Ecuador & the Galapagos

Quito, Otavalo, Santa Cruz, Santiago, Bartholomew, & Seymour Islands

NEW: Prices now INCLUDE airline taxes & fees.
Includes airfare, fuel surcharges, airline taxes and fees, hotels, transfers, many meals, touring & more. *

Overview

Itinerary at a Glance Ecuador & Galapagos Islands
Day	Destination
1	USA/Quito
2	Quito
3	Otavalo Excursion
4	Quito, Baltra & Sant Cruz
5	Galapagos Cruise: Puerto Egas (Santiago Island) & Bartholomew
6	Galapagos Cruise: Santa Cruz & North Seymour Island
7	Quito
8	Depart Quito

Departures	May – September 2012
Departs	Los Angeles (LAX), New York Kennedy (JFK), San Francisco (SFO), Miami (MIA), Washington Dulles (IAD), Philadelphia (PHL), Chicago O'Hare (ORD), Detroit Metro (DTW), Logan (BOS); other gateways on request
Highlights	Quito, Baltra, North Seymour Island, Punta Cormoran, & San Cristobal Island.
Included Features	Round trip flights from Miami via scheduled carriers, including fuel surcharges and taxes and fees with other gateways available on request All ground transportation & transfers Accommodations in Superior & Deluxe hotels with private bath Three-night Galapagos Cruise aboard the Galapagos Legend in superior outside cabins with portholes 7 breakfasts, 4 lunches & 3 dinners Comprehensive guided sightseeing and entrance fees Galapagos National Park Fee ($100) & Transit Control Card ($10) Professional English-speaking tour directors & guides

Discover the wonders of Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands, a remarkable collection of landscapes, people, cultures, animals, plants, and more. Our Galapagos Islands tour covers the highlights of this incredibly diverse country. You'll visit the capital city and UNESCO World Heritage Center of Quito and the colorful and bustling Otavalo market. Round out your tour with a cruise through the Galapagos Islands, a unique, living laboratory, where Darwin, and those who followed, studied evolutionary changes that led to a new understanding of life on earth.

This Galapagos Islands adventure vacation is truly a once in a lifetime trip that you'll never forget. Your Galapagos tour will be filled with discovery, beauty, history, culture and more fun than you can imagine. And while there are no compromises in the quality of the hotels and the scope of touring included in our program, it's yours for a price that's as amazing as the trip itself!

Other packages you might like:

• Exotic Ecuador: 8 days from $1599*
• Peru, Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands: 17 days from $4814*

Dates, Prices & Options

Coming from somewhere else? Ask us about availability and prices for flights from other cities.

Want to stay longer? Unfortunately, we don't offer early departures or late returns on this package.

Deposits & ticketing: Deposit is $600 per person. Flights must be ticketed within 24 hours of booking. Additional charges for flights from cities other than Miami will be charged within 24 hours of your booking. Once issued, the tickets and these charges are unchangeable, non-refundable and non-transferrable. Please be sure to send us a clear copy of the signature and picture pages of your passport within 24 hours of booking to ensure tickets are issued properly.

We must receive photocopies of your passport(s) in our offices within 24 hours of your reservation being completed. If we have not received this information, your reservation will be subject to a higher airfare and/or cancellation.

Detailed Itinerary

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: USA/Quito. Your exciting tour to begins today as you depart Miami for Quito, Ecuador's capital city. Your guide will greet you upon arrival and escort you to your centrally located hotel for check-in. Sheraton Quito

Day 2: Quito. After the morning at leisure, enjoy a panoramic city tour of Quito this afternoon. Arguably one of the loveliest of South American cities, Quito enjoys a spectacular setting surrounded by mountains and several snow-capped volcanoes, including the still-active Mt. Pichincha.

The real beauty of Quito is in its wonderful Old Town, where you'll find blocks of colonial architecture, some of it dating from the mid-1500s when the Spanish founded the city. Before the Spanish arrived, Quito was an important Inca settlement, and before the Inca, other tribes lived at the site. Vintage facades line the streets and large open plazas are surrounded by cathedrals and stately public buildings, including the Government Palace, the first stop on your tour.

 

 

Even more breathtaking than the exteriors are the interiors of some of the buildings, particularly the churches, many of which gleam with real gold leaf. La Compania, the next stop on your tour, has the most ornate and richly sculptured facade and interior, complete with colored columns, 10-sided altars, and gilded balconies. Several of its most precious treasures, including a painting of the Virgen Dolorosa framed in emeralds and gold, are kept in the vault of the Banco Central del Ecuador and appear only at special festivals. Continue to the Monastery of San Francisco, Quito's oldest church. Built in the 16th century, the monastery is an exact replica of the Escorial Palace of Madrid. (B)

Day 3: Otavalo Excursion. After breakfast this morning, set out on a drive along the Panamerican Highway to Otavalo, whose beauty lies in its people, the Otavaleño Indians, and their market, undoubtedly one of the best in all of Latin America. Unlike other indigenous people who have given up their traditional dress for jeans and t-shirts, Otavaleños are still easily identified by their distinctive dress: women wear intricately embroidered blouses and a wealth of beaded necklaces, while men have long, braided hair and wear calf-length white trousers, ponchos and sandals.

The market takes place in the main Plaza, but don't hesitate to wander into the side streets, where the goods on display start to diversify and the prices get lower. Enjoy the cacophony of sounds as Spanish, and Quichua, the native language of the area, mix together with Andean pipe music and the explosion of color from the many fabric, fruit and craft stalls that line the plaza and side streets. Return to Quito this afternoon and enjoy the rest of the day at leisure. (B,L)

Day 4: Quito, Galapagos Cruise: Baltra & Santa Cruz. Transfer to the airport for your flight to Baltra, gateway to the Galapagos Islands. Board your first class cruiser, the M/V Galapagos Legend, your home for the next three nights. Settle into your cabin and set sail for beautiful Santa Cruz Island. The trail to the highlands of Santa Cruz leaves from Bellavista and passes through the agricultural zone, near the National Park boundary, the Miconia Zone and then goes to the Fern and Sedge zone. With clear weather this area affords beautiful scenes of rolling hills and extinct volcanic cones covered with grass and lush greenery all year round.

The scenery will continuously change as you ascend through all seven vegetation zones of the Galapagos. This is sure to be the highlight of your visit to the Galapagos Islands, as this is the place to see giant tortoises, both in the wild and in captivity. MV Galapagos Legend. (B,L,D)

Day 5: Galapagos Cruise: Puerto Egas (Santiago Island) & Bartholomew. Today land in James Bay at the western end of Santiago Island. Nearby Puerto Egas with its black sand beaches was the site of small salt mining industry in the 1960s. A hike inland to the salt crater is an excellent opportunity to sight land birds such as finches, doves, and hawks. A walk down the rugged shoreline, especially at low tide, will turn up many marine species. Iguanas bask on the rocks and sea lions laze in the tide pools. At the end of the trail there is a series of grottoes or sea caves where fur seals and night herons are found resting on shady ledges. You may be able to see colorful sea creatures like octopus and starfish caught in the small pools as the tide goes out. You may also see various birds specific to this area like great blue heron, a lava heron, oyster catchers and yellow crowned night heron. If the tide is low, you’ll see marine iguanas grazing on the exposed green algae. Our walk ends at the grottos, deep pools of clear water where we encounter the fur sea lion, once thought to be on the verge of extinction.

Continue to Bartholomew, a small barren island, located in Sullivan Bay off Santiago Island. Bartholomew has two important sites. At one of them it is possible to climb to the summit of the island, where you will be able to observe a variety of volcanic formations, spatter and tuff cones, lava flows and lava tubes. The moon like landscape provides the most scenic panorama in the archipelago. At the other site, you may swim and snorkel from a beautiful beach or walk across the isthmus to another beach that faces south, where swimming is prohibited. Multicolored fish and occasionally penguins may be seen at the base of the tall pinnacle rock, which dominates Bartholomew’s landscape. (B,L,D)

Day 6: Galapagos Cruise: Santa Cruz & North Seymour Island. Early in the morning after landing on Santa Cruz Island, you will walk to a hypersalinic lagoon behind the beach. Here you may have the opportunity to view Pink Flamingos. The trail then leads up to Dragon Hill, which offers a beautiful view of the bay. Thanks to the island's Charles Darwin Research Center, this area is also an important nesting site for a large population of land iguanas.

Continue to North Seymour Island, located to the North of Baltra. It’s a flat and low-lying island, formed as a result of the uplift of a submarine lava formation. The vegetation is mainly low and bushy, and contains the largest colony of magnificent frigate birds in the Galapagos. There is also a large population of blue footed boobies nesting from May to November and by the coastline resides a colony of playful sea lions. (B,L,D)

Day 7: Quito. Today you will disembark and transfer back to the airport in Baltra for your flight to Quito. Enjoy some final leisure time in Quito for you last night in Ecuador. Sheraton Quito (B)

Day 8: Depart Quito. Today bid adios to Ecuador as you transfer to the airport to board your return flight to the USA. Depending on your flight schedule, optional tours may be available for purchase locally. Late check-out is also available for a supplement for flights departing Quito this evening. (See Dates & Prices). (B)

IMPORTANT NOTE: The high altitudes reached on this trip (Quito is at 9,200 feet above sea level) and the amount of walking involved, often on uneven terrain, require that you be in good physical condition to fully enjoy the trip. We strongly suggest that you consult your physician if you have any concerns regarding your ability to handle these conditions.

Cruise Ship

The Galapagos Legend

See specifications, deck plans & photos of the ship.

The recently refurbished Galapagos Legend is one of the most talked-about additions to the expanding Galapagos cruising fleet. The 5-star expedition-style Legend offers all of the comfort and amenities of a larger cruise vessel, but is small and specially designed to navigate the waters of the Galapagos. With a passenger capacity of only 100, the Legend provides an intimate cruising adventure that allows you to experience up-close the unrivalled beauty of the Galapagos Islands.

The Legend's bright and spacious cabins are comfortable and well-appointed. All cabins feature adjustable climate controls, closet, safety deposit box, and a private bathroom with shower and hairdryer.

Booking & Travel FAQs

Shop and Compare

Our tours may look similar to others you've seen, but we invite you to shop & compare. There are important differences that make Friendly Planet tours the best you can find.

No Compromise on Quality: Despite our extraordinary prices, there are no compromises on our South America tours. You'll stay in Deluxe and Superior First Class, centrally located hotels that are noted for their amenities and service, and you'll cruise aboard the newly refurbished, 5-star M/V Galapagos Legend.

Included Features: Your transfers as well as important visits to all the "must see" places in Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands are all included, not expensive extras as in other tours.

Free Destination Guide: You will receive a free, comprehensive Friendly Planet Ecuador & Galapagos destination guide with lots of destination information, helpful hints, plenty of night-life and restaurant suggestions, organized by cuisine and cost, so you have up-to-date spots to try on the evenings when dinners are not included. Your free guide will even include recommendations for tipping, local customs, dress, great shopping spots and much more.

Credit Cards or Cash: Whether you pay by check, money order or your favorite major credit card, your tour price on this tour is the same. No extra cost to charge your dream vacation when you book with Friendly Planet.

Personal Service: Most important of all, the extra ingredient that makes our tours stand apart from others—the wonderful, personal attention you'll receive from our friendly staff in the USA and our representatives in South America —is completely free of charge. Compare our programs to others, feature for feature. You'll see for yourself that ours are the very best value for money you'll find anywhere.

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