Robert Fuller:
Wildlife Art & Photography Special – North and Western Islands

Summary of Trip

• Led by top British wildlife artist Robert Fuller and Santiago Bejarano.
• Specially chartered private yacht in the Galapagos
• Timed to co-incide with the best light and with seabirds courting at their most intense in Galapagos
• Excellent photography opportunities
• Small group of up to 14 guests

A special small group trip to the Galapagos Islands accompanied by Robert Fuller together with Santiago Bejarano, one of the top Galapagos Naturalists who will be joined by top local guides ensuring an unrivalled level of service.  Our journey starts in the Pacific coast of Ecuador, from here we fly to the Island of Santa Cruz were we spend the night at the Galapagos Safari Camp which we use as a base to explore the highlands of Santa Cruz island, before we embark on our cruise -  a private charter on a luxury motor yacht visiting some of the most spectacular islands in this remarkable archipelago.

The trip is designed for people who want to learn and experience as much as they can about Ecuador and Galapagos and coincides with the time when the seabirds in Galapagos are courting most intensely.  As it is our own charter, we can be up earlier and out on the islands than most other groups and stay longer in order to maximize the best light and wildlife viewing conditions.

Northern and Western Islands - A great variety of islands and excellent selection of Galapagos wildlife,fascinating geological scenery and great snorkelling opportunities. Highlights include the pristine and untouched western coast of Isabella Island and Fernandina, with their great wildlife and the chance of spotting whales and dolphins and Genovesa a beautiful island and outpost for seabirds.

Details

• 10-day trip begins and ends in Guayaquil
• 8 days/7 nights on board the yacht, 1 hotel night in Guayaquil, 1 hotel night at the Galapagos Safari Camp in Santa Cruz Island.  
• Tour Cost £3,450 per person, excluding international flights. Includes all accommodation, guide services, meals, transport, internal flights Guayaquil-Baltra-Guayaquil, non-bottled soft drinks.
• Flights from the UK to Quito and Guayaquil start at around £850. We can help guests co-ordinate their international flights which are available from local UK airports.

Outline Itinerary
30th April – Arrive Ecuador - Ecuador’s coast
1st May –Guayaquil – Baltra – Santa Cruz
2nd May - 9th May – Galapagos Cruise

NOTE:

Land cost includes:

• Return domestic flights from Guayaquil to the Galapagos Islands.
• All accommodation meals and soft drinks in mainland Ecuador and aboard the yacht in the Galapagos.
• The price is based on 2 people sharing a double room.
• $10 Galapagos Migration Card.
• The services of expert local naturalists and all transport in the Galapagos.

Land Cost Does Not Include:

• International airfare
• Galapagos National Park Entrance Fee ($100 per person)
• Alcoholic beverages. Gratuities

Single Supplement:

If you prefer your own room, there is a single supplement cost of £190 per person for the time in mainland Ecuador. All boat cabins must be shared, except by special arrangement.

If you would like any more information or to chat over the details of the trip we would be delighted to help. Telephone 01482 872 716 for more information or email us today.

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Itinerary

30th April – Arrive Guayaquil The KLM flight direct from Amsterdam arrives mid-afternoon into Guayaquil on Ecuador’s Pacific Coast. You will be met at the airport by Santiago and taken to your hotel, the Guayaquil Hilton, a short drive from the airport. The afternoon free to relax and a welcome meal together at the hotel.

1st May – Galapagos – Santa Cruz Island – Luxury Safari Camp The next morning after breakfast we return to the airport to take our flight to the Galapagos. We arrive at Baltra Island, where our local Galapagos National Park guide will meet us, and from here we cross a small channel to take us to the Island of Santa Cruz where our transport awaits to take us to the Galapagos Safari Camp, our home for the night.

The service is fantastic and there is a definite wow factor as you open the main door of the main building and are presented with a glorious sweeping view of the western Galapagos Islands that the property overlooks. The overwhelming feeling is nature, beauty and relaxation.

In Tatler Magazine Travel Guide 2010 the Camp was named in the “101 Best Hotels in the World”. Since the Camp opened in 2008 it has been featured in Vogue, The Independent, Financial Times, twice in Conde Nast and was named one of the world’s ’12 Great Exotic Adventures’ by Harpers Bazaar.

Lunch will be waiting for us. After lunch, we head off in search of Giant Tortoises – the Highlands of Santa Cruz is one of the best places to see these magnificent giants in the wild. Dinner and overnight at the Safari Camp.

2nd May – Highlands of Santa Cruz  This morning after an early breakfast we return to the highlands on Santa Cruz in search of Giant Tortoises in another area of the highlands.    From here, we will then be picked up and driven across the island to the Itabaca Channel, were our private yacht – Tip Top III and her crew and Galapagos National Park guide will be waiting for us. We will have lunch together on board as the yacht begins its navigation to the visitor site we will visit in the afternoon.

Our yacht, the Tip Top III who is harboured in the port - a spacious and comfortable motor yacht which was fully refurbished in 2008, which has a fantastic friendly crew and is run by one of the oldest families in the Galapagos.

The yacht accommodates 16 passengers in 10 double cabins each with private shower and toilet. Just some of the luxuries you'll enjoy on the yacht's three decks are wall-to-wall carpeting, air conditioning, a TV, a VCR, a full sound system, an inviting dining room, a fully equipped bar, a library filled with a variety of reading materials, a spacious sundeck, and snorkelling equipment. Moreover, each of the craft's homey cabins is outfitted with a private bathroom with both hot and cold water, a personal safe, and a wardrobe. The vessel is also equipped with the most advanced navigational and safety equipment, all of which meets or exceeds international Coast Guard safety regulations.

The next glorious 8 days will be spent cruising the Galapagos:

Santa Cruz - Bachas Beach A beautiful white sandy beach punctuated by lava formations. The wonderfully soft sand here makes it a favourite site for nesting sea turtles. Here you will also see white mangroves, one of the three species found in the Galapagos, as well as Marine Iguanas and Flamingos if you are lucky.  A great place for your first snorkel.

3rd May –Santiago Island – (Santiago) – Sullivan Bay  Home to one of the most iconic scenery shots of Galapagos, this small island located off the eastern shore of James Island is home to beautiful panoramic views. The striking volcanic landscape looks almost lunar and provides a great introduction to the volcanic origins of the islands, with spatter cones and cinder cones. You will also see Pinnacle Rock, a striking example of a tuff cone, and good examples of pioneering plants, including some beautiful strands of lava cactus. At sea level, this is a great place for swimming and snorkelling, if you are lucky with Galapagos Penguins.

4th May – Genovesa (Tower)  A highlight of any visit to the Galapagos, a truly beautiful island thanks to the richness of its birdlife. Located in the northeast portion of Galapagos, the island is an outpost for many seabirds (as is Espanola in the South). Interestingly there are no land reptiles here and only very small Marine Iguanas, due to direction of ocean currents which apparently would not have carried terrestrial animals here. You will visit the following sites

Darwin Bay – Genovesa This bay is actually the caldera of an extinct, partially eroded volcano, with the surrounding cliffs forming the inner portion of the rim. You arrive on a coral beach, and will immediately be struck by the birdlife. Great Frigate bird, Red-Footed Boobies nesting in the mangroves, Swallow-tailed Gulls, Lava Gulls, Yellow-Crowned Night Herons. Your trail takes you past a beautiful tide pool area.

Philip’s Steps – Genovesa  The tour begins with a great panga (small dingy) ride along the base of the cliffs where you an see Red billed Tropicbirds trying to make a precise landing in their nest. Squadrons of Frigate Birds are seen flying back and forth, whilst Red-Footed Boobies perch on branches of Palo Santo trees which seemingly grow out of the cliffs. Once you arrive on land and climb to the cliff-top, you enter an area where nesting Masked Boobies and Great Frigate birds are found. It is also a great place to see Galapagos Doves and Vampire Finches (sharp-beaked ground finches)…ask your guide for the full story on the name! You will also see great numbers of Storm Petrels here, sometimes in tens of thousands. If you are lucky, you may also see a Short-Eared Owl.

5th May – James Bay (Buchaneer Cove) This was the island where Charles Darwin spent the majority of his land visits in Galapagos. At James Bay, the Fur Seal Grotto provides great chances to get close views of both Fur Seals and Sea Lions in a series of rocky pools. This visit also provides some of the best opportunities for tide-pooling in the Galapagos, with the chance to see Plovers, Herons and Oyster Catchers with some good swimming and snorkelling off the beach. The afternoon will be spent sailing, with great chances to see whales, dolphins and other sea life.

North of Puerto Egas, on the other side of a lava flow lies. Playa Espumilla, a tawny beach couched in mangroves, favoured by marine turtles as a nesting ground. A trail leads inland from the beach, weaving through the mangroves alongside a salty lagoon into thick vegetation, home to Darwin's finches and flycatchers.

From here we travel west, to the western part of the Galapagos Archipelago. The western islands have a pristine untouched quality, which is most evident as you sail along the western coast of Isabela and through the narrow Bolivar Channel eparating the Island from Fernandina.

The western islands receive a double dose of upwelling (from both the Humbolt and Cromwell Currents) and as a result there is cool nutrient rich water, which makes for abundant marine life, in the form of colonies of Penguins, Flightless Cormorants, Marine Iguanas, Dolphins and Whales. Going on deck at night and seeing the numerous large bioluminescent particles is a quite an experience.

6th May – Isabela Measuring over 1800 square miles, and accounting for over half the land surface area in Galapagos, at about 80 miles in length, the seahorse shaped Isabela Island is the largest in the Galapagos. Isabela is formed from six separate volcanoes (Alcedo, Cerro Azul, Darwin, Ecuador, Sierra Negra and Wolf). Being the largest islands, it has many visitor sites, covering a large diversity of ecosystems, from barren lava flows to evergreen lush forests.

Isabela – Vicente Roca Point Beautiful volcanic scenery and amazing lava intrusions as well as a huge sea cliff categorise this area, in the northern part of the island which lies on the flank of 2,600 foot Volcano Ecuador. Here the remnants of an ancient volcano form two turquoise coves with a bay that is well protected from ocean swells. Masked and Blue-Footed Boobies sit along the cliffs whilst Flightless Cormorants stay along the shoreline and if you are lucky you will see Penguins in the water. The upwelling of coldwater currents has created an abundance of marine life, making for great snorkelling

Fernandina The youngest of the Galapagos Islands at just over 100,000 years old, this is the most pristine and untouched of all the islands (not just in Galapagos, but in the world). Volcanically it is still active with eruptions occurring every few years. Punta Espinosa, is a truly spectacular visitor site and a real highlight. A narrow strip of land extending out from the base of the Fernandina Volcano it offers the best chance to see Marine Iguanas with the largest colony in the Galapagos. You will also have the chance to see Flightless Cormorants here, at the tip of the narrow point.

7th May – sabela – Tagus Cove The land tour here takes you up the slopes of the Darwin Volcano up to a salt water lagoon at the top, providing a great view of the fragile lava fields, the volcanic formations as well as the ocean. A great part of the visit here is a panga ride along the coast, dramatic colours and beautiful tuff formations, Blue-Footed Boobies, Penguins and Marine Iguanas.

Isabela – Elizabeth Bay In 1954, almost 4 miles of coastal seabed, with marine-life and all, were dramatically and very suddenly uplifted about 15 ft. This area is now a nesting site for Brown Pelicans and Flightless Cormorant and giant Marine Iguanas can be seen. You will also see a few large Land Iguanas and if you are lucky a Giant Tortoise or two can be seen.

7th May – Isabela – Tagus Cove Located on the west coast of the Isabela, no landings are permitted here, but it makes for a beautiful panga (small dingy) ride. This is one of the best areas to see Galapagos Penguins as they prefer the cooler waters found in this area of the archipelago. Flightless Cormorants and Giant Marine Iguanas, which have grown so large thanks to the plentiful food are also see in this area. As you then enter a narrow cove lined with large Red Mangrove trees, you can see Marine Turtles, Rays and shore birds.

8th May – Isabela – Villamil –  Las Tintoreras or White Tipped Reef Shark Canal This morning we visit a small bay with completely calm turquoise waters, located located south of Puerto Villamil Las Tintoreras is a great place to see Sea Lions, Sea Turtles and Marine Iguanas as well as other Galapagos wildlife. The site also gets its other name thanks to a small crevice in the middle of the trail where at low tide, sharks (White Tipped Reef Sharks) can be seen resting. Most of the trail is lava, except for a white sand beach which is host to a small colony of Sea Lions and a nesting site for Marine Iguanas, and a second beach of black stones which is entirely surrounded by mangroves.

Puerto Villamil – Tortoise Breeding Center The Galapagos has 11 different species of Giant Tortoise with five different species on the island of Isabella. You get the chance to see them at a new breeding site built by the Galapagos National Park Service and the Charles Darwin Research Station, just outside of town to protect and increase the endangered populations of tortoises in the southern part of the island. It is a beautiful setting, with lots of space and shade for the tortoises.

9th May – Highlands of Santa Cruz – Los Gemelos – Baltra – Home After an early breakfast, this morning we will set off for the twin sinkhole craters of Los Gemelos, which are home to 300 different fern species, as well as a forest of Scalacias (a relative of sunflowers). We don’t have a long visit here, but will have a chance to look for some elusive endemics like the Woodpecker Finch (one of only a few bird species in the world to use tools). Small Tree Finch, Vegetarian Finch and Galapagos Rail.

For those of you who are returning to the UK, you will say goodbye to Robert and Santiago here, and will be met by Luis Die.   Luis, a top Galapagos guides who has worked for 20 years in the Islands – a respected wildlife photographer who has had a number of books published on Galapagos.  

With Luis, you return to the islet of Baltra and together will take your flight back to Guayaquil. Here (depending on flight times, but usually you will arrive at around 2.30pm and Luis can help you then check in for your return flight back to the UK) OR for those of you who wish to extend your journey with some time visiting the Andes or Amazon rainforest or mainland Ecuador, you can then fly onto Quito where the next stage of your adventure will begin!

Please note: In Galapagos itineraries are unlikely to change significantly but are subject to change. Weather, wildlife breeding, instructions from the Galapagos National Park, specific abilities and interests of passengers as well as operational matters may cause your guide or captain to change the times or nature of your visits. Your guide will always endeavour to have the best itinerary for you within these constraints

If you would like any more information or to chat over the details of the trip we would be delighted to help. Telephone 01482 872 716 for more information or email us today.

Accommodation

If you would like any more information or to chat over the details of the trip we would be delighted to help. Telephone 01482 872 716 for more information or email us today.