Luxury Ecuador, Galapagos Islands and Amazon
itinerary by Tim Lapage and Safari Experts

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Day 1    Hotel Plaza Grande - Quito, Ecuador

Arrive Quito, Ecuador on American Airlines, Delta, Continental, or LAN.

You will be met upon arrival by a driver and your guide Marcia Simon Alvares, who will transfer you into the heart of Old Quito and the Hotel Plaza Grande. This legendary building possesses an eclectic and neoclassical architecture, and a compact structure that broke with the homogenous colonial homes of the historic center. Previously known as the Majestic Hotel, its doors first opened in 1943. The hotel was renowned for its elegance, music and color, delighting thousands of guests and becoming one of the biggest attractions of the era.

The hotel closed its doors, but the building remained in service, first as a bank and then as administrative offices for the municipality of Quito. In 2005, the old hotel was restored to its former glory and is now Quito's finest hotel.

Days 2 and 3    La Mirage - Cotacahi - Andes

After breakfast you will be collected by Marcia and spend the morning exploring the old city of Quito. You will then drive an hour and a half up into the mountains to La Mirage located on an Andean hillside in the city of Cotacachi. La Mirage, a Relais and Chateau property, is built on the beautiful grounds of a 200 year old Hacienda.

Day 3 - Tour Cotacachi, a town that is known for its beautiful leather goods. The traditional methods of tanning leather, stretching and molding skins, shaping, sewing and painting are passed down from generation to generation and the people living in this region have somewhat perfected the art of leather working.

Days 4 - 7    Napo Wildlife Center - Amazon basin

You will depart in the morning back to Quito airport for check in at 10:30am. You'll depart on VIP 2605 at 11:30am on a 25-minute flight over the Andes Mountains' majestic snow-covered peaks and down over 8500 feet (2600 meters) into the Amazon Region to the town of Coca (officially known as Francisco de Orellana) on the Napo River. After a short drive from the airport to the dock, you'll board a large, motorized, covered canoe for a scenic two-hour trip down the Napo River. Upon arriving at the entrance to the Napo Wildlife Center Reserve, you'll switch to smaller, dugout canoes and you will be paddled up the Blackwater creek to the lake and lodge (no motorized transport is allowed on the creek or lake so that wildlife isn't disturbed).

This paddle can take anywhere from one to three hours, as on the creek you might see Giant Otters, potos also known as kinkajous , kingfishers, Hoatzins, jacamars, hawks, and monkeys. You will eat lunch en route and arrive at the lodge by late afternoon.

This lodge consists of 10 luxury cabañas and a large dining hall with a library and a well-stocked bar. Attached to the bar is a 50-foot viewing tower from which you can see the Andes on a clear day! The rooms are huge (over 450 sq. ft.), always clean, and include:

• one king-sized bed and one twin-sized bed (up to 3 people)
• private bathrooms with on-demand hot water showers
• private porches with lake views
• 24-hour electricity with plenty of lights and plenty of 120v outlets
• ceiling fans and secure screens for plenty of bug-free ventilation

The lodge itself is beautiful with local architecture, hardwood floors and well-considered amenities. Nearby blinds built at parrot clay licks bring the action to you, a 120-foot canopy tower deep in the forest allows you to experience the life above the forest floor, and the natural attractions are simply unmatched in Amazonian Ecuador.

Enjoy Monkeys, Parrots, and Giant Otters during the day, with the comfort of a hot shower, tasty dinner, and a cold beer at the end of the day. This is the way to see the rainforest in luxury!

Day 8    Hotel Casa Aliso - Quito

Napo Wildlife Center will transfer you to Coca for your departure on the VIP flight back to Quito, arriving at 12:40pm.You will be met upon arrival and transferred to Casa Aliso. This 10-room gem offers all the style and comfort of a small luxurious home with an especially inviting interior. The use of color, wood, iron and marble throughout creates the atmosphere of a sophisticated private residence, maintaining the same tradition and elegance as when it was built in 1936.

Delightfully secluded, Casa Aliso is well known to experienced travelers who want to be close to everything, but desire a quieter, more refined atmosphere. It is located in the fashionable residential neighborhood of "La Floresta", a stones throw away from the hustle and bustle of the city, yet just a short taxi ride away from some of Quito's most popular tourist attractions.

Days 9 - 15    Galapagos Islands Cruise - M/S Alta

The M/S Alta will be your home for the next seven days, as you experience one of the great wildlife experiences on earth. The M/S Alta is a 140-foot ketch rigged Motor Sailer. Recently refurbished, she is a stylish yacht that has that special charm of a sailing ship. Alta has 8 cabins that accommodate up to 16 passengers. Each cabin has its private facilities with toilets and walk in showers, but please bear in mind, the cabins are small. Alta is one of the most charming yachts in the Galapagos and directed for travelers who seek something unusual.

Saturday Morning: Fly from Quito to Galapagos - Puerto Baquerizo, Island of San Cristobal

You will be collected from your hotel at approximately 7:45am and transferred to the Domestic departures at the airport, for your charter flight to San Cristobal, via the coastal city of Guayaquil. Arrive San Cristobal at 11:45am, local time. (The Galapagos Islands are one hour later than mainland Ecuador.)

San Cristobal Island: Galapagos National Park Visitor Centre

Upon arrival in Puerto Baquerizo, the administrative capital of the islands and a sleepy little port town, you'll pass through Park Inspection, after which you'll be met by your guide holding a sign for the Alta.

In 1998 the Galápagos National Park Visitor Centre opened for the benefit of islanders and travelers alike, presenting a comprehensive exhibit of the islands' natural history, human interaction, ecosystems, flora and fauna. Your guide will use the exhibits to provide an illustrated overview of the natural history of the islands. From the Interpretation Center, a short trail arrives at Frigate Bird Hill, where both "magnificent-frigates" and "great-frigates" can be seen in the same colony-ideal for learning to distinguish the two bird species. You'll also be treated to views of the harbor where your yacht awaits you below. It's a very short ride to the harbor and it's not long before you will be crossing from shore to reach the Alta. Your captain and crew will be waiting to greet you and will take care of seeing to it that your bags reach your cabin. Now it's time to get settled in, have some lunch, and relax as you set out on your voyage.

Saturday Afternoon: San Cristobal - Playa Ochoa

We set out along the coast of San Cristobal heading northeast toward our first landing at Playa Ochoa. This inviting powdery beach beside a turquoise bay is home to a small colony of sea lions. A tidal lagoon, sitting behind the beach, is frequented by flamingos, Darwin Finches and the endemic San Cristóbal (Chatham) Mockingbird. Playa Ochoa is a great introduction to the islands offering your first opportunity to go snorkeling with sea turtles and the archipelago's playful 'wolves of the sea'.

Sunday (Day 02): Tower (Genovesa) Island-Prince Philip's Steps

Sunday Morning: Tower Island - Prince Philip's Steps
Tower Island could serve as a film set for a secret submarine base! The southwestern part of the island is an ocean-filled caldera ringed by the outer edges of a sizeable and mostly submerged volcano. The island sits to the northwest, slightly removed from the Galápagos archipelago. It is also known as " Bird Island," a name it lives up to in a spectacular way.

Named for a visit by the British Monarch in 1964, 25-meter (81-foot) Phillips Steps leads to a narrow stretch of land that opens out onto the plateau surrounding Darwin Bay, and extends to form the north side of the island. Red-footed boobies wrap their webbed feet around branches to perch in the bushes, and, in contrast, their "masked-booby" cousins dot the surface of the scrublands beyond. Crossing through the sparse vegetation, you will come to a broad lava field that extends towards the sea-this forms the north shore. "Storm petrels" flutter out over the ocean in swarms, and then return to nest in the cracks and tunnels of the lava field, where their predator, the short-eared owl, is a frequent.

Sunday Afternoon: Tower Island-Darwin Bay Beach
Landing on the white coral sands of Darwin Bay and walking up the beach, you will be surrounded by the bustling activity of "great frigate birds." Puffball-chicks with their proud papás-who sport their bulging scarlet throat-sacks-crowd the surrounding branches, while both yellow-crowned and lava herons feed by the shore. Farther along you will discover a stunning series of sheltered pools set into a rocky outcrop, forming another natural film set. A trail beside the pools leads up to a cliff overlooking the caldera, where pairs of swallow-tailed gulls, the only nocturnal gulls in the world, can be seen nesting at the cliff's edge. Lava gulls and pintail ducks ride the sea breezes nearby.

A brief panga ride brings us to the base of those same cliffs to reveal the full variety of species sheltering in the ledges and crevices created by the weathered basalt. Among them, red-billed tropic birds enter and leave their nests trailing exotic kite-like tails. This is also an intriguing place to go deep-water snorkeling, where the truly fortunate swimmer can spot one of the giant manta rays that frequent the inner bay along the cliff walls. You might also see them at the surface as the sun set's on your first full day in the Galápagos. Tonight we cross from the eastern side to the far western side of the archipelago.

Monday (Day 03): Isabela (Albemarle) Island and Fernandina (Narborough) Island

Monday Morning: Isabela Island - Tagus Cove
On the way to Tagus Cove, the yacht will sail through the Bolivar Channel. These are the coldest, most productive waters in the Galápagos due to the upwelling of the Cronwell Current. Dolphins and whales are frequently seen here. Tagus Cove, named for a British naval vessel that moored here in 1814, was used historically as an anchorage for pirates and whalers. One can still find the names of their ships carved into the rock above our landing, a practice now prohibited, of course. The cove's quiet waters make for an ideal panga ride beneath its sheltered cliffs, where blue-footed boobies, brown noddies, pelicans and noddy terns make their nests, and flightless cormorants and penguins inhabit the lava ledges.

From our landing, a wooden stairway rises to the trail entrance for a view of Darwin Lake, a perfectly round saltwater crater, barely separated from the ocean but above sea level! The trail continues around the lake through a dry vegetation zone, and then climbs inland to a promontory formed by spatter cones. The site provides spectacular views back toward our anchorage in the bay, as well as Darwin Volcano and Wolf Volcano farther north.

Monday Afternoon: Fernandina Island-Punta Espinosa
At 1495 meters (4,858 feet), the big news on this youngest and westernmost of the islands is La Cumbre volcano that erupts frequently, most recently in May 2005. Fernandina sits across the Bolivar Channel opposite Isabela. Our destination is Punta Espinosa, a narrow spit of land in the northeast corner of the island, where a number of unique Galápagos species can be seen in close proximity. As our panga driver skillfully navigates the reef, penguins show off by throwing themselves from the rocks into the water. Red and turquoise-blue zayapas crabs disperse across the lava shoreline, while herons and egrets forage through the mangrove roots. The landing is a dry one, set in a quiet inlet beneath the branches of a small mangrove forest. A short walk through the vegetation leads to a large colony of marine iguanas-a schoolyard of Godzilla's children-resting atop one another in friendly heaps along the rocky shoreline, spitting water to clear their bodies of salt. Nearby, sea lions frolic in a sheltered lagoon. This is one of the few places you can glimpse iguanas grazing on seaweed underwater.

Farther down this stretch of shore, the world's only species of flightless cormorants have established their colony near an inviting inlet frequented by sea turtles. Because these birds evolved without land predators -it was easier to feed on the squid, octopus, eel and fish found in the ocean -the cormorants progressively took to the sea. They developed heavier, more powerful legs and feet for kicking, serpent-like necks, and wet, fur-like plumage. Their wings are now mere vestiges. Back toward the landing and farther inland, the island's black lava flows become more evident, forming a quiet, inner lagoon. Galápagos hawks survey the entire scene from overhead.

Tuesday (Day 04): Isabela (Albemarle) Island

Tuesday Morning: Isabela Island - Urbina Bay
Urbina Bay is directly west of Isabela's Volcano Alcedo, where we will make an easy, wet landing (a hop into a few inches of water) onto a gently sloping beach. In 1954, a Disney film crew caught sight of this gleaming white strip, and on further investigation found pools of stranded sea creatures! To their astonishment, three miles (5 km) of the marine reef had been uplifted by as much as 13 feet (4 meters) in moments. Now visitors can walk amongst the dried coral heads, mollusks and other organisms that formed the ocean floor. A highlight of this excursion is the giant land iguanas, whose vivid and gaudy yellow skin suggests that dinosaurs may have been very colorful indeed. Giant tortoises inhabit this coastal plain during the wet season, before migrating to the highlands when it turns dry. Our landing beach also provides opportunities to snorkel amongst marine creatures, or just relax on shore. Here we must take care not to step on the sea turtle nests dug carefully into the sand.

Tuesday Afternoon: Isabela Island- Punta Vicente Roca
Punta Vicente Roca is located at the 'mouth' of the head of the sea horse, which forms the northern part of the Isabela. Here the remnants of an ancient volcano form two turquoise coves with a bay well protected from the ocean swells. The spot is a popular anchorage from which to take panga rides along the cliff where a partially sunken cave beckons explorers. Masked and blue-footed boobies sit perched along the point and the sheer cliffs, while flightless cormorants inhabit the shoreline. The upwelling of coldwater currents in this part of the Galápagos, give rise to an abundance of marine life which, in combination with the protection of the coves, make Punta Vicente Roca one of the archipelago's sough after dive spots. One cove is only accessible from the sea by way of an underwater passage. The passage opens to calm waters of the hidden cove where sea lions like to laze on the beach having traveled along the underwater route. The entire area of Punta Vicente Roca lies on the flank of 2,600 foot Volcano Ecuador. This is the island's sixth largest volcano. Half of Volcano Ecuador slid into the ocean leaving a spectacular cutaway view of its caldera.

Wednesday (Day 05): Bartolome (Bartholomew)

Wednesday Morning: Pinnacle Rock
This Island is famous for Pinnacle Rock, a towering spearheaded obelisk that rises from the ocean's edge and is the best known landmark in the Galápagos. Galápagos penguins-the only species of penguin found north of the equator-walk precariously along narrow volcanic ledges at its base. Sea lions snooze on rocky platforms, ready to slide into the water to play with passing snorkelers. Just below the surface, shoals of tropical fish dodge in and out of the rocks past urchins, sea stars and anemones. A perfectly crescent, pink-and-white sandy beach lies just to the east of the pinnacle. Sea turtles use the beach as a nesting site and can sometimes be found wading in the shallow water near the shore, or resting in the sand to recover from the arduous task of digging nests, laying eggs and covering them over.

Penguins dot the nearby rocks of the next landing site, less than a kilometer along the eastern shore. Here the submerged walls of a tiny volcanic crater give the impression of a fountain pool. This dry landing (no wet feet!) is the entrance to a 600-meter (2000-foot) pathway complete with stairs and boardwalks leading to Bartolome's summit. The route is not difficult and presents a museum of vulcanology; a site left untouched after its last eruption, where cones stand in various stages of erosion and lava tubes form bobsled-like runs from the summit. At the top you will be rewarded with spectacular views of Santiago Island and James Bay to the west, and far below, Pinnacle Rock and our beach, where the crystal blue waters of the bay cradle your yacht.

Wednesday Afternoon: Santiago (James) - James Bay
On the northwestern side of the island is South James Bay (Puerto Egas), which offers access to three unique sites. One landing is on a black beach with intriguing eroded rock formations inland. A trail crosses the dry interior eastward and rises to the rim of an extinct volcanic crater; cracks within it allow sea water to seep in, which then dries to form salt deposits that have been mined in the past. Darwin describes his visit to South James Bay in Voyage of the Beagle.

Another path leads south, where hikers are treated to a series of crystal-clear grottos formed of broken lava tubes. These are home to sea lions and tropical fish, and are the only place in the islands where fur seals can be seen. Further to the north, another landing and path lead to a series of inland lagoons, home to flamingos. Birders coming to James Bay will have the opportunity to spot vermillion flycatchers, Galápagos hawks and the tool-wielding woodpecker finch. Puerto Egas is a good spot for taking pictures-the light for photography is perfect at either dawn or sunset. The lava and the black sand seem to catch fire and the animals acquire a surreal and lovely quality.

Thursday (Day 06): Santa Cruz Island (Indefatigable)

Thursday Morning: Santa Cruz Island - Puerto Ayora
Santa Cruz is the second largest island in the Galápagos 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.

Santa Cruz Island - Highlands
A 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 pasturelands, 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 dry 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.

Thursday Afternoon: Charles Darwin Research Station
Puerto Ayora is home to both the Galápagos National Park and Charles Darwin Research Station, the center of the great restorative efforts 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 Española 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 café.

Friday (Day 07): Hood (Española) Island

Friday Morning: Hood Island - Punta Suarez
Hood is the southernmost island of the archipelago, and is one of the most popular due to the breathtaking variation and sheer number of fauna that greet the visitor. The quantity and variety of wildlife at Punta Suarez is remarkable. Sea lions surf the waves beyond the breakwater landing, and tiny pups are known to greet your toes upon arrival. A few steps inland are the largest variety of marine iguana in the Galápagos. They bear distinctive red and black markings, some with a flash of turquoise running down their spine, and nap in communal piles. The trail then takes us beside the western edge of the island where masked boobies nest along the cliff's edge, and then descends to a rocky beach before rising to an open area and a large gathering of nesting blue-foot boobies. Galápagos doves, cactus finch and mocking birds forage all around you unconcerned by human presence.

The trail continues to the high cliff edge of the southern shore; below, a shelf of black lava reaches out into the surf where a blowhole shoots a geyser of water into the air. Further east along the cliffs is the " Albatross Airport" where "waved albatross" line up to launch their great winged bodies from the cliffs, soaring out over the dramatic shoreline of crashing waves and driven spray. In the trees set back from the cliff is one of only two places in the world where the waved albatross nests. In fact, the 12,000 pairs that inhabit Hood Island comprise all but a tiny fraction of the world's population of this species. Lucky visitors can watch courtship 'fencing' done with great yellow beaks and necks among the large, fluffy, perfectly camouflaged chicks. Mating occurs year round.

Friday Afternoon: Hood Island-Gardner Bay
On the northeastern shore of Hood, Gardner Bay offers a magnificent long white sandy beach, where colonies of sea lions laze in the sun, sea turtles swim offshore, and inquisitive mockingbirds boldly investigate new arrivals. You will be lured into the turquoise water for a swim, but just a little further off-shore, the snorkeling by Tortuga rock and Gardner Island offers peak encounters with playful young sea lions and large schools of surprisingly big tropical fish, including yellow tailed surgeonfish, king angelfish and bump-head parrot fish. Sleepy white-tipped reef sharks can be seen napping on the bottom.

Saturday (Day 08): San Cristobal Island- Lobos - Hacienda Chillo-Jijon

Saturday Morning: Today our voyage comes to an end. But before we bid farewell to the Alta and her crew we pay a visit to Leon Dormido, also know as Kicker Rock, a spectacular formation that rises 152 meters (500 feet) out of the Pacific. It takes the form of a sleeping lion, but from another angle you can see that the rock is split, forming a colossal tablet and, piercing the sea, a great chisel ready for etching. Small vessels can navigate through the narrow channel between the rocks. Following this visit we return to Puerto Baquerizo, where you'll have time for some last minute island shopping.

Board your charter flight from San Cristobal back to Mainland Ecuador, arriving Quito at 4:30pm.

Saturday Afternoon: Hacienda Chillo-Jijon
Met upon arrival at 4:30pm by your guide, Marcia Simon Alvares, who will drive you to Hacienda Chillo-Jijon, approximately a 45 minute drive.

When you arrive you will be personally hosted by owners Jacinto and Mariana Jijon-Caamaño. Any history of Ecuador is peppered with the names of their relatives. Over dinner, while white gloved and coated waiters serve you, Jacinto and Mariana will regale you with stories of Presidents, impeachments and of Jacinto's years as the Ecuadorean ambassador to Italy.

Days 16 and 17    Hacienda San Agustin de Callo - Cotopaxi

After a leisurely breakfast you will be driven to San Agustin...a fantastic hacienda built on old Inca ruins....the dining room walls are all Inca stones! Each room has hand painted murals and wonderful fireplaces...a lovely quirky artistic setting, overlooked by the majestic Mt Cotopaxi. Today's drive will be approximately 1 hour. Enjoy a day of riding or hiking or sitting and reading by the fire in the homey family room. Be sure and ask them to release the llamas into the courtyard for a fun photo op! (Possibly hike the lower Cotopaxi volcano today.)

Day 18    Departure

Today will be spent exploring the area with Marcia as your guide. You will return to Quito for a city tour before transfering to the Quito airport for check-in.