The Galápagos Islands are one of the few places on Earth where wildlife has never learned to fear humans. A place where marine iguanas bask inches from your feet, sea lions doze on sun-warmed rocks, and the blue-footed booby performs its courtship shuffle as if you aren't there at all. These islands are a living laboratory of evolution, where isolation shaped creatures found nowhere else and where the surrounding seas pulse with a richness that rivals anything on the planet.

We've timed this journey for one of the Galapagos’ most remarkable natural spectacles: peak waved albatross courtship season on Española Island. The largest seabird in the Galápagos, waved albatrosses return to Española each year to perform an elaborate, almost comedic dance of clacking bills, sky-pointing, and synchronized struts. Seeing it in person, you'll understand why this species has captured the imagination of naturalists for generations.

Birds are only part of the story. Throughout the cruise, On the mainland, the cloud forest holds its own surprises — monkeys, frogs, orchids, and insects of improbable beauty round out a journey defined as much by its breadth as its highlights.

Beyond Española, our five-day cruise will carry us to iconic islands where snorkeling and land-based excursion reveal the region’s abundant natural wonders. We’ll search for giant tortoises, the island’s namesake, marine iguanas, sea turtles, and more.

After a night in Quito after our cruise, we continue to Tandapaya Bird Lodge, where the cloud forest closes in and the scale shifts dramatically. Here, the measure of a morning isn't in wingspans but wingbeats: dozens of hummingbirds competing at feeders in a blur of iridescent color, each one a tiny flying jewel.

With time at multiple mainland hotspots, we’ll search for an array of surprises from bats to butterflies, revealing the extraordinary diversity that makes Ecuador one of the world's great wildlife destinations.

From the waved albatross riding ocean thermals above Española to the tiny hummingbird hovering at a Tandapaya flower, this journey showcases Ecuador, a country that packs more biodiversity per square mile than almost anywhere on Earth.

Join Reefs to Rockies for this small-group expedition to Ecuador where a wealth of unforgettable wildlife encounters awaits.

Day 1 | Arrival in Quito

Welcome to Ecuador! Upon arrival at Quito's Mariscal Sucre International Airport, you'll be met and transferred to your hotel, conveniently located just minutes from the terminal. The rest of the day is yours to settle in, rest, and prepare for the journey ahead. The Galápagos awaits in the morning.

Accommodations: Wyndham Airport or similar

Meals: Dinner

Day 2 | Flight to the Galápagos & Embarkation

This morning, you transfer to the airport for our flight out to the Galapagos. Touching down on San Cristóbal Island, you'll feel the shift immediately. The air is different here, and so is the wildlife's relationship with the humans who move through it. Your Galapagos-certified naturalist guide will meet us at the airport and accompany us to the dock to board the Anahi, a 16-passenger motorized catamaran yacht and our home for the next five days. After settling into your cabin and enjoying lunch on board, the afternoon brings our first exploration ashore: the Interpretation Center and Cerro Tijeretas, where the natural and human history of the Galápagos comes into focus against a backdrop of sweeping coastal views. Magnificent frigatebirds soar overhead, and sea lions lounge with characteristic indifference along the shore.

Accommodations: M/C Anahi

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 3 | Española Island: Punta Suarez & Gardner Bay

Today we reach one of the crown jewels of the archipelago. Española is the oldest of the Galápagos Islands and, in June, one of the most extraordinary places on Earth — home to the world's only nesting colony of waved albatrosses. At Punta Suarez, these magnificent birds are everywhere: billing and bowing, sky-pointing and clacking in their elaborate courtship rituals, utterly unbothered by your presence. Nazca boobies, blue-footed boobies, and marine iguanas round out a morning that feels almost surreal in its abundance. In the afternoon, we move to Gardner Bay, a sweeping arc of white sand where sea lions drowse along the waterline and snorkeling reveals a different kind of richness just below the surface.

Accommodations: M/C Anahi

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 4 | Floreana Island: Punta Cormorant, Devil's Crown & Post Office Bay

Floreana is an island of contrasts — geological, ecological, and historical. The morning begins at Punta Cormorant, where the beach itself tells two stories: one shore shimmers with green olivine crystals, the other is powdery white flour-sand, and between them a brackish lagoon sometimes holds flamingos picking their way through the shallows. Just offshore, Devil's Crown lives up to its dramatic name. This eroded volcanic cone is one of the archipelago's premier snorkeling sites, its submerged rim teeming with colorful reef fish, sea turtles, and the occasional hammerhead. In the afternoon, we visit Post Office Bay, where whalers began a barrel mail tradition in the 18th century that continues today, before continuing to Asilo de la Paz, a site that peels back a stranger, darker chapter of the Galápagos' human history.

Accommodations: M/C Anahi

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 5 | Santa Cruz, Charles Darwin Station & Return to the Mainland

Our final morning in the Galápagos begins on Santa Cruz Island with a visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station, the archipelago's most important center for conservation science and giant tortoise recovery. It's a fitting farewell to the islands — a reminder that what we've witnessed over the past five days is the result not just of isolation and evolution, but of decades of dedicated stewardship. From here, we transfer to Baltra Airport for our flight back to mainland Ecuador. The cruise chapter closes and the cloud forest chapter is about to begin. Upon arrival in Quito, you'll be transferred to your hotel in the La Mariscal neighborhood for an early night.

Accommodations: Ikala Quito or similar

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 6 | Quito to Zuro Loma & Tandayapa Bird Lodge

An early start this morning. We're on the road by 5:30 a.m. and the rewards are immediate. Our first stop is Zuro Loma Reserve, a cool, wet stretch of temperate cloud forest where feeders draw some of the Andes' most spectacular hummingbirds. Sword-billed Hummingbirds, the only bird in the world with a bill longer than its body, hover alongside Mountain Velvetbreasts, Black-tailed Trainbearers, and Sapphire-vented Pufflegs, while Chestnut-naped Antpittas and Barred Fruiteaters work the forest understory. By late morning, we wind along the Old Nono-Mindo Road through cinematic cloud forest scenery, arriving at Tandayapa Bird Lodge in time for lunch.

The afternoon reveals why Tandayapa is world-famous. The lodge sits within cool, moist subtropical cloud forest, a distinctly different ecosystem from the morning's, with a different cast of characters to match. The feeders here are legendary, regularly hosting hundreds of hummingbirds! After the vast open skies of the Galápagos, the intimacy of the cloud forest feels like a different planet entirely.

Accommodations: Tandayapa Bird Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 7 | Rio Silanche Bird Sanctuary & Sendero Frutti Tour

Today marks a dramatic shift in scenery and species. We leave the cloud forest behind and descend entirely into the Pacific lowlands to a warmer, lusher world with a cast of wildlife unlike anything we've encountered so far. A small tower within the reserve opens up the treetops when flowering trees draw in a dramatic mix of species wheeling through the canopy above.

After a boxed lunch in the reserve, we continue to Sendero Frutti Tour, a small but remarkably productive private reserve where an afternoon on the balcony can feel like watching a parade of highlights. We make the 90-minute drive back to Tandayapa in the early evening, arriving in time for dinner at the lodge.

Accommodations: Tandayapa Bird Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, Boxed Lunch, and Dinner

Day 8 | The Tandayapa Valley & Departure

Our final morning in the cloud forest, and there's still more to discover. A short 25-minute drive uphill from the lodge opens up to the upper valley at 7,545 feet offering a different microclimate and location to explore. This excursion is sure to add layers to an already remarkable trip list of encounters. Back at the lodge, the hummingbird and fruit feeders offer a fitting farewell, one last chance to sit quietly and watch the cloud forest come to you. After lunch at the lodge, we take the fast route back to Quito, a scenic 90-minute drive, arriving by early evening. A final dinner together in the city before transfers to the airport for overnight flights home.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Sheridan Samano, Co-Founder of Reefs to Rockies, is thrilled to co-lead this expedition to the Galápagos and Ecuador's cloud forest - a destination that has long topped her wildlife wish list. Returning to the Galapagos is something she has looked forward to deeply, and the chance to witness waved albatrosses in the height of their courtship season on Española, then trade ocean horizons for the hummingbird-filled cloud forest, excites her just as much as guiding guests through every extraordinary moment in between. Throughout the journey, Sheridan will share her extensive field experience, deep knowledge, and passion for wildlife and wild places, bringing the natural history of both ecosystems to life for a small group of fellow adventurers.

Price for standard cruise cabin: $8195* per person based on double occupancy accommodations (two people sharing a room).

Price for suite cruise cabin: $8380* per person based on double occupancy accommodations (two people sharing a room).

If you prefer private accommodations for the land portion of the trip on single occupancy basis, add $475**.

If you’re interested in a private cabin for the cruise, contact us for availability and pricing.

Includes: accommodations; private in-country ground transportation; Expedition Leader – Sheridan Samano + national certified bilingual naturalist guide; all meals starting with dinner on Day 1 through dinner on Day 8; round-trip economy Galapagos flights (Quito to San Cristobal and Baltra to Quito); Galapagos National Park Entrance fee; Galapagos Transit Control Card; activities and entrance fees as listed; 24/7 in-country support; mask, fin and snorkel during cruise excursions; tea, coffee and water station on board during cruise. A conservation donation will be made on behalf of all participants.

Excludes: international flights (Reefs to Rockies will assist with flight arrangements); passport/visa fees; room upgrades; travel insurance – a policy with medical emergency evacuation benefits is required; optional activities; excess baggage fees; wetsuit rental during cruise; alcoholic drinks; pre- and post- hotel stays; personal expenses; and gratuities.

*Price is based on payment by check or ACH. Credit card fees, if applicable, will be assessed at time of payment based on card used.

**If you are a solo traveler hoping to share accommodations, we’ll do our best to pair you. If we’re not able to find you a suitable roommate, the private room supplement will apply.

Group Size: Min 6, Max 10 + R2R Expedition Leader + Local Expert Guides (certified Galapagos guide during cruise + naturalist guide for land portion)

Level of Difficulty – Moderate: Participants should be comfortable walking on unpaved trails, rocky lava fields, and sandy beaches at a relaxed pace, sometimes with uneven or slippery footing. Galápagos excursions involve wet landings — stepping from a dinghy directly into shallow water — and dry landings onto rocky shorelines, both of which require sure footing and a reasonable degree of mobility. Some snorkeling is included and participants should be comfortable in open water. Time aboard the yacht may involve mild to moderate ocean swell. On the mainland, early morning departures are the norm, and birding walks in both the cloud forest and Pacific lowlands are slow-paced but can feel more strenuous at higher elevations, particularly at Zuro Loma Reserve, where trails reach into the cool, wet temperate zone above 5,000 feet. The upper Tandayapa Valley, accessed by road, reaches approximately 7,500 feet. Throughout the trip, distances walked per day are generally modest, but participants should be prepared for full days in the field with exposure to sun, humidity, and varying temperatures across dramatically different ecosystems.