Discover, Plan & Go!

<!-- Galapagos - Beagle -->\r\n\r\n\r\n<span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">The Samba is a classic traditional steel hulled motor yacht offering first class Galapagos Cruising at and afforadble price. This yacht offers comfortable accommodation, open and shaded deck space, fine cuisine served in the salon or on deck, and personal service on board by a well trained crew and guide. Travelers are accommodated in 6 air-conditioned double cabins with ensuite hot shower and toilet.</span>\r\n\r\n<h3>Day 1 - Arrive Quito Ecuador</h3>\r\nUpon arrival at the Quito, Ecuador international airport you are met by our local representative and transferred to your hotel. \r\n<br />\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Accommodations: </span><a href=\"accommprofile.php/d/ecuador/accid/151\">Hotel Patio Andaluz</a> or similar\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Included Meals: </span>na\r\n<br />\r\n<h3>Day 2 - Colonial Quito</h3>\r\nSouth America\'s oldest capitol city, Quito sits at 9,184-feet elevation. It has been amazingly preserved and is protected as a UNESCO world heritage site. Enjoy a three hour guided walking tour of Quito\'s colonial center including Independence Plaza, La Compania Church and San Francisco Cathedral. The remainder of the day is yours to enjoy this lively city, rest or prepare for your Galápagos Naturalist Cruise cruise. \r\n<br />\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Accommodations: </span><a href=\"accommprofile.php/d/ecuador/accid/151\">Hotel Patio Andaluz</a> or similar\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Included Meals: </span>breakfast\r\n<br />\r\n<h3>Day 3 - Quito to Baltra, Galapagos Islands / North Seymour Island</h3>\r\nThis morning, we will depart on a three-hour flight to the island of Baltra in the Galapagos. After paying the Galapagos National Park Fee of $100 USD per person (children under 12 - $50 USD), we will be met by our Expedition Leader, transfer to the ship and continue on to North Seymour Island. \r\n<br />\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Accommodations: </span><a href=\"accommprofile.php/d/galapagos/accid/126\">Beagle</a>\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Included Meals: </span>breakfast, lunch and dinner\r\n<br />\r\n<h3>Day 4 - South Plaza and Santa Fe (Barrington)</h3>\r\nSouth Plaza is one of the smallest yet richest islands in the archipelago at only 130 meters wide (426 feet). The trail gradually follows the tilt of the island to the cliffs that overlook the ocean to the south, where swallow-tailed gulls nest. Red-billed tropic birds, masked and blue-footed boobies ride the windy currents. The overlook is a great place for spotting large marine life, including manta rays. Surf pounds an inlet at the western corner of the island, where a colony of sea lion bachelors make their home. The shoreline of Las Plazas makes for excellent snorkeling in a sea lion colony of nearly a thousand. Your guide will find the right spot to swim with youngsters away from areas claimed by the surly bulls.\r\n<br /><br />\r\nEarly morning visit to Santa Fe Island. This island, according to the latest geological studies, shows the islands\' oldest rocks. The small bay on Santa Fe\'s northern coast provides one of the most picturesque harbors within the archipelago. A large sea lion colony inhabits most of the surrounding landing site. Back to the ship for breakfast, as you sail to Santa Cruz Island.\r\n<br />\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Accommodations: </span><a href=\"accommprofile.php/d/galapagos/accid/126\">Beagle</a>\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Included Meals: </span>breakfast, lunch and dinner\r\n<br />\r\n<h3>Day 5 - Hood (Española): Punta Suarez & Gardner Bay</h3>\r\nOne of the oldest of the islands, Hood is small and flat with no visible volcanic crater or vent. Located on the western tip of the island, one of the world\'s densest and most diversified concentrations of wildlife is found at Punta Suarez. The area is famous for its marine iguanas with unique copper-red patches, swallow-tailed gulls, lava lizards, finches, long-billed mockingbirds, blue-footed and masked boobies and oystercatchers. When heavy swells are running, Punta Suarez is also the site of a spectacular blowhole, with thundering spray shooting thirty yards into the air. Gardner Bay, located on the eastern shore, hosts a magnificent beach frequented by a transient colony of sea lions and is a major nesting site for marine turtles. Around the small islets nearby, snorkelers will find many fish and possibly turtles and sharks. On a trail leading to the western tip of the island, you will pass the only nesting sites in the Galapagos of the waved albatross. These huge birds nest here from April to December and represent the majority of the world\'s population. \r\n<br />\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Accommodations: </span><a href=\"accommprofile.php/d/galapagos/accid/126\">Beagle</a>\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Included Meals: </span>breakfast, lunch and dinner\r\n<br />\r\n<h3>Day 6 - Charles Darwin Station and Santa Cruz Island Highlands</h3>\r\nSanta Cruz is the second largest Island in the Galapagos and something of a hub for the archipelago. The small town of Puerto Ayora in the southwest of this large, round volcanic island is the economic center of the Islands, with the largest population of the four inhabited islands (approx. 10,000). Tourism-including refurbishing and resupplying yachts-along with fishing and boat-building, are major sources of commerce\r\n<br /><br />\r\nPuerto Ayora is home to both the Galapagos National Park and Charles Darwin Research Station, the center of the great restorative effort taking place in the park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Here we go ashore to visit the Giant Tortoise Breeding and Rearing Program run by the research station, which began by rescuing the remaining 16 tortoises on the island of Espanola in the 1970s. This program has restored the population of animals there to over 1,000 today. You will see many of these animals, with their sweet ET necks and faces, from hatchlings to juveniles to large, distinguished individuals like Lonesome George, the last of his particular race of tortoise-may be 150 years old! The local color of this port makes for an attractive stop-off, with restaurants, souvenir shops and even an internet cafe.\r\n<br /><br />\r\nA highlight of any trip is a visit to the Santa Cruz Highlands, where the sparse, dry coastal vegetation transitions to lush wet fields and forests overgrown with moss and lichens. Our destination is the Tortoise Reserve, where we will have chances to track and view these friendly ancient creatures in their natural setting. This extends to the adjacent pasture lands, where farmers have given tortoise safe quarter in exchange for allowing paying visitors to see them. The best times to see tortoises here is during the cool wet season from June through December. Another attraction close by is a very large lava tube. A wooden stairway descends to the mouth of its arched entrance and continues underground to the narrow passage that marks its exit.\r\n<br />\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Accommodations: </span><a href=\"accommprofile.php/d/galapagos/accid/126\">Beagle</a>\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Included Meals: </span>breakfast, lunch and dinner\r\n<br />\r\n<h3>Day 7 - Floreana Island: Pt. Cormorant and Post Office Bay</h3>\r\nThis is a peaceful, rolling island dotted with numerous extinct volcanic cones amidst a variety of scrubby vegetation. Its colorful human history goes back almost two centuries and, at times, verges on the bizarre: from marooned whalers to prisoners and colonists. Disembark at Point Cormorant (wet landing) for an easy walk to see the flamingos that inhabit a brackish-water lagoon, and other birds like ducks, stilts, sandpipers, etc. There is great snorkeling from the beach or near by, at the Devil\'s Crown. Visit Post Office Bay and its old mail swap tradition that goes back to whaling days. During our stop, we can leave mail ourselves and see if it gets delivered. Or we can take mail, which has an address near our homes and deliver it once we return, keeping this old tradition alive.\r\n<br />\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Accommodations: </span><a href=\"accommprofile.php/d/galapagos/accid/126\">Beagle</a>\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Included Meals: </span>breakfast, lunch and dinner\r\n<br />\r\n<h3>Day 8 - James (Santiago): Puerto Egas & James Bay / Bartolomé</h3>\r\nA highlight of our journey comes at Puerto Egas on the island of James. Puerto Egas, with its black sand beaches, was the site of a small salt mining industry in the 1960s, and a hike inland to the salt crater is an excellent opportunity to sight land birds such as finches, doves and hawks. A trail leads to the Fur Seal Grottos, one of the only places in the islands where Fur Seals can be seen. We may see sea lions basking on the rocks beneath a natural rock bridge, diving blue-footed boobies, Sally Lightfoot crabs and colorful lava lizards scurrying at our feet. Just north of James Bay is Buccaneer Cove, a particularly scenic area of steep cliffs and dark beaches. This afternoon will be spent on Bartolomé. Most likely the first of the islands to rise from the sea, Bartolomé is a small island that has beautiful white sand beaches and luxuriant green mangroves. Here, penguins may join us at the white sand swimming beach, and a hike to the summit of a once-active volcano rewards us with beautiful panoramic views of the often-photographed Pinnacle Rock.\r\n<br />\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Accommodations: </span><a href=\"accommprofile.php/d/galapagos/accid/126\">Beagle</a>\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Included Meals: </span>breakfast, lunch and dinner\r\n<br />\r\n<h3>Day 9 - Tower (Genovesa): Prince Philip\'s Steps & Darwin Bay</h3>\r\nOn our way to Tower Island, the most northeastern part of the archipelago, we may encounter dolphins, whales and immature red-footed boobies, which sometimes land on the boat\'s railings and lines to hitch a free ride home. The island of Tower is a collapsed volcano, and ships are able to sail directly into its large breached caldera to anchor at the foot of the steep crater walls. Tower attracts vast numbers of pelagic seabirds that come here to nest and breed. This morning we will explore a trail known as \"Prince Philip\'s Steps\", which leads us to an open area popular with frigate birds and red-footed and masked boobies. At the end of this trail are thousands of band-rumped storm petrels at the cliff\'s edge, where they nest in crevices. Short-eared owls can also sometimes be seen here, hunting the storm petrels during daylight hours. This afternoon, we will follow along another trail, which leads from a coral beach past tidal lagoons where lava gulls and yellow-crowned night herons are seen, then along the low shrubs populated by frigates and boobies, and eventually to a cliff where seabirds soar.\r\n<br />\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Accommodations: </span><a href=\"accommprofile.php/d/galapagos/accid/126\">Beagle</a>\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Included Meals: </span>breakfast, lunch and dinner\r\n<br />\r\n<h3>Day 10 - Baltra / Return to Quito</h3>\r\nEnjoy a final morning of exploration then sail into Baltra Island to board your flight back to the Ecuador mainland.\r\n<br />\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Accommodations: </span><a href=\"accommprofile.php/d/galapagos/accid/126\">Beagle</a>\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Included Meals: </span>breakfast, lunch and dinner\r\n<br />\r\n<h3>Day 11 - Depart Quito</h3>\r\nTransportation will be provided to the airport for return flights home or for excursions into Ecuador\'s Highlands or Jungle or Peru\'s Machu Picchu. \r\n<br />\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Accommodations: </span>n/a\r\n<br /><span class=\"highlightedtext-inline\">Included Meals: </span>breakfast\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br />\r\n<br /><strong>Notes on Itinerary: </strong>We may occasionally alter itineraries slightly for safety, or to take advantage of weather, wildlife, and unplanned discoveries. Our ability to be flexible makes our style of cruising unique. \r\n<br />\r\n<br /><strong>Single Travelers: </strong>Thre is a 40% surcharge for single occupancy. If you are traveling alone and wish to share accommodations, our Roommate Share Program will guarantee double occupancy rates for boat cabins even if we are unable to match you with a roommate. \r\n<br />\r\n<br /><strong>Land Cost Includes: </strong>Three nights Quito hotel accommodations with breakfast included, all airport/ hotel transfers, Galapagos flight, Galapagos cruise including all meals while aboard and an experienced Galapagos Islands naturalist guide. \r\n<br />\r\n<br /><strong>Not Included: </strong>Airfare from US to Quito; excess baggage charges; airport departure tax from Quito ($24); Galapagos National Park entrance fee. This fee will be added to your invoice and paid in advance ($100: adult, $50: child); tips to local staff and items of a personal nature such as soft drinks or alcoholic beverages, laundry fees and insurance of any kind.\r\n<br />\r\n<br /><strong>Payment and Cancellation Policy: </strong>A special cancellation policy applies to all Galapagos trips, which is stricter than the AdventureSmith Explorations policy. When a trip cancellation is received inside of 70 days from departure, all trip costs are 100% non-refundable. Please see AdventureSmith Explorations <a href=\"termsconditions.php\">Terms and Conditions</a>.\r\n<br />\r\n<br /><strong>Accommodations Aboard: </strong>The Beagle accommodates 12 guests on in 6 cabins. Cabins have private bathrooms. There is also a bar, interior dining room, and an open-air dining area. Life aboard a small boat requires some physical agility and a flexible and social nature. Accommodations are in double cabins, each with toilet and shower. The crew is comprised of the captain, multilingual naturalist guides, cook, barman/waiter, mechanic and two to four sailors. All meals are prepared and served by the crew on board. Alcoholic beverages are available for purchase on board.\r\n<br />\r\n<br /><strong>Qualifications: </strong>This trip will be enjoyed by anyone who is in good health and leads an active life. Daily excursions from the boat to the islands will be made in pangas (dinghies). Trip members will hike from the landing point to specific areas for wildlife observation. Hiking time for most landings will be a couple of hours roundtrip with lots of time to stop to study, photograph and enjoy the flora and fauna. Some landings are dry but many are \"wet\", requiring cautious footing on slippery rocks. The boat staff will be on hand to assist. There are numerous opportunities to swim and snorkel. Easy-to-use, sit-on-top kayaks are also available. \r\n<br />\r\n<br /><strong>Extending Your Trip: </strong>Call AdventureSmith Explorations about the possibilities of combining trips to <a href=\"adventures.php/d/ecuador\">Mainland Ecuador</a> and <a href=\"adventures.php/d/peru\">Peru: Machu Picchu</a>\r\n<br />\r\n<br /><strong>General Information: </strong>This trip is subject to AdventureSmith Explorations <a href=\"termsconditions.php\">Terms and Conditions</a>. Please read this information carefully and call us if you have any questions. A packing list, extensive pre-departure and travel insurance information is sent upon confirmation. We strongly recommend the purchase of Trip Insurance through AdventureSmith Explorations. If purchased within 14 days of sign-up, the pre-existing condition exclusion is waived. \r\n<br />\r\n<br />We look forward to having you join us for the trip of a lifetime! Call today.\r\n<br />