Ecuador Highlights: Quito, Santa Cruz & Isabela Island

Itinerary

• Day 1: Arrival in Quito

  As you land in Quito, a private transfer to your hotel will wait for you. Hotel check-in and take the rest of the day at leisure.

  • Quito

• Day 2: Quito, Historic Center City Tour & Intiñan Museum

  Quito, the capital of Ecuador just 24 km from the equator, is the closest capital to the equator in the world. Its historic center is one of the largest, least-altered, and best-preserved in the Americas and listed in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1978, with about 130 monumental buildings hosting a variety of pictorial art and sculpture. Take a guided tour around the historic center of Quito in the morning. Listen to your tour guide explain the features of these buildings around the center, visit the Church of La Compañía, and then drive up to the top of the Panecillo for 360-degree perspective views of the city.

  After lunch, go on to visit the Intiñan Museum located just outside of Quito. Right next to the Monument to the Equator, Intiñan has its own marker that is closer to the right spot. Here, you can participate in some interesting experiments, for example, try to balance an egg on the head of a nail, witness the effects of the Coriolis force on earth through the experiment of water go down a drain, and walk the equatorial line with your eyes closed.

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  • Quito

• Day 3: Quito - Santa Cruz Island (Galapagos)

  Fly into Baltra Island and then take a ferry ride to Santa Cruz Island. Santa Cruz, the main tourism hub for all of Galapagos, is the best starting of your Galapagos adventure. Passing through the Twin Craters with breathtaking landscape, you will arrive at the first spot - Lava Tunnels. Get a unique experience inside these underground channels and you may have the opportunity to glimpse barn owls and finches here.

  Enjoy lunch on a local farm and then head to El Chato to observe the endemic giant tortoises of Santa Cruz in their natural habitat. Get close to these giants as much as possible and learn more detailed information from your knowledgeable guide. Finish today with a visit to Charles Darwin Research Station, where you can see several exhibits about shells from different tortoise species and a display concerning introduced species and the harm they can do.

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  • Santa Cruz Island (Galapagos)

• Day 4: Santa Cruz, Half-day Snorkeling & Relax

  Today you will begin with an excursion by boat, visiting many places and having the chance to snorkel with amazing Galapagos sea wildlife. La Loberia, so named for its sea lions colony, is a wonderful place for seeing colorful fish and, of course, playful sea lions. Channel of Love, the next stop site, is a viewpoint ideal for a picture with its turquoise waters and its geological formations. Followed by is Dogs Beach (Playa de los Perros), where is occupied by colorful Galapagos Crab. After seeing Galapagos sharks sleeping at Sharks Channel, the boat trip will end at Las Grietas, one of the most beautiful places on Santa Cruz Island.

  Return to the town for lunch and then take a 45-minute scenic walk to Tortuga Bay Beach, one of the largest white sand beaches in the Galapagos. Swim, snorkel, kayak or just hang out, it is all up to you.

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  • Santa Cruz Island (Galapagos)

• Day 5: Santa Cruz, Coffee Natural Farm & Garrapatero Beach

  Take the morning to visit the local organic coffee production farm, Lava Java or Schullo. Follow the host through the woods full of plants including coffee trees, learn about the picking, drying, and roasting process of the coffee beans, and finally, you can sit on a chair overlooking the sea while enjoying a cup of fresh and fragrant coffee.

  After lunch, you will be escorted to the entrance of Garrapatero Beach and then take 10 or 15 minutes walking to the beach on the east coast of Santa Cruz. The beach with a 3 km's stretch of gorgeous golden sand is a top spot to snorkel, swim, or just enjoy the sunny. One of the unique charms of this place is sharing the beach with wildlife such as playful sea lions, colorful sally lightfoot crabs, dragon-like marine iguanas, and funny blue-footed boobies.

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  • Santa Cruz Island (Galapagos)

• Day 6: Santa Cruz - Isabela, Arnaldo Tupiza Breeding Center

  After breakfast at the hotel, take a local public speedboat to Isabela Island. Once you arrive, check into your hotel for a short break.

  After that, walk along the path passing through the wetlands, where Poza Flamingos can be found, to visit Arnaldo Tupiza Breeding Center. In the center, complete with a set of beautiful gardens featuring native plants, there are five species of giant tortoises that are fed including baby ones. The afternoon will be spent on the Tintoreras Islet, where hiking and snorkeling will be arranged.

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  • Isabela Island (Galapagos)

• Day 7: Hiking to Sierra Negra Volcano, Isabela - Santa Cruz

  One of the most popular things to do in Isabela is hiking to Sierra Negra, which is a large, active shield volcano and the only one in the Galapagos that allows visitors to hike. Wake up early and check your hiking equipment, then let's go on an exciting hiking tour to Sierra Negra. During the hiking from the terrain covered with lush and green to the top of the volcano, you can not only learn the stories about the volcano and its surrounding flora and fauna but also enjoy the spectacular landscape.

  Return to hotel for lunch and then board a speedboat back to Santa Cruz.

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  • Santa Cruz Island (Galapagos)

• Day 8: Santa Cruz, Full-day Uninhabited Island Adventure

  The Galapagos consists of 18 main islands, 3 smaller islands, and more than 100 rocks and islets. Most of them are uninhabited and home to various wildlife. Why not spend a whole day exploring one of these islands, such as the North Seymour near Baltra Island?

  With an area of 1.9 square kilometers, the North Seymour is a small island formed by the uplift of a submarine lava formation and covered with low, bushy vegetation. Here, you may see male boobies attract females by flaunting their blue feet and dancing, huge frigate birds flying over the water waiting for hunting opportunities, and iguanas sunbathing on the volcanic rock. Of course, regular activities like snorkeling, hiking, and swimming are also included.

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  • Santa Cruz Island (Galapagos)

• Day 9: Santa Cruz - Quito

  Enjoy time at leisure until being transferred to the airport for your flight back to Quito.

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  • Quito

• Day 10: Quito, Departure

  A private transfer will take you to the airport according to your flight schedule. Say goodbye to Ecuador and board your international flight back home.

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