Cloud forest, Andes & Galapagos Escorted Group Trip 11-24 May 2019 A 14-day journey that takes you from the tropical cloud forests literally buzzing with humming birds, to Ecuador s Andean highlands with dramatic scenery and colorful markets, then onto Galapagos for an eight day cruise on a luxury catamaran launched in 2017 visiting some of the most spectacular visitor sites in this remarkable archipelago. May is our favorite month in Galapagos and the trip coincides with the time when the seabirds in Galapagos are courting most intensely with great displays. The trip will be led by Santiago Bejarano, one of the leading naturalists in the Galapagos who will also be joined by local expert guides throughout the journey offering unparalleled levels of service. Our own private yacht Tip Top II
Outline Itinerary 11 May Arrive Quito 12 May Quito Cloud forest 13 May Cloud forest 14 May Cloud forest Northern Andes 15 May Northern Andes Hacienda Cusin 16 May Northern Andes La Jimenita 17-24 May Cruise Tip Top II 11 May Arrive Quito You will be met at the airport in Quito and taken to our hotel Hotel Quito, the first hotel to be built in Quito, which has one of the best locations the city with beautiful views across Quito on one side and Tumbaco on the other. Our trip will start with a welcome dinner this evening. Overnight Hotel Quito 12 May Quito Cloud forest This morning you will begin your city tour of Quito, Ecuador s capital nestled high in the Andes. A UNESCO World Heritage Site thanks to its beautiful colonial architecture. Chance to see the changing of the guard at Ecuador s Presidential Palace, before a light lunch in the heart of the old town. After lunch you will head out of town towards the beautiful cloud forests of Mindo. The cloud forest here has some of the best and easiest birding in the world that will thrill both the novice and experienced birders alike! It also has the highest diversity of epiphytes (plants that grow on top of other plants) of anywhere in the world, along with an array of orchids and other stunning tropical flora, including a host of butterflies and moths (which we get to photograph during a visit to a butterfly farm, as well as around the lodge).
The lodge, your home for the next two nights sits in its own 420 hectare reserve of pre-montane and montane cloud forest which boasts some 9,000 species of plant with 322 bird species recorded in the valley near to our lodge, Septimo Paradiso. The altitude within the reserve drastically changes from 950 meters to 1650 meters above sea level. In addition the isolation of the region has created one of the most delicate, but rich and complex ecosystems known in the Mindo region. Making a difference Septimo Paradiso Cloud Forest Reserve is a private protected area, created in 2001, with the aim of saving and preserving the forest and the diverse ecosystems that are contained within it. The reserve is managed by the Green Mindo Foundation, which is in charge of its conservation and ongoing studies. They are actively reforesting pastures and are working with Rainforest Alliance in their Good Management Practices Programme. Overnight Septimo Paradiso 13 May Cloud forest We have the full day today to explore the area around the lodge and Mindo. The area around the lodge itself has easy trails and a hummingbird feeding area outside which is literally buzzing with hummingbirds. Overnight Septimo Paradiso
14 May Cloud forest Otavalo Hacienda Cusin This morning after breakfast, some more time to enjoy the hummingbirds and wildlife at the lodge, before we set off to drive back towards Quito and then head North to the Andean region of Ibarra, stopping for lunch at a charming local restaurant on the way. Your home for the next 2 nights will be the beautiful Hacienda Cusin, a restored, 17th-century estate at 8.500ft/2.600m in Ecuador s Northern Andes. The hacienda was converted into a charming country house hotel in 1990, preserving its history and ambience. The terracotta tile roofs, winding cobblestone pathways, courtyards and perennial gardens all add to the charm. There are 25 cosy rooms, suites and cottages, all with garden and snow-capped mountain views. The individually styled rooms have log-burning fireplaces, high-beamed ceilings and fine Andean Craft furnishings. There is also a bar, dining room and two acres of beautiful gardens. 15 May Otavalo and the Northern Andes The Otavaleños, who are the indigenous group from the area around Hacienda Cusin are skilled textile weavers, who gather at the market in the city of Otavalo to sell their products, as they have since pre-inca times. Although the most famous market takes place on a Saturday, a smaller market is held in the main square each day with hundreds of colourful beautiful weavings and other crafts which we will visit this morning.
We will have chance today to visit some of the craft villages nearby where people still use centuries old traditions and see some of the communities from this area. We will also have a chance to see some of the beautiful scenery from this province, whose name means Lake Province, with lunch today by one of the most famous of the lakes, Lago San Pablo. Overnight Hacienda Cusin. 16 May Hacienda Cusin Quitsato La Jimenita A leisurely morning, to explore on your own the beautiful grounds of the hacienda, then around noon we will set off back towards Quito, driving back an alternative route, through beautiful scenery, and stopping to visit Quitsato equator site, which sits exactly on the equator, and provides a fascinating insight into some of Ecuador s pre- Incan cultures.
From here we head onto La Jimenita, a charming country house hotel, which is located with great access to the new Quito airport which will be our home for the night. A pre-galapagos briefing tonight, before the next stage of the journey begins. Overnight La Jimenita 17 May Flight to Galapagos and the start of the cruise. The Tip Top II is one of the newest catamarans in Galapagos, with great service and a very friendly crew, accommodating 16 passengers in 10 double cabins each with private shower and toilet. There is a bar, dining room, library, sundeck and diving platform. Just some of the luxuries you'll enjoy on the yacht's three decks are air conditioning, a TV, a VCR, a full sound system, an inviting dining room, a fully equipped bar, a spacious sundeck, and snorkelling equipment. This is a great itinerary visiting central and southern part of the archipelago, with a superb mix of Galapagos wildlife and excellent snorkelling. Over the next glorious 8 days you will visit the following islands and visitor sites:
Baltra - Arrival at the airport in Galapagos Upon arrival to Baltra, once we have passed through the migration control and taken to the island of Santa Cruz, to visit the highlands of Santa Cruz. We will have lunch up in the highlands in a private ranch which has wild giant tortoises roaming free which will give us our first chance to see these magnificent giants in the wild.
Santa Cruz Highlands The highlands of Santa Cruz are home to fascinating geological features, like lava tubes and the twin sinkhole craters of Los Gemelos, which are home to some 300 different fern species as well as a forest of Scalesias, a relative of sunflowers. This is an excellent area to look for some elusive endemics like the Woodpecker Finch (one of only a few bird species in the world to use tools), Small Tree Finch, Vegetarian Finch and Galapagos Rail. The highlands of Santa Cruz are one of the best places to see Giant Tortoises in the wild. Activities: Hike (0.9 mi / 1 ½ km) Difficulty: Easy /moderate Type of Landing: Highlights & Animals: Pit craters, Scalesia Forest, Darwin finches, Warblers, Flycatchers. From here will board our yacht, the Tip Top II, our home for the next 7 nights. 18 May Santa Fe A volcanic uplift, this island offers a great chance to see the Land Iguanas (Conolophus pallidus) endemic to Santa Fe Island. Some of these can be 5 feet long and have a beautiful golden-yellow colour that shows off the scales to advantage. In the same area you ll also see a forest of Giant Prickly Pear Cactus. After your visit swimming and snorkelling will often follow. Activities: Hiking Difficulty: Moderate Type of Landing: Dry landing Highlights: Land Iguanas, giant endemic cacti (Opuntia)
South Plaza This is the best island for observing Land Iguanas, along with Cactus Finches, Tropicbirds and Sea Lions. One of your first stops will be through a small forest of Prickly Pear (Opuntia) Cactus. The walk along the sea cliffs is a wonderful experience, with Galapagos Shearwaters and Red-billed Tropicbirds gliding by. Towards the end of the walk is a Bachelor Sea Lion colony, with a battle-scared collection of old bulls in various states of recuperation or total retirement! Activities: Hike (0.8 mi / 1.2 km) Difficulty: Moderate Type of Landing: Dry landing Highlights & Animals: Land iguanas, sea lion colony, Galapagos shearwaters, Swallow-tailed Gulls, Nazca Boobies, amazing landscape with cliffs 19 May Chinese Hat or Sombrero Chino Located just off the southeast tip of James Island, this island owes its name to its shape. A truly beautiful island, surrounded by crystal clear waters, this is a great location for sea lions. Perhaps more than any other site, this islet gives you a sense of Galapagos volcanic origins as the beautiful white beach gives way to an almost primeval landscape of volcanic rubble. Activities: Hiking (0.3 mi. / 0.4km) Snorkelling & Kayaking. Difficulty: Easy/Moderate Type of Landing: Wet landing Highlights & Animals: Walk along the shore visiting a small colony of Galapagos Sea Lions. Penguins. Snorkel: Penguins, Reef sharks, Parrotfish, Puffers.
Rabida A red sandy beach with Sea lions and nesting Brown Pelicans, which sometimes afford a rare glimpse of chick feeding. There is a short walk inland which offers great views of the beach and lagoon. Years ago Flamingos where regularly seen at the salty lagoon, but nowadays this is a rare sight. Geologically, Rabida is said to have the most diversified volcanic rocks of all the islands. It also provides a great opportunity to snorkel with Sea lions and has a great diversity of near-shore and pelagic fish. Activities: Wet landing. Hiking (0.5 mi / 0.8 km) Kayaking and Snorkelling Difficulty: Easy Type of Landing: Wet landing Highlights & Animals: Red sand beach, coastal lagoon, Galapagos Sea Lions, Seasonal colony of Brown Pelicans, Galapagos Hawk. Snorkel: Sea lions, Butterflyfish, Parrotfish, Eels. 20 May Santa Cruz - Black Turtle Cove (Caleta Tortuga Negra) A beautiful mangrove lagoon on the north shore of Santa Cruz Island. The yacht anchors just outside the cove and you will enter on a dinghy, paddling through the calm waters of the lagoon, which is a resting site for Green Sea Turtles. A wonderfully quiet journey, through a beautiful and unique habitat. With good luck as well as Marine Turtles you will see different types of sharks and schools of Golden and Eagle Rays swimming just below the surface, whilst Yellow Warblers sing from above. Activities: Boat tour in a lagoon, wildlife observation. Difficulty: Easy Type of Landing: No landing Highlights & Animals: Lagoon surrounded by mangroves. Sharks, rays, sea turtles, pelicans and Blue-footed Boobies
Santa Cruz Cerro Dragon or Dragon Hill After a dry landing, the walk will take you along the edge of a salt water lagoon behind the beach where you can often see flamingos, Pintail Ducks, stilts and other bird species. A short walk inland, offers a great view of the bay and a nesting site for Land Iguanas, many of which were repatriated back to Cerro Dragon by the Charles Darwin Research Station, after their near-extinction due to feral dogs and cats. Activities: Hiking (1 mi./ 1.6km) Snorkelling Difficulty: Moderate Type of Landing: Dry landing Highlights & Animals: Coastal lagoon with variety of water birds: Herons, Stilts, Pintail Ducks, Oystercatchers, Flamingos. Giant Cactus, Land Iguanas, Darwin Finches, Mockingbirds. Snorkel: Parrotfish, Puffers, Snappers, Sea Turtles.
21 May Floreana - Post Office Bay. You will land on a beach and head to a spot where 18th century whalers placed a wooden barrel for use as an unofficial mail box. The custom continues to this day with Galapagos visitors. So, don t forget your postcards, and don t be surprised if the post card arrives to its destination before you even get home! Possible Activities: Short hike (less than 0.6 mi / 1km) & snorkelling Difficulty: Easy Type of Landing: Wet landing Highlights: Barrel Post Office, nice sandy beach Floreana Devil s Crown One of the highlights of this area is snorkelling at Devil s Crown, a partially submerged crater teeming with Parrotfish, Wrasse, Surgeonfish, and Damselfish among many other varieties of tropical fish. Activities: Snorkel Difficulty: Moderate. Strong current Type of Landing: No landing Highlights and Animals: One of the best snorkelling sites in the islands, but a strong current can be a challenge for very inexperienced divers. Sea lions, reef sharks, sea turtles, hammerhead sharks, rays, many fish.
Cormorant Point At Punta Cormorant you will walk on an olivine beach (a mineral known for its olivegreen quality, that is found in meteorites, the moon and mars as well as on earth), visit a large lagoon where Greater Flamingos sometimes nest, and walk over to Flour Beach, a beautiful white sandy beach to look for Green Sea Turtle nests. Activities: Snorkelling & panga ride & hiking (0.7 mi/1.2km) Difficulty: Easy Type of landing: Wet landing Highlights and Animals: An easy walk along a coastal lagoon where flamingos are often found, along with stilts and ducks. White sand beach. 22 May Española (Hood) This island is one of the highlights of any visit to Galapagos. Española is the southernmost island in the Galapagos, and is also the oldest. Numerous Sea Lions are seen here, plus hundreds of Marine Iguanas basking on the rocks. Española s Marine Iguanas are unlike other Galapagos Marine Iguanas thanks to their bright colouring, and the Lava Lizards are distinctive too. Española is home to thousands of nesting seabirds all year, including Blue-footed Boobies, Nazca Boobies and Frigatebirds. Between late March and early December, the Waved Albatross, perhaps the most spectacular of Galapagos birds, returns to Española by the thousands to perform their amazing mating dance and produce the next generation. Almost the entire population breeds on this island during this time, and they spend the rest of the year at sea.
Punta Suárez Regarding the amount of wildlife, this one of the best trails in the whole islands. Despite the difficult terrain, the walk is an absolute marvel, as from the beginning to the end you will see large quantities of Sea Lions, Marine Iguanas, Blue-footed and Nazca boobies, gulls, Galapagos Hawks and during most of the year, Waved Albatross. There are spectacular views of flying birds from the cliffs. Activities: Hike (1.2 mi / 2 km) Difficulty: Difficult Type of Landing: Dry Landing Highlights & Animals: Hood Mockingbird, Nazca Boobies, Waved Albatross, Redbilled Tropicbirds, lava lizards, Galapagos Hawk, Blue-footed Boobies, blow hole, amazing landscape Gardner Bay This beautiful bay is nested between Gardner islet and the beautiful coral sand beach in Española. You will visit a spectacular white sand beach, home to one of the largest Sea Lion colonies in the islands, where you can also see endemic Española Mockingbirds and with some luck, Galapagos Hawks. Activities: Snorkelling, panga ride, kayaking, short hike (0.6 mi /1km) Difficulty: Easy Type of Landing: Wet landing Highlights & Animals: White sandy beach, sea lions, mockingbirds. Snorkelling: colourful fish, sea lion nursery
23 May San Cristobal Galapaguera Cerro Colorado Located in the south east of San Cristobal, this area is home to giant tortoise corral, where tortoises are kept in near-natural conditions. The site has been developed to help restore the Giant Tortoise population of the island (which was badly impacted by whalers in past centuries) and provides a great chance to see these magnificent giants up close in a natural habitat with paths covering an area of 900 meters. You will also have great chances of seeing the San Cristobal Mockingbird, Woodpecker Finch and Large and Small Tree Finches here. It is also one of the few places that you can see the delicate Calandrinia galapagosa, a critically endangered plant endemic to San Cristobal. Activities: Short hike (less than 0.6 mi / 1 km). Difficulty: Easy Type of Landing: No landing Highlights: Dry vegetation of lowlands. Giant Tortoises, San Cristobal Mockingbird, Darwin Finches San Cristobal Puerto Baquerizo and the Interpretation Centre Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is home to a fantastic interpretation centre, which provides an excellent overview to the islands human history and the conservation work being done to protect it. Activities: Easy hike (0.2 mi / 0.3 km) Difficulty: Easy Type of Landing: Dry landing Highlights & Animals: Interesting information centre focused on the human history of the islands. Around the centre, finches, mockingbirds and endemic plants
San Cristobal - Leon Dormido Sometimes called Kicker Rock, Leon Dormido is a huge rock formation that is the remains of an ash cone eroded by the sea, with two vertical rocks rising over 150 meters from the ocean and a favourite spot for Tropicbirds along with Great and Magnificent Frigatebirds. You will visit this site by boat and it is a great spot for snorkelling. Activities: Snorkelling & panga Ride Difficulty: Easy Type of Landing: No landing Highlights: Deep water snorkelling: Sharks, tropical fish, turtles, manta rays (occ.), hammerhead shark, spectacular rock formations, sea birds: Blue-footed Boobies, Nazca Boobies & frigatebirds. Second best place to snorkel. San Cristobal Cerro Brujo The striking, eroded tuff cone was one of the first sites visited by Charles Darwin, it is has a beautiful white coral sand beach where you can take a leisurely walk (depending on time of year) visited by Brown Pelicans, Blue-footed Boobies, and Swallow-tail Gulls as well as Marine Iguanas and Sea Lions. The beauty of this dramatic area can also be explored by panga or small dinghy where you can explore a tunnel that goes all the way through the eroded rock formation. Activities: Hike, panga ride, snorkelling & kayaking Difficulty: Easy walk along the beach Type of Landing: Wet landing Highlights & Animals: Beautiful rock formations, sea lions, shore birds, land birds: finches and mockingbirds, snorkelling: nice tropical fish, anemones, sponge coral
24 May North Seymour A great variety of Galapagos wildlife is provided in the loop trail on this small island. The highlight of your visit here will be the largest colony of Magnificent and Great Frigatebirds in the Galapagos as well as a colony of Blue-footed Boobies. In addition, there are Sea lions, Marine Iguanas, Lava Lizards, Swallow-tailed Gulls, and a few secretive, but very large Land Iguanas. Activities: Hiking (1.2 mi / 2 km), Snorkelling & dinghy ride Difficulty: Moderate/difficult Type of Landing: Dry landing Highlights & Animals: Land & Marine Iguanas, Frigatebirds, Blue-footed Boobies, Sea lions, sea birds. Snorkelling: Rays, Reef Shark, fish, Garden Eels After this final visit, you will be transferred to Baltra for your flight back to the mainland, or continue your adventure in Galapagos with an extension staying on one of the inhabited islands. Ends
Price per person 4797 Includes: Fully escorted tour with services of tour leader Santiago Bejarano from 11-24 May, Galapagos National Park Guide during the cruise and bilingual specialist local guide from 11-16 May, all airport transfers, all transport in mainland Ecuador, all meals from dinner on 11 May until Breakfast on 24 May, flight Quito Baltra Guayaquil, unlimited tea, coffee and water during the cruise, 8 days on board the Tip Top II, all accommodation as detailed on a double basis (Single rooms are available also on request), US$20 Galapagos Migration Card, snorkel mask, tube and fins on yacht. Does not include: international flights, US$100 Galapagos National Park entrance fee, alcoholic drinks and beverages and bottled soft drinks, services not detailed, tips, personal expenses, wetsuit hire (approx. $40 for the week). Please note: Itineraries are unlikely to change significantly but are subject to change. Weather, wildlife breeding, instructions from the Galapagos National Park, specific abilities and interests of passengers as well as operational matters may cause your guide or captain to change the times or nature of your visits. Your guide will always endeavor to have the best itinerary for you within these constraints. "All the flights and flight-inclusive holidays in this document are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. When you pay you will be supplied with an ATOL Certificate. Please ask for it and check to ensure that everything you booked (flights, hotels and other services) is listed on it. Please see our booking conditions for further information or for more information about financial protection and the ATOL Certificate go to: www.atol.org.uk/atolcertificate"