologic interest, features extensive lava flows believed to have been formed during the last quarter of the 19th century. Egas Port´s black volcanic sandy beach was visited by Darwin in 1835. The unique, truly striking layered terrain is home to a variety of animals including the bizarre yellow-crowned night heron and marine wildlife including lobster, starfish and marine iguanas that graze on algae beds alongside Sally lightfoot crabs. Often you will see colonies of endemic fur seals swimming in cool water volcanic rock pools.

Afternoon: Rábida Island. Wet landing. Dark-red sand covers these unique beaches with incredible landscape; Rábida Island is considered the epicenter of the Galapagos Islands due to the diversity of its volcanic geology. Nesting Brown Pelicans are found from July through September and nine species of the famous Darwin’s finches can be seen. We will also take a dinghy ride along cliffs to observe nesting seabirds, and snorkel off the coast, where marine life is particularly active. Today you will have the option to go snorkeling.

Day 5

Urbina Bay (Isabela Island). Wet landing on a volcanic “black” beach. Depending on the time of year we may find giant tortoises, large land iguanas and the unusual Flightless Cormorant at their nesting sites and Galapagos Hawks. After the walk inland, snorkeling time is allotted, giving you yet another chance to swim with sea turtles, sea lions, penguins and countless tropical fish. Urbina Bay features a wide variety of plant life that changes depending on the season. We can observe the beautiful colors of plants that attract different insects, birds and reptiles. We will explore the uplifted coral reef that resulted from 1954 volcanic activity, with a spectacular view of Alcedo Volcano.

Afternoon: Tagus Cove (Isabela Island). Dry landing on Galapagos’ largest island where we will learn about the eruption of the five volcanoes that form it. The trail leads to Darwin’s salt-water crater Lake and excellent views of lava fields and volcanic formations.

We will return by the same path for a dinghy ride along a shoreline full of marine wildlife, where we will admire a variety of seabirds, such as Blue-footed Booby, Brown Noddy, terns, Flightless Cormorant and depending on the season, a large number of Galapagos Penguins which are only 35 cm. tall; the only penguin species in the world to extend its range into the northern hemisphere along the equator. They are monogamous and lay their eggs in small cracks of lava, on the lower parts of the island near the shoreline not reached by the ocean waves.

The population of penguins on the islands is about 2,000 individuals, most of which live on this western portion of Isabela; others are scattered further south on the island. We will have an opportunity to snorkel in deep water. Graffiti believed to have been left by 19th-century pirates is a curious reminder of an intriguing past.

Day 6

Espinosa Point (Fernandina Island). Dry landing. Espinosa Point is the only spot that we visit on Fernandina, and from it we can see the island of Isabela across the Bolívar Channel, an area that boasts some of the highest diversity of endemic sea fauna in the Galapagos. The largest, most primitive-looking race of marine iguanas are found mingling with sea lions and Sally Lightfoot Crabs; a wonderful opportunity to encounter Flightless Cormorants at their nesting sites, Galapagos Penguins and the “King” of predators on the Islands, the Galapagos Hawk.

“Pa-hoe-hoe” and “AA” lava formations cover the majority of the terrain. Vegetation is thus scarce inland, but we encounter Brachy cereus cacti and extensive mangrove beds lining the shores.

Afternoon: Vicente Roca Point (Isabela Island). Great deep-water snorkeling at one of the richest marine havens on Earth (Bolívar Channel). We take a dinghy ride along the coast to observe a great diversity of sea and coastal birds such as; Nazca and blue-footed boobies, noddies, brown pelicans, penguins and flightless cormorants. The upwelling of cold water currents in this part of the Galapagos gives rise to an abundance of marine life.

Day 7

Highlands (Santa Cruz). Dry landing. A 45-minute bus ride will take us to the Santa Cruz highlands, located to the northwest of Puerto Ayora, where we will find a natural reserve with giant tortoises. These enormous and slow-moving reptiles are responsible for the island’s name and therefore approaching them in their humid and forested abode is always an inspiring adventure. They can weigh between 250 and 300 kg and can live up to 150-200 years.

Return to the Galapagos Legend, check out and transfer to the Baltra airport. Return flight to Quito.

Day 8

31 miles (50km) south of Quito in the province of Cotopaxi, the Park is located at 5897 meters above sea level, and rising majestically above the Andean mountains, the Cotopaxi volcano is Ecuador’s highest active volcano. The Park is surrounded by haciendas and trails that provide the opportunity for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and trekking. Inside the Park there is the Limpiopungo Lagoon where you might see Andean gulls, rabbits, llamas and horses.

Day 9 – 11