Day 1   Quito   - San Cristobal – Loberia

Our Galapagos adventure begins with an aprox. 2 hours flight from Quito to San Cristobal Island.  Once we are in the island, we will take you to a local restaurant to enjoy a tasty lunch…of course sea food, fish is on the menu. This is the time your local naturalist guide from Galapagos National Park will give you an introduction to the islands, the activities and what to expect during your tour. After lunch we go to the hotel for a quick change of clothes, refresh up and off to our first adventure. We visit a local dive shop in town to try the gear you will be using the next few days…This is a wetsuit, mask and fins. Once we do the equipment fitting, we drive for approx 5 minutes to the entrance of La Loberia beach. To reach the beach, we will go through a path for approx 800 meters. This path is on the south end of the island, receiving the swells and winds from the south. If we are lucky along the trail we will be able to admire marine iguanas crossing by, some frigate birds on the sky and beautiful colorful morning glory seaweed… Be prepare to listen to the guide about all the knowledge they provide as well as make sure you ask the guide all the questions we are sure you have…..Finally we reach the Loberia beach, which has a sea lion colony This is the perfect opportunity to go snorkel. We provide all assistance, equipment, floating devices required for everybody to go inside the ocean in a safe way. Some days when there is a swell you may find waves, but usually it is pretty simple to go in and out of the water. Once inside, depending on the luck you have you may find some playfull sealions swiming around you, a marine tortoise swiming by or simply colorful tropical fish…..Whatever you see, it is a great first snorkel and welcoming to the island. Around sunset we start going back to the entrance to drive back to town. Dinner will be served at a cozy local restaurant in town. 

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Day 2 Giant tortoise -   Highlands – Kayak

After breakfast we will take local transportation to drive for approx 30 minutes across the highlands. We will reach an altitude of 700 meters, observing the changes in vegetation and weather. We arrive to the giant turtle breeding center, which is a semi-natural environment that host approx 100 tourtles in different stages. Along the path, you will observe, smell typical flora from the island, which is the food for the tourtles. This giant reptiles are the architects of the islands, as they eat the vegetation, move around the islands and then defecate the seeds miles away, reproducing the natural vegetation of each island. This is a great opportunity to make great pictures of the famous turtles. If time allows it, we will visit Puerto Chino beach, which is a beautiful tourquise water beach at the end of a dry forest hike. It is a good opportunity to go into the water to swim a little or enjoy the beach. For lunch we will visit an organic farm restaurant, which harvest most of their own fruit and vegetables. The fish is a good option as well as tropical juices. The restaurant overlooks the ocean from a hill. After a tasty lunch, we drive back to town. Arrive to town mid afternoon in order to go Playa de Oro beach, to go into our kayaks. Each ocean kayak holds 2 people. Depending on your needs we will have enough staff to make sure you are safe and comfortable in each kayak. Off w ego along the shore….We will first practice on Playa de Oro bay, moving along the boats….Then we continue to reach Playa Man beach…Here we will have some time to observe colonies of sealions. We will continue along the reef in the search of blue footed boobies resting on the rocks…..As we cross Punta Carola beach, we will reach a location where usually pelicans nest. Since we are in kayaks, we can get very close to the rocks, observing blue footed boobies, pelicans, tailed heron among others….Finally we reach Tijeretas bay, where we observe on the distance frigates nesting on the hill…..During most of the kayak, some curious sealions sometimes reach to us, as well as marine tortoise spot their head out of the water. Return to Playa de Oro to finish the day just in time to observe sunset. Time to go to hotel, shower and get ready to go out for dinner at another local restaurant to try a new tasty dish. 

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Day 3 Kicker Rock 

Today we will enjoy one of Galapagos highlights.  After breakfast we will go to the peer to go into our boat.  We will get out of the bay area, working our way north towards Kicker Rock which is a rock formation or an eroded cone of volcanic tuff.  Kicker rock is also a refuge for many seabirds like blue-footed boobies and phaetons, as well as for sea lions. The waters around the rock are home to numerous species of fish, sea turtles, rays and hammerhead sharks. It reaches a maximum of 114 meters in height. After the snorkel at Kicker Rock we will have lunch on board and end the tour with a visit to a calm beach on the island, surrounded by clear water and mangroves.  Order of visits can change according to license of the National Park.  At mid afternoon we return to town.  Rest of afernoon on your own.  We meet again for dinner.

Notes: The boat we use is very cozy, comfortable.  We provide juice, coffee, tea on board.   Captain and crew are very helpfull. Boat has a capacity of 12 people max.Access to toilets in the boat it is complicated, as to access the toilets you need to go down 3 steps.  If needed we provide the assistance to go into the toilets.  

Access to and from water is simple, as boat has platforms in each side of the stern. Assistance is provided for this activity as well as floating devices.

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Day 4  Interpretation Center – Tijeretas- Quito

After breakfast, we visit the San Cristobal Interpretation Center to learn a bit about its history, present and challenges for the future. We will also go for a short hike to Tijeretas view point to admire the island from the top. During this short hike we can admire dry forest vegetation. We will have a last chance to enjoy the beach before we catch our flight.  Trasnfer to airport at mid morning to catch flight to Quito and connect with international flight out.