Galápagos Highlights with Ecuador's Amazon(ISQC)

Welcome to Quito. Your hotel is available for mid-afternoon check-in.

Fly to Coca and travel by motorized CANOE to your selected Amazon lodge, your home base for the next three nights.

At the Napo Wildlife Center: Your time in the Amazon accompanied by a Local Guide includes early morning EXCURSIONS to parrot clay licks; dugout canoe rides in search of river otters, potoos, kingfishers, hoatzins, jacamars, hawks, and monkeys; and walks along the canopy platform to view Spider Monkeys, aracaris, toucans, Blue and Gold Macaws, numerous species of tanagers, and the Red-Rumped Cacique. In your free time, consider a walk through the jungle in search of interesting plants and colorful or well-camouflaged insects. You are also invited to join families of the Anangu indigenous community on their daily activities, such as harvesting bananas, coco, and manioc.

At the Sacha Lodge: During your stay, enjoy EXCURSIONS with a Naturalist who introduces you to the Amazon. On the suspended rainforest canopy walk your Naturalist points out many different species of vibrantly colored birds. Jungle walks show off the immense biodiversity and medicinal plants that have been used by the native cultures for hundreds of years. Visit the lodge’s butterfly house, one of Ecuador’s largest, and take a night walk or canoe ride with a Local Guide to discover creatures that can rarely be seen during the day! You will also cruise through the flooded forest in search of troops of squirrels, capuchin, and howler monkeys—and maybe even the incredibly well camouflaged 3-toed sloth. After fishing for piranhas, arrive at the Kapok Tree tower, perched 135-feet high. Get close-up views of birds as the sun sets on volcanic Mount Sumaco and the Andes.

Depart your Amazon lodge and fly from Coca to Quito today. The remainder of your afternoon is at leisure.

Your included PRIVATE CITY TOUR showcases the rich legacy left by the Incas and the Spaniards. See Independence Square, dominated by its formidable cathedral, San Francisco Plaza Church, and the BASILICA with its marvelous stained-glass windows.

Fly to Baltra in the Galápagos. Upon arrival, board a yacht bound for NORTH SEYMOUR, an island teeming with life. You might have to give way to a passing sea lion, marine iguana, or blue-footed boobies that nest here. As you walk along the shore, see large flocks of pelicans in a dive-bomb feeding-frenzy, and one of the Galápagos’ largest nesting sites of the magnificent frigatebird. In the bushes you can see the males up close with their puffed-up scarlet throat sacs. Return to the yacht and continue to the Finch Bay Hotel.

SPECIAL FEATURE: Named after the famous Darwin’s finches that are abundant in the surroundings, the Finch Bay Eco Hotel offers a private seaside location surrounded by mangroves. Amenities include a bar, lounge, restaurant, and outdoor pool—and beachfront access. All rooms offer twin beds, private restroom, and air-conditioning. Guests will enjoy daily boat excursions to various Galápagos Islands, kayaking, snorkeling, bicycle rides in town, and viewing the local flora and fauna.

Transfer to the lush highlands of SANTA CRUZ to a farming area called El Manzanillo on the edge of the GIANT TORTOISE RESERVE. Here, tortoises can be seen grazing year-round, along with woodpecker finches, mockingbirds, and flycatchers. After lunch, visit a LOCAL FARM, where coffee, sugar cane, and cocoa beans are grown, harvested, and prepared. Return to the hotel and perhaps spend time on the private beach.

Board a yacht bound for SANTA FÉ, where you will see the endemic Santa Fé land iguana and the large opuntia cactus forest. The beach area is covered with California sea lions, and the coastline is an excellent location for snorkeling with sea turtles.

Today’s adventure takes you to wildlife-rich DIVINE BAY on Santa Cruz Island. Marine iguanas, herons, noddy terns, blue-footed boobies, and tropicbirds are commonly seen here. You may explore by boat, or if you’re more adventurous, you can take to the sea by kayak. Keep an eye out for sea turtles, rays, and reef sharks as you cruise the tranquil waters. Return to the hotel for lunch, followed by an afternoon visit to the CHARLES DARWIN RESEARCH STATION, established to help conserve the Galápagos’ natural habitats and protect the area’s famous giant tortoises.

Depart the hotel this morning and visit the TWIN PIT CRATERS en route to Baltra. These great depressions of volcanic material were formed by a long process of slow sinking of the ground, where exceptional Scalesia trees, ferns, mosses, and orchids can be seen in the surroundings. Then, fly to Guayaquil on Ecuador’s Pacific coast and transfer to the hotel for your final night in Ecuador.

Your vacation ends with breakfast this morning.