Tip Top IV – 8 Days A

Friday, Day 1

Flight from mainland Ecuador (Quito or Guayaquil) to Baltra, with TAME Airlines, arriving at 11:00 a.m. approximately. Your guide conducts you to the bus and after a short 5-kilometer ride to the pier; we board the Yacht without delay. As the crew weighs anchor, we greet you with our first orientation and we offer a light snack. In the afternoon, we make a dry landing for a walk along the coast and the interior of North Seymour Island, a low, flat island that was uplifted from the sea by underground seismic activity. We observe blue footed boobies (they nest from May to November), marine iguanas, pelicans, frigate birds, shore birds, sea lions and endemic Palo Santo.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel and/or kayak. We return to the Yacht for a welcome cocktail with the entire crew, and dinner.

Saturday, Day 2

After breakfast we make a wet landing on Darwin Bay to walk and observe frigatebirds, herons, mockingbirds, boobies, shorebirds, turtles, marine iguanas, etc.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel or kayak. We come aboard for a delicious lunch. Later in the afternoon, we make a dry landing on Prince Phillips’s Steps (Barranco), we walk and observe the interesting lives of the birds here. Dinner on the Yacht, and then our orientation about conservation efforts made to protect the Islands.

Sunday, Day 3

After breakfast we make a wet landing on James Bay (Puerto Egas), to walk and observe sponges, snails, hermit crabs, a variety of shore birds, barnacles and the endemic four-eyed blenny, marine iguanas and sea lions.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel or kayak. We return to the boat for a delicious lunch. In the afternoon, we make a wet landing on Espumilla, a brown sand beach. This beach is an important site for nesting marine turtles. Here we also observe a lot of land birds like yellow warblers, darwin’s finches an Galapagos flycatchers. A trail takes us through a Palo Santo forest. We walk behind the beach and we arrive to a salt-water lagoon, occasionally flamingos are seen; unfortunately, during the last “El Niño” phenomenon, one of the two lagoons in this site, underwent a process of sedimentation, thus causing the disappearance of a representative colony of flamingos.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. Then we visit an abandoned Salt Mines. We return to the Yacht and then navigation around Buccaneer Cove (Caleta Bucanero), an area of steep cliffs and dark beaches. The cliffs and pinnacle are used as nesting areas by several species of seabirds. This was a popular place for 17th & 18^th century buccaneers to careen their vessels. Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel or kayak. Dinner and our nightly orientation.

Monday, Day 4

After breakfast, we make a panga ride on Punta Vicente Roca to observe plenty of sea lions, marine iguanas, blue-footed and masked boobies, and flightless cormorants.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. We come aboard for a delicious lunch. In the afternoon, we make a dry landing on Punta Espinoza to observe and see a large colony of sea lions, marine iguanas and the flightless cormorants and clumps of lava cactus. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Tuesday, Day 5

After breakfast, we make a panga ride on Tagus Cove, a protected cove between the shoulders of two volcanic craters which protect it from the open sea; we observe penguins, marine iguanas, sea lions and a variety of birds including flightless cormorant and blue footed boobies.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel and/ or kayak. Then, we make a wet landing on Urbina Bay to take a walk and observe a coral area, land iguanas, flightless cormorants and giant tortoises.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim, snorkel and/ or kayak. Return to the Yacht for lunch. In the afternoon, we make a panga ride around the islets of Elizabeth Bay to see marine iguanas, penguins, marine turtles, seabirds and shorebirds, herons and blue-footed boobies. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Wednesday, Day 6

After breakfast, we make our first dry landing to the islet Las Tintoreras, the islet has a small bay of completely calm turquoise waters and there we can observe hundreds of marine iguanas, seaturtles, sea lions, Galapagos penguins, rays and white tip sharks can often be seen. Then we visit Humedales, where we can see series of lagoons, mangrove species, flamingos and numerous migratory birds. After that, we visit Breeding Center “Arnaldo Tupiza”, where we can observe tortoises of different ages and sizes (In total there are 330 between juvenile and adult tortoises) and where we can learn about the reproduction of the giant tortoises, in the Breeding Center we also can see different native plants. Before returning to the yacht we visit the Wall of Tears; a historic place in Galapagos Islands, this site was for 13 years a penal colony, where the prisoners built a wall with huge blocks of lava as punishment. There we observe lava lizards, Galapagos finches and hawks. Return to the Yacht for a delicious lunch. In the afternoon, we make an expedition to Sierra Negra Volcano, considered the oldest of the volcanoes on Isabela, the crater of Sierra Negra has a 10km diameter and it’s the second largest in the world; its last eruption occurred in 2005. The Sulfur, iron and the cooled magma make up a colorful landscape. Our adventure begins with a 45 minutes ride on a bus to the highlands of Isabela, we arrive at “Paradero Sierra Negra”, from here we walk through slopes of the Volcano or we can do it by horseback

Optional: Our guests could rent the horses (this is not included on the cruise). The trail conducts us to Volcan Chico (on the northeast of Sierra Negra Volcano), a fissure composed of scum and lava. This fissure had its last eruption on 1979 and the volcanic activity lasted for a week. From here we have an amazing view of the north of the island and if the day is clear we have a majestic view of the Perry Isthmus, a surrounding island. This expedition allows us to step through volcanic features and over lava flows formed in very recent years. We also see the formations of petrified lava of many different colors and textures and fumaroles scattered throughout this area. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Thursday, Day 7,

After breakfast, we make a wet landing on Point Cormorant for a short walk to the Flamingos Lagoon of this island. We then continue the walk until we reach the beach called “La Picona” to see marine turtles and their spawning grounds.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. Later, we make a panga ride on Champion Islet, a small island off the Coast of Floreana Island. The principal attraction of Champion Islet is the nearly-extinct Charles (Floreana) Mockingbird. Visitors can also observe bird species such as Swallow-tailed Gulls, Nazca Boobies or Brown Noddies. It is a great place for snorkelling; we will see sea turtles, reef fishes, Galapagos Penguins and white-tipped reef sharks.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. Return to the Yacht for lunch.In the afternoon we make a wet landing on Post Office Bay, a historic site that recalls the days of the whalers, who presumably placed a wooden barrel in the 18^th century to use it as a post office.

Optional: time for those who would like to swim and/or snorkel. Later, we take a bus for a short ride from the small town Puerto Velasco Ibarra to the Asilo de la Paz. It’s is a human historic site, this area was inhabitant by the early settlers who found a freshwater spring and refuge in the “cave of pirates”, this was the home of the first settlers of the island, Patrick Watkins lived there first, then Dr. Ritter and his companion Dora Strauch and then the Wittmer family. We walk through a path and we visit the cave of pirates and a corral built by the National Park Service where we can see Galapagos tortoises (from various islands) in captivity. Return to the Yacht for dinner and our nightly orientation.

Friday, Day 8

After breakfast, we disembark and a bus takes us to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island for a visit to the native forests and twin craters. Then the bus takes us directly to the airport (Baltra). Your guide accompanies you on this ride.

Departure	Arrival
Friday 3rd of January 2025	Friday 10th of January 2025	[request availability]
Friday 17th of January 2025	Friday 24th of January 2025	[request availability]
Friday 31st of January 2025	Friday 7th of February 2025	[request availability]
Friday 14th of February 2025	Friday 21st of February 2025	[request availability]
Friday 28th of February 2025	Friday 7th of March 2025	[request availability]
Friday 14th of March 2025	Friday 21st of March 2025	[request availability]
Friday 28th of March 2025	Friday 4th of April 2025	[request availability]
Friday 11th of April 2025	Friday 18th of April 2025	[request availability]
Friday 25th of April 2025	Friday 2nd of May 2025	[request availability]
Friday 9th of May 2025	Friday 16th of May 2025	[request availability]
Friday 23rd of May 2025	Friday 30th of May 2025	[request availability]
Friday 6th of June 2025	Friday 13th of June 2025	[request availability]
Friday 20th of June 2025	Friday 27th of June 2025	[request availability]
Friday 4th of July 2025	Friday 11th of July 2025	[request availability]
Friday 18th of July 2025	Friday 25th of July 2025	[request availability]
Friday 1st of August 2025	Friday 8th of August 2025	[request availability]
Friday 15th of August 2025	Friday 22nd of August 2025	[request availability]
Friday 29th of August 2025	Friday 5th of September 2025	[request availability]
Friday 12th of September 2025	Friday 19th of September 2025	[request availability]
Friday 26th of September 2025	Friday 3rd of October 2025	[request availability]
Friday 10th of October 2025	Friday 17th of October 2025	[request availability]
Friday 24th of October 2025	Friday 31st of October 2025	[request availability]
Friday 7th of November 2025	Friday 14th of November 2025	[request availability]
Friday 21st of November 2025	Friday 28th of November 2025	[request availability]
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Friday 30th of January 2026	Friday 6th of February 2026	[request availability]
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Friday 13th of March 2026	Friday 20th of March 2026	[request availability]