Ecuador & Galápagos Islands Cruise

After your flight, arrive late this evening in Quito and settle into your hotel.

Today, embark on a guided sightseeing tour of Quito before joining your fellow travelers at a welcome lunch.

• Enjoy a walking tour of the Old Town, passing by the Legislative Palace, Independence Square, and the Metropolitan Cathedral of Quito

• Enter La Compañía, the city’s Baroque church, to view its gold leaf interior

• Step inside the 16th-century Monastery of San Francisco

• Drive up Cerro Panecillo hill for views of the city and surrounding volcanoes

Enjoy a free day in Quito or add an excursion.

This morning, fly to the small island of Baltra to board your cruise.

• Enjoy an included lunch aboard the ship

• Make a wet landing on Mosquera Islet, which is located between North Seymour and Baltra Island and is one of the smallest islands in the Galápagos

• Walk along the island’s sandy, barren lava rock covered terrain

• Relax on the beach or snorkel in the water

Sit down for an included dinner this evening.

After a wet landing, you’ll enjoy the southeastern portion of Santiago Island before continuing to Rabida Island.

• Spend the morning exploring the extensive lava flows and swimming or snorkeling in volcanic rock pools

• Look for yellow-crowned night herons, starfish, marine iguanas, and fur seals

• Enjoy an included lunch aboard the ship

• Transfer to Rabida Island, where the volcanic geology creates red sand beaches

• Take a dinghy ride along the cliffs to snorkel and observe nesting seabirds

Sit down for an included dinner this evening.

After a wet landing, begin your exploration of Isabela Island, the largest in the Galápagos archipelago.

• Snorkel with the sea turtles that swim just off the shore of Urbina Bay

• See the giant tortoises that live on the slopes of the nearby Alcedo Volcano

• Enjoy an included lunch aboard the ship

• Tour Tagus Cove and see the blue-footed boobies that nest there

• Go on a dinghy ride and enjoy the option of deep sea snorkeling

Sit down for an included dinner this evening.

Today’s dry landing is at Espinosa Point, formed by lava flows over thousands of years.

• View the area’s marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs, and the fearless Galápagos hawk

• Enjoy an included lunch aboard the ship

• Take a dinghy ride to Vicente Roca Point and the Bolivar Channel, where you can snorkel with sea lions, sea turtles, and penguins

• View dolphins and whales that are attracted to the Bolivar Channel by the cold waters of the Cromwell Current (seasonal, June to September)

Sit down for an included dinner this evening.

Disembark the ship to further explore Santa Cruz Island in the Galápagos before making your way to Otavalo, a market town in the Andes Mountains.

• Journey to the Santa Cruz highlands, northwest of Puerto Ayora, to visit a giant tortoise nature reserve

• Walk through the humid forest landscape to see these slow-moving reptiles in action

• Return to Baltra and board your flight back to Quito on the mainland

Celebrate your trip at a farewell dinner this evening.

Visit the Otavalo market to browse the stalls, shop for indigenous crafts, and attend a local weaving demonstration. Then, stop to view the Quisito Sundial, a monument located on the equator, where you’ll view a demonstration of equatorial effects.

Afterward, relax in a dayroom before boarding your flight home late tonight or early tomorrow morning.

Please note: If you’re traveling on the tour extension to Peru, you’ll fly to Lima this evening and spend the night there.

Arrive home.

Please note: Due to varying flight schedules, some travelers may depart on the morning of day 10, arriving home later that evening.