wild galapagos, historic peru

Day 1: Arrive Quito, Ecuador

Fly from your gateway city to Quito, Ecuador. You will be greeted by a John Hall’s Alaskarepresentative and transferred to your hotel for the following two evenings, Swissotel. 

Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Swissotel, Quito 

Day 2: Quito City Highlights

Begin your journey with a welcome breakfast and orientation by your private guide. Next, enjoy a guided tour of Quito. Visit Panecillo Hill for a panoramic view of the city. Continue to Quito’s Old Town. Walk through the colonial streets and stop at the Independence Plaza admiring theGovernment’s Palace and Ronda Street. You will also visit the San Francisco Church, built during the 17th century. Fifty minutes northwest of Quito is the amazing “Mitad del Mundo” (Middle of the World) experience. Visit the current equatorial line and straddle the two hemispheres. In addition, you’ll have a chance to participate in several experiments at the Intiñan Museum, such as watching water go down a drain in a different direction only inches away from either side of the equator, or balancing an egg on a nail, or using an ancient sun dial, etc. You will also enjoy the amazinglandscape at Pululahua Crater just 5 minutes from latitude zero, inside of the PululahuaGeobotanical Reserve. 

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Swissotel, Quito
 

Day 3: Galapagos Islands: Baltra & North Seymour

Today’s adventure begins with a morning flight to Baltra Island and immediate transfer to the dock to board the Yacht La Pinta, your home for the following six nights and host to seven days of adventure! After settling into your cabin and a boat drill, set sail and explore the coast of Baltra
Island. Following an afternoon disembarkation, enjoy a walk along the coast and the interior of North Seymour island, observing numerous bird colonies as well as sea lions and land iguanas. There are opportunities for coastal exploration by dinghy 

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Yacht La Pinta 

Day 4: Galapagos Islands: Isabela & Fernandina

Since there is no landing site on Isabela, the coastal exploration is by panga, while the naturalist guide explains the dramatic geology of the area, with remains of lava flows and tuff stone layers. There is abundant wildlife and, depending on the conditions of the ocean, you’ll be able to snorkel
along the cliffs, hopefully in the company of green sea turtles. In the afternoon, visit the youngest and most pristine island of the archipelago, Fernandina, one of many visitors’ all-time favorites. Punta Espinoza has an amazing combination of barrenness and abundant wildlife. Highlights
include hawks, penguins, flightless cormorants and astounding views of the surrounding volcanic landscapes.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Yacht La Pinta
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Day 5: Galapagos Islands: Isabela

After breakfast, disembark at Urbina Bay, on the western side of Isabela Island, the result of an uplifting of the ocean floor. Here you can see corals, shells, and large and very colorful Galapagos land iguanas, as well as (occasionally) giant tortoises. Navigating the Bolívar Channel, there are good chances of spotting several species of whales. On the northwest of Isabela, secluded Tagus Cove provided a favorite anchorage for pirates and whalers over the centuries, and today makes a great visitor site. An uphill hike takes you to the back of Darwin Crater, filled with salt water. You can snorkel or ride kayaks amid the dramatic landscape before going on a hike.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Yacht La Pinta 

Day 6: Galapagos Islands: Rabida

In the morning, disembark at Rabida Island’s red-colored beach. A stroll along the beach allows you to observe marine iguanas, mockingbirds, yellow warblers and several species of Darwin’s finches. This is a great place to snorkel from the beach. For non-snorkelers, ride a glass-bottom boat for an exploration of life underneath the waves. The north shore of Santa Cruz hosts the fascinating landscapes of Cerro Dragon (Dragon Hill). Take a stroll, circling a brackish water lagoon frequented by lagoon birds. Further inland, the trail offers a beautiful view of the bay and the western islands of the archipelago, as well as the chance to observe land iguanas.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Yacht La Pinta

Day 7: Galapagos Islands: Santa Cruz

This morning’s visit heads to the Charles Darwin Research Station and the giant tortoise pens within an impressive giant prickly-pear cactus forest. These are the Galapagos’ headquarters of scientific investigation, conservation and the National Park administration. A delicious lunch is served at the poolside of the Finch Bay Eco Hotel. After lunch, head up to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island by vehicle. This is a great place to look for the emblematic Darwin’s Finches and the endemic Scalesia trees. The highlands are also great for exploring the exuberant vegetation where giant tortoises roam in the wild. This will surely be one of the most remembered visits of the whole voyage.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Yacht La Pinta 

Day 8: Galapagos Islands: Floreana 

After breakfast, land at Post Office Bay to visit the historic barrel that has served as a post office in the archipelago for over two centuries. Panga rides along the maze of channels on Floreana’s north shore can also be enjoyed. Views from La Lobería and the Baroness Viewpoint are quite
rewarding. There’s great kayaking and swimming from the beach as well. Before disembarking at Punta Cormorant, you can snorkel or ride a glass-bottom boat along the coast of an extinct cone called “Champion Islet”. Later in the afternoon, a visit to Punta Cormorant takes in an olivine-crystal beach for an easy walk by a brackish water lagoon where bird species like American flamingos may be observed. On the other side of the island, come to a white-sand beach where sea turtles come out at night to nest.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Yacht La Pinta

Day 9: Fly to Guayaquil, Ecuador

Bid farewell to your luxury yacht as you disembark for the final time at Baltra Island. Transfer to the airport and take a flight to Guayaquil where you will transfer to the Hotel Oro Verde, your home for one evening.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Hotel Oro Verde, Guayaquil

Day 10: Fly To Cusco and The Sacred Valley

After breakfast at your hotel, transfer to the airport and fly to Cusco. As Cusco is over 11,000 ft., and you are staying at sea level, you will be picked up by your private guide and taken down into the Sacred Valley to help you get used to the increase in altitude. Lunch will be at Wayra Restaurant
with a Peruvian paso horse show. Overnight at the Hotel Tambo del Inka for two nights.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Hotel Tambo del Inka, Cusco
 

Day 11: Sacred Valley

Begin your day with a drive to the Salineras de Maras, thousands of individual ancient salt mines that form unique terraces in a hillside. The mines, small pools thickly coated with crystallized salt have existed in the same spot since Inca days and are still operable. Families pass them down like deeds. Enjoy a picnic lunch. In the afternoon, visit one of the wilder Inca sites in Peru, the concentric ring terraces found in Moray. Three main sets of rings, like bowls, are set deep into the earth, forming strange sculpted terraces. The site may have had ritualistic purposes, but most
likely, it was an agricultural experimental station. Next, drive to the town of Ollantaytambo. The town itself will seem to still be in Incan times with small cobbled streets. Visit the Ollantaytambo Incan Fortress. Because of its strategic location in the Sacred Valley, Ollantaytambo became a
prime center within the Inca Empire. It was generally reserved for the elite, and the Fortress was first a place of worship and defense.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Hotel Tambo del Inka, Cusco 

Day 12: Machu Picchu

Transfer to the Ollantaytambo train station this morning and board your Hiram Bingham train, enjoying a gourmet brunch on your way to the town of Aguas Calientes, at the base of Machu Picchu. Travel by bus up the mountain to the entrance of Macho Picchu. Here you will participate
in a privately guided tour of the ruins. Late afternoon, take the bus down the mountain and board the Hiram Bingham train for a ride back to Cusco. This time you will have a gourmet dinner and entertainment while en route. Upon arrival in Cusco, check into the Palacio del Inka hotel for one evening.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Palacio del Inka, Cusco​
 

Day 13: Cusco and Fly Home

Today begins with a half-day privately guided city tour of Cusco. See the Plaza de Armas, the Inca Wall, the Templo de Sol, the Fortress of Sacsayhuaman, where religious ceremonies were performed, the Inca Baths, with a sophisticated canal system, the Kenko Amphitheater and the
Koricancha Temple. The rest of your afternoon may be spent at leisure exploring Cusco. Early this evening transfer to the airport for flight to Lima and then continuing flights bound for home.

   Breakfast and Lunch Included.

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