ADVENTURES ARE TO THE ADVENTUROUS

More about  Santa Cruz

The largest accessible lava tunnels.  Underneath the ground hundreds of lava tunnels have been formed by different temperature kinds of lava flow. Some of these tubes are several kilometers long and even though most have collapsed with time and erosion, a couple of them are still there to be visited. They offer the visitor the chance to understand why the stories of pirates and treasures are related to these geological formations.

The biggest tortoises in accessible visitor site. The highlands of Santa Cruz have a big wild population of Tortoises, they walk freely around the private and National Park lands. In our visit to this area, one can notice the difference in size from these animals to others in other visiting sites. There are 15 subspecies of land tortoises in the Galapagos, 4 from which are extinct. They present two different tortoise shell shapes, the Saddleback and the Dome shape. Santa Cruz has tree tortoise subspecies that show both kinds of shells and allow visitors to notice the difference and once understand the evolutionary process that shaped them into this giant prehistoric like animals.

• Breakfast and private transfer at the Quito airport
• Bus transfer from Baltra airport to Itabaca channel crossing
• Ferry crossing from Baltra to Santa Cruz island
• Highland ranch and visit includes stop at lava tunnels: The main place to visit is the El Chato reserve where you can observe the number of giant Galapagos turtles in their natural state, as well as the lava tunnels. The tour includes a visit to the Los Gemelos craters.
• Lunch at Highland ranch
• Visit to the Charles Darwin research center: famous for captive breeding of giant tortoises, called Galapagos that live an average of 150 years. It  was created in 1964, It has a natural history interpretation center and executes educational tasks supporting the service of the Galapagos national park. This station is also the center of operations for foreign scientists who are on the islands to deal with special research programs.
• Dinner
• Hotel on Santa Cruz island

Home of Penguins, Flightless Cormorants, Marine and Land Iguanas and many Marine Birds, Isabela also portrays the picture of the evolving process that these species went through in all different locations of the same island. Named Albermale by the English colonizers, it offers not only diverse ecosystems but also some of the most amazing landscapes and natural sights of the archipelago.

Small human population in the south of the islands. This is one of the four populated islands; about 2200 people live in Puerto Villamil. This town is the result of almost 300 years of interesting human interactions related to military plans and prison breakouts, and today is a welcoming site to explore and encounter the settlements that can tell the story.

Punta Vicente Roca visitor site is the best place to find the famous flightless cormorant. The evolution process that this specie went through can be observed on his behavior and environment on this location, providing evidence to understand Darwin’s theory of evolution. Located on the north side, the head of the sea horse is a very important marine productive area, hit by the Cromwell Current, offers the most extraordinary marine life so it is considered one of the best diving spots of the archipelago. Whales and sharks are often seen in our visits.

Bahia Urbina visitor site is located on the central west side of the island and is the only place of the archipelago where tortoises have been born and are still there, in other words, they are a natural, untouched population. All other have suffered migrations or problems with introduced species.

• Breakfast at the hotel on Santa Cruz
• Morning transfer by speed boat to Isabela Island
• Snorkel excursion at Tintoreras with visit to Tintoreras islands: The islet takes its name from whiten sharks known as Tintoreras. This is considered one of the most fascinating species of the galapagos, in the same area we  will find: sea lions, sea iguanas, blue footed boobies, crabs (sally light foot crab), sea turtles, pelicans and the peculiar Galapagos penguins. This exalted wildlife exhibition will leave us breathless. Then we will move to a sea inlet on the islet for snorkeling, the site is ideal for this activity because a large variety of fish, starfish, sea urchins, stingrays, and the beautiful sharks and sea lions swim on the site. After this unique meeting, we headed to the Isabela pier to finish the tour.
• Lunch
• Visit the breeding center and walking at Los Humedales
• Dinner
• Hotel on Isabela island