Galapagos Cruises - Evolution Yacht - Day By Day Itinerary
Sample Galapagos cruise itinerary
Day 1
Baltra/North Seymour island
You’ll be met on arrival at Baltra airport and have a short transfer to the boat. Baltra is a relatively barren island with cactus, palo santo trees, and grasses and small vines. During World War II, Baltra was occupied by the US Army, which constructed the first landing strip for jet aircraft. Your first visitor site South Plazas is a small island with steep-cliffed shorelines and fascinating animal life. Observe sea lions, land iguanas, and tropical birds against a background of vegetation that changes color with the seasons.
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Day 2
Darwin Bay - El Barranco (Genovesa)
Genovesa is in the northeast corner of the Galapagos, just a bit north of the equator. Darwin Bay is the caldera of an extinct volcano. You’ll have a wet landing on a coral beach. There are many tidal pools and you may see yellow-crowned night herons, lava gulls, and nesting red-footed boobies.
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Day 3
Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz) - Santa Fe
Santa Cruz is the home of the Darwin Research Station at Puerto Ayora, the archipelago’s largest human settlement. The nearby highlands offer the chance to visit a lush humid zone of miconia bushes, scalesia trees, and inactivie volcanic cones covered with exhuberant growth all year round. This island has more species of endemic flora than any other in the Galapagos. On Santa Fe you’ll find sea lions enjoying themselves frolicking on the beach, land iguanas and lava lizards silently keep them company. The noble palo santo trees and dramatic stands of opuntia cactia are also an attraction.
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Day 4
Punta Suarez (Española Island) - Punta Cormorant(Floreana Island)
A true highlight, nearly all of the species found on Española are visible at Punta Suerez – mockingbirds, the less common red and green marine iguanas, both blue-footed and masked boobies and albatross colonies. A spectacular hike leads to the dramatic blowhole. On Floreana at Punta Cormorant you’ll find flamingoes nest on mud piles on this island in the nearby lagoons showing off their exquisite pink plumage.
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Day 5
Punta Moreno - Elizabeth Bay (Isabela)
Isabela is the largest island in the Galapagos and also contains the highest peak, Wolf Volcano, rising 5600 feet abouve sea level. Flamingos feed in an oasis among barren lava fields and flightless cormorants nest on the rocky shores of Punta Moreno. At Elizabeth Bay you’ll enjoy a dinghy ride through mangrove lagoons and small islets where you can spot turtles, penguins, flightless cormorants, and more!
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Day 6
Urbina Bay (Isabela ) - Punta Espinosa (Ferandina)
Urbina Bay is an easy wet landing on a gentle sloping beach. This area is very interesting in that it is a perfect example of the geological activity of the islands. In 1954 over 3 miles (5 kilometers) of the marine reef at the edge of the shore were uplifted by 13 feet (4 meters).
Fernandina is the youngest and westernmost island in the Galapagos. Punta Espinosa is a narrow stretch of land where some of the most unique Galapagos species can be seen. While the panga driver skillfully eludes the reef to reach the landing site near a small mangrove forest, penguins throw themselves off the rocks into the water. Sally Lightfoot crabs disperse on the lava near the shore and herons and sandpipers explore the mangrove roots. Marine iguanas conglomerate in larger groups than in any other island. They are everywhere: basking in the sand, swimming near the shore, grazing on the exposed seaweed in the lava and blocking the way at the landing dock. This is one of the few places where there is the opportunity, of watching the iguanas feed underwater.
Following the trail inland, two different types of lava flows can be seen and compared: an aa lava flow and a pahoehoe lava flow. At the tip of one of the small peninsulas, flightless cormorants are found. These birds are flightless because on the islands they had no predators and it was easier to find food in the ocean than on land. They progressively evolved for swimming rather than for flight. To see these fantastic birds, with their long, serpent-like necks arched forward, their wet, fur-like plumage and their bright turquoise eyes is to witness evolution.
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Day 7
Puerto Egas (Santiago ) - Bartholomew
Due to the cool Humboldt current, a colony of fur seals have made their home on the black lava rocks on the western side of James Bay. At a nearby lagoon you can almost always depend upon seeing a flock of feeding flamingoes. On Bartolomé, jutting out of Sullivan Bay, Pinnacle Rock seems to peer over visitors as they pass by. The view of the surrounding islands is spectacular from the top of the crater and there is also a beach where you may snorkel with penguins.
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Day 8
Black Turtle Cove (Santa Cruz) - Baltra
At Black Turtle Cove, the panga will take you into a tidal lagoon to see three kinds of mangrove plants, red, white and black. White-tipped sharks, spotted rays, mustard rays and Pacific marine turtles frequent the waters here.
Return to Baltra today, where you will be transferred back to the airport for your flight back to the mainland.
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