Birding
The Galapagos Islands

TRIP COST: $3950 per person
$2,000 nonrefundable deposit to reserve your spot with the balance due on Oct. 1, 2024.

INCLUDED:

Round-trip airfare from Quito to Galapagos ($500pp).

Guided birding – 8 days of guided birding and adventures.

Lodging – One night in Quito, three nights on San Cristobal Island, three nights on Santa Cruz Island and one night on Isabella Island.

High-speed boats between islands.

Meals – all meals from Jan. 24 to breakfast on Jan. 31.

All fees including Galapagos Tourism Fee ($200pp), Island fees, snorkeling fees and park entrance fees.

Airport pickups and drop-offs in UIO.

NOT INCLUDED:

Flights to Quito (UIO).

Lodging/meals prior to Jan. 23 or after Jan. 31.

Alcohol with meals, laundry or other personal expenses.

Thursday, Jan. 23– Arrivals in Quito

Most flights arrive late at night. We will meet you at the airport and take you to your hotel.

Friday, Jan. 24– Flights to Galapagos

We will take the morning flight from Quito to San Cristobal Island. After checking into our hotel for the next three nights, we’ll have a nice lunch. In the afternoon we'll visit the cliffs to look for Red-billed Tropicbirds, Swallow-tailed Gulls and Blue-footed Boobies. On our way back to town, we will likely see Magnificent Frigatebirds gliding effortlessly.

Night on San Cristobal

Saturday, Jan. 25– Waved Albatross

This morning we’ll board a high-speed boat that will take us to Española Island where Waved Albatrosses breed. We’ll also look for Nazca Booby, Española Mockingbird, Española Ground-Finch, Galapagos Dove, Galapagos Hawk, and more. We’ll return to San Cristobal Island for dinner at sunset.

Night on San Cristobal

Sunday, Jan. 26 – Swim with Sea Lions

Today we'll explore San Cristobal Island. After a nice breakfast, we can take a drive in the highlands where there are several endemic birds like San Cristobal Mockingbird, Small Tree-Finch, Woodpecker Finch, Grey Warbler-Finch and a nesting colony of Galapagos Petrels. In the afternoon we can relax on the beach and snorkel with sea lions.

Night on San Cristobal

Monday, Jan. 27 – Giant Tortoises

We’ll take the early boat to Santa Cruz Island, enjoying the two-hour trip where we’ll have the chance to see some Galapagos pelagic species like Galapagos Petrel, Wedge-rumped Petrel and Band-rumped Storm-Petrel. After arriving at our hotel, we can visit the highlands where there are many birds including Galapagos Rail, a Galapagos subspecies of Short-eared Owl, Yellow Warbler and many finches like Small Tree-Finch, Large Tree-Finch, Woodpecker Finch, Vegetarian Finch and Common Cactus-Finch. We should find other specialties like Galapagos Mockingbird and Galapagos Flycatcher as well. 

We have the option to visit the Charles Darwin Station to see the giant tortoises that are protected there, or we could opt to go snorkeling at Las Grietas, which translates to The Crevasses. Here we can swim in the exceptionally clear water that flows between two volcanic fissures and see an amazing variety of oceanic life.

Night on Santa Cruz Island

Tuesday, Jan. 28 – North Seymour Island

We’ll spend the day exploring North Seymour Island, a short 45-minute boat ride from the dock on the north end of Santa Cruz Island. We should have good looks at both Great and Magnificent Frigatebirds as well as Blue-footed and Nazca Boobies, Lava and Swallow-tailed Gulls, Common Noddy, and more.

Night on Santa Cruz Island

Wednesday, Jan. 29 – Flamingo Lagoon

Today we transfer to Isabella Island and visit the beautiful Flamingo Lagoon.

There are so many birds here, we might just spend all day birding, snorkeling and sampling the delicious and fresh seafood! The lagoon takes its name from the Greater Flamingoes that are often right on the beach. There are many birds you will recognize from home like Common Gallinule, Whimbrel, Black-necked Stilt, American Oystercatcher, Great Blue Heron, Pied-billed Grebe, Blue-winged Teal and White-cheeked Pintail.

Night on Isabella Island

Thursday, Jan. 30 – Swim with Sea Turtles

After a nice breakfast and maybe a walk on the beach, we’ll tour Los Tuneles, a volcanic flow with shallow water channels that is home to an amazing variety of sea life Green Sea Turtles breed here. We will see Galapagos Penguins and, with luck, Flightless Cormorants as well. In the evening we’ll have the option to return to Santa Cruz Island for our final night in the Galapagos or spend the night on Isabela.

Friday, Jan. 31 – Flights to Quito

Please read through Rocky Mountain Birding terms and conditions here.