Morning: Students will enjoy breakfast at the hotel and then take part in a group  orientation to go over the plan for the week.  Afterwards, we take our bus into the old town of Quito known for being the best-preserved capital city in Latin America. 

Our first stop is to the Panecillo statue which overlooks the town of Quito. This high view point is an icon of old town and provides for amazing panoramic views of the city. We then travel by bus down into old town Quito to walk the winding cobblestone streets. You will take in the spender and energy of the city as your guide introduces you to architecture and history of Quito and Ecuador. 

Afternoon: After a visit to La Compania (the Golden Church) we will walk into to the Plaza Grande, which holds the Presidential Palace, city hall and Bishops Palace.  We will enjoy lunch at a local restaurant and then continue our stroll through history with stops at the Palacio del Gobierno (President’s house), the Independence Monument, and the La Basilica Church to name a few of the highlights.

Evening:  Overnight at Hotel Rincon Escandivavo in Quito. 

Meals: BLD

Morning: We wake up early to head to the airport for our flight from Quito, Ecuador to the Galapagos National Park. After landing in Baltra, we will make our way to Santa Cruz and Puerto Ayora. The drive will take us through desert in the low areas, and then to cloud forest in the high part. This is where you will catch your first glimpse of giant tortoises right from the road!

Afternoon: We will enjoy lunch at the harbor In Puerto Ayora before loading our bags on the boat for Isablela Island. We take a 2.5 hour speed boat ride to Puerto Villamil in the south of Isabela, the largest island of the archipelago and known for its diversity. On arrival to Isabela Island we take our bus to the hotel and get settled in. 

Evening: Overnight Hotel Cally 

Meals: BLD

Morning:  Today is an all day adventure.  We start by picking up our snorkeling gear at the dive shop before heading to the harbor to go to Los Tuneles. We will ride on a fast boat to the west of Isabela, towards Cabo Rosa where the area known as the Tunnels is found. This is an extensive lava flow formed by long and numerous lava tubes with collapses that result on beautiful basaltic arches surrounded by pristine turquoise waters.  You will step from the boat to the shore and take an easy stroll in this other-worldly environment. You will see turtles and other marine life meandering through the labyrinth of tunnels below you as you walk on the lava trails. There are Blue-footed Boobies and their nests everywhere. Your guide will explain the courtship dance, and nesting behavior of this photogenic birds. You might even see the dance.  Other species include albatrosses, flamingos, iguanas, royal frigate birds, and penguins.

There are several park-designated snorkeling sites that your guide will choose and you will have two opportunities to get in the water to explore.  Expect to snorkel with schools of golden rays, spotted eagle rays, seahorses, white-tipped and black-tipped sharks, and huge sea turtles.  

Afternoon:  We make our way back to Isabela harbor and our hotel.

Evening: Overnight Hotel Cally

Meals: BLD

Morning: After breakfast at the hotel, we head to the harbor to snorkel in the calm waters of La Concha de Pearl. At the harbor we divide the group in two. One will start with kayaking in the bay and the other group will go to Concha Perla to snorkel.

Kayaking: 

Participants paddle across the bay from the beach in search of Galápagos penguins, blue-footed boobies, sea lions, and other mega fauna. Your guide will explain about these unique lava formations.

Snorkeling in Concha Perla:

This protected oasis is usually full of sea lions sleeping on the boardwalk and sea turtles in the water munching on algae. You will be surprised at how close you can get to these animals for some amazing photos. 

Afternoon:  We walk back to the village for lunch. We then explore the mangroves behind the village and lagoons with flocks of American flamingos, black neck stilts, white cheek pintail ducks and black gallinules. This important transition zone between ocean and freshwater habitats is home to schools of fish like mullet and colorful reef fish like filefish, parrotfish, and big animals like sea turtles and sea lions.  From there we will walk to the Giant Tortoise breeding center where we will see the tortoise populations from the volcanoes of southern Isabela.

Evening: Dinner and overnight at Hotel Cally

Meals: BLD

Morning:  We enjoy and early breakfast before taking our bus to the harbor for our boat to Santa Cruz. On arrival we take our bus to our hostel to leave our bags. At the hostel we have a chance to use the bathrooms before leaving to get our snorkeling gear for the next day.

Afternoon: After lunch, we start hiking to Tortuga Bay. The Tortuga Bay habitat is a mix of mangroves, historical lava flows, palo santo forest, opuntia prickly pear cactus and salt brush shrubs. The contrasts in color can be stunning. Jet black lava combines with pure white sand, lush green vegetation and turquoise waters to form a wonderful palette of complimentary tones. 

At Tortuga Bay we look for marine iguanas (and swim with them) in the huge tide pool and for other animals like octopus.  We have some time to relax at the beach and swim before our hike back into town.

Evening:  We enjoy dinner and overnight at Hotel Coloma, Santa Cruz.

Meals: BLD

Morning:  After an early breakfast, our group will be picked up from the hostel and taken by bus up and over the island to the Itabaca Channel where the crew of our boat will be waiting for us. During the one hour boat trip you will be able to spot grey shapes from the Bursera Graveolens trees, that almost never carry any leaves. 

Seymour was created many million years ago due to the elevation of tectonic plates and the island has a flat shape with many small cliffs that serve as home for the local seabirds. Swallow-tailed gulls and frigate birds overfly the island, frigate males showing their big red throat pouches to find their mate.

Meanwhile along the path, many blue footed boobies will be nesting or executing their mating ritual in which they dance and whistle in a very unique way. It is also common to see these birds flying near the coasts looking for food and dive into the water at high speed, a stunt that they are only able to perform due to a special waterproof protection on their wings.
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Afternoon:  After lunch we will have the opportunity to snorkel the waters around Seymour. Seymour is the island which best represents the known Galapagos species, as you will also be able to see sea lions, sea and land iguanas, pelicans, great and magnificent frigate birds and many others

Evening: Dinner and overnight at Hotel Coloma

Meals: BLD

Morning: After breakfast we walk to Charles Darwin Research Station and the home of the giant tortoise breeding center, opened in 1964 and the only place where we can see Saddle Back Giant Tortoises. We'll learn about the Foundation's successes in repopulating the islands with the once endangered land iguana and several species of giant tortoise and see the most representative animals of the islands.

We then take the bus up to Los Gemelos to see two sink holes which are part of the geomorphological decline of a volcano. There we will walk through the Scalesia Forest to the lava tunnel that we walk through.  We arrive in Primicias, where we take a walk around to see the tortoises.

Afternoon: After lunch, we participate in. a service learning project at Primicias to learn about and plant endemic plants to this island and remove invasive ones.

Evening: Dinner and overnight at Hotel Coloma..

Meals: BLD

Morning:  After breakfast at the hotel, we head to the airport, check in our bags for our flight back to Quito.  Each student will get a box lunch to enjoy at the airport on on the flight.

Afternoon: We arrive in Quito, grab our bags and take our bus to the hotel.

Evening: Dinner at hotel and overnight at Hostel Rincon Escandivavo

Meals: BLD

Morning:  After breakfast we head to the Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World). It is located in Pomasqui, on route to the airport. On our way there, you will have the opportunity to stop off to taste the exotic flavors of the helado de paila, a type of ice popsicle made with local fruit following recipes more than 50 years old. 

The monument of the Middle of the World houses an ethnographic museum, which gives an introduction to the different ethnic groups that live in Ecuador. Outside the monument, you will have the unique photo opportunity to pose for pictures with one foot in each hemisphere and conduct experiments that can only be done at the equator.

Afterwards we head to the airport to board our flight home saying goodbye to Ecuador and the magic of the Galapagos.

Meals: B