5 days aboard Treasure of Galapagos

Today you fly to the magical Galapagos Islands! At the departures hall of the Quito airport, you must reach the Galapagos Government Council counter, to purchase the Transit Control Card ($20 per person, must be kept safe during the trip as it has to be presented again upon return). Then your luggage will be inspected to make sure that no foreign plants or animals are introduced on the islands. Next you will catch the flight to San Cristobal island, and upon landing there, authorities will collect the Galapagos National Park entrance fee ($200 per adult, $100 per child), unless it has been prepaid. A guide holding an Oniric Cruises sign will meet you, help you collect your luggage, and escort you on a short bus ride to the harbour, and board the Treasure cruise. After a warm welcome, cabins will be assigned and lunch served.

We disembark back to San Cristobal and drive to Cerro Colorado, where a Tortoise breeding centre is located. This was established to manage the conservation efforts of this giant reptile, whose populations have been decimated by invasive species, including humans. During this visit you will be educated about the environmental concerns of the islands, observe breeding tortoises and follow an interpretive trail. Along the route it is possible to observe different species of native and endemic plants as well as birds including the San Cristobal Mockingbird, Yellow Warblers, and many species of finches and the Galapagos flycatcher. Return on board for your first dinner and cocktail onboard.

Last night we navigated to Española island, the oldest in the archipelago, estimated at over 4 million years old, located in the extreme southeast of the archipelago. On the north-eastern coast of this island, Gardner Bay offers a wonderful place to refresh in the turquoise sea and to snorkel side by side with eagle rays, golden rays, barracudas, batfish, turtles, sea lions, and white tipped sharks.

This island is one of the greatest in the world for birdwatchers. Different kinds of finches, frigates, blue-footed boobies and Nazca boobies can be found, as well as the endemic Española mockingbird, Albatross, and Galapagos hawk. Watch your step, because each Albatross' couple lay an egg on the floor and make it roll over to improve hatching success. The juveniles attend the cliffs of the island to learn to fly by jumping into the abysm. And the chicks are organized in nurseries where they will safely remain while the adults are away at sea. Another highlight during this visit is “El Soplador”, a 25 m water geiser produced by ocean waves crashing with great pressure with cracks in the island’s cliff, spouting up through a lava tunnel. This site offers a fantastic background for a meditative experience or a memorable photo.

In the afternoon, you will have a wet landing on this peninsula that is covered with aromatic palo santo forest. The sand at the beach is green, because it contains a high percentage of glassy olivine crystals that have been blown out by the surrounding tuff cones. Crossing to the other side of the peninsula, there is a ‘flour sand’ beach that originated from coral that was pulverized by Parrotfish. From the shore you could spot schools of stingrays who love burying themselves in the sandy bottom. During the first months of the year, Pacific green turtles come ashore to bury their eggs. Return on board.

In the morning we will navigate to Post Office Bay. This mailing station has been intermittently in use since 1793, when the Galapagos began to be used a resupplying port for Pacific pirates. You can join their tradition and send greeting cards to your beloved ones worldwide using the historical barrel (it works). Nearby, the beach is normally visited by sea lions, pacific green turtles, golden rays and even penguins. Next, you may climb the miniature basaltic cone of Baroness Lookout and take in the paradisiacal coastal views. This viewpoint was the favourite spot of one of Floreana’s first modern-era colonists, the eccentric self-proclaimed Baroness and ‘Empress of Galapagos’ Eloisa von Wagner Bosquet, who even built her house a few metres behind. She and one of her lovers were the first in a series of mysterious disappearances and deaths occurring in this island during the 1930s.

Only few tours set foot ashore on the extraordinary uninhabited island of Santa Fe, which therefore remains rather exclusive to naturalist cruises. You will stroll right through a Galapagos sea lion rookery, the giant opuntia cactus forest and go in search of the pale Barrington land iguana, which is endemic to this uninhabited island (as many incredibly evolved island species). There is a diverse loop route, and a challenging alternative trail that climbs a scarp cliff. Of course, you will have the opportunity to snorkel from the iconic Barrington Bay and spot whitetip reef sharks cruising in the shallow waters as well as plunge-diving blue-footed boobies and brown pelicans. Colourful fish such as the king angelfish, boxfish, and parrotfish swim around in these waters as well.

You will disembark to Santa Cruz island, on which rainy and exuberant highlands are located the Twin Craters, impressive lava formations that appeared during a volcanic eruption thousands of years ago, and now are covered by forest. It is a great spot for bird watching: the endemic carpenter finch, which is considered a holy-grail of evolution, can sometimes be seen in these areas using tools to feed. Transfer to Baltra airport.

You will disembark to Santa Cruz island, on which rainy and exuberant highlands are located the Twin Craters, impressive lava formations that appeared during a volcanic eruption thousands of years ago, and now are covered by forest. It is a great spot for bird watching: the endemic carpenter finch, which is considered a holy-grail of evolution, can sometimes be seen in these areas using tools to feed. Transfer to Baltra airport.