Northern & Central Galapagos Islands Cruise - ARCHIPEL I M/C

Arrival at Seymour airport on Baltra island. 

Upon arrival at Seymour airport, you will go through an airport inspection to make sure that no foreign plants or animals are introduced to the islands. 

On exiting the airport, you are required to pay an entrance fee to the National Park (US$ 100 for adults, US$ 50 for children under 12) as well as the Ingala Transit Control Card ($US 20)

Funds from the entry tax for tourists are used to finance the conservation of biodiversity of flora and fauna, terrestrial and marine, and benefits the local community by improving basic services, education projects, sports, health, environmental sanitation, environmental services and services directly related to tourists. 

Meet and greet with your naturalist guide who will escort you on a short bus ride to the harbor. 

Transfer on board and cabin allocation. 

Welcome drink and lunch on board. 

Afternoon visit of North Seymour island, a popular island teeming with birdlife. 

An easy circular path takes you through the archipelago's most extensive colonies of blue-footed boobies and frigate birds. 

At the beginning of the frigate birds mating season, the male adults inflate their dazzling red throat sacs to impressive football-sized balloons. 

This is one of the rare spots where both magnificent and great frigate birds breed side by side. 

Return on board Archipel I. 

Dinner and night onboard. 

Sail north to Genovesa Island overnight. 

Before landing, take a dinghy-ride along the eastern arm of the caldera with its overwhelming 80-foot tall (25 metres) walls rising out of the ocean. 

Spot the occasional Galapagos fur seal resting or a seabird nesting on one of the ledges at the base of the wall. 

Hike up the steep stairs from the landing dock to a bush of Palo Santo shrubs. Red-footed boobies use these scarce nesting places so that they do not have to nest on the rocky ground. 

Upon arriving at the edge of the rim, the bushes open onto panoramic views swept by strong sea breezes and the amazing skillful flying of countless seabirds. 

Following the exposed rim, you will first pass the Nazca boobies and finally reach the extensive storm petrel nesting places, where the well-camouflaged short-eared owls also nest. 

Lunch onboard. 

Inside the submerged caldera of Genovesa island lies the 1-mile wide and 200-foot deep Great Darwin Bay. 

This small island will surprise you repeatedly, walking along a coral sand beach, crossing barren lava formations and creeks, passing tidal pools and shrubs clinging to the top of the cliffs. 

With this peaceful surrounding, every single species has occupied its own ecological niche (or habitat) without disturbing others. 

Return on board Archipel I. 

Dinner and night onboard. 

Sail south to Bartolomé Island overnight. 

After breakfast, hop off on the amazing volcanic Bartolomé Island. 

Bartolomé is among the most newly-formed islands, and on a geological scale it was just recently born out of fire. 

Although at first sight lifeless, Bartolomé offers some of the wildest landscapes and best panoramas of the entire archipelago. 

To enjoy the postcard view of the idyllic 'Pinnacle Bay' you will hike up the 375-foot (115 metres) hill up the stairs that lead to the viewpoint at the top of the island. 

Enter a dramatic world of extinct, but nevertheless threatening, spatter cones, craters, and lightweight lava droplets that have been spewed out by fiery fountains. 

The Summit Trail is also ideal to see how scanty pioneer vegetation such as lava cactuses struggle to take root in the bare virgin lava fields. 

Lunch onboard. 

Sail to Sullivan Bay located on Santiago Island. 

Set foot on the lava stream covering Sullivan Bay with its moonlike landscapes. 

While the desolate, stretched-out fields seem mostly lifeless, the site is highly popular among photographers. 

On the lava flow, the rare pioneer vegetation that manages to take root are the lava cactus and carpetweed. 

During the nesting season, Pacific green turtles come to lay and bury their eggs on the tiny white sand beach, where you might also encounter crabs, the occasional strayed blue heron or oystercatcher.  

Keep an eye out for lava lizards, locusts or the Galapagos racer, a small endemic snake species. 

Return on board Archipel I. 

Dinner and night onboard.

 Sail southeast to Santa Cruz Island overnight. 

After breakfast, disembark at Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island to visit Charles Darwin Station. 

Learn about the protection and conservation projects on the islands. 

The main attractions are the National Park information center, the Van Staelen Exhibition Hall, the Breeding and Rearing Centre for young tortoises and adult Galapagos tortoises in captivity. 

Transfer out to Seymour Airport. 

Assisted by your naturalist guide and crewmembers, the dinghy will bring you and your luggage to Baltra, where you will take the shuttle back to the airport.