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Photo By Flickr
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Photo By Flickr
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Photo By Flickr
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Photo By Flickr
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AM
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Wake-up call at 6:30 AM. Staff will call for your luggage at 7:00 AM
for transport to dock. Breakfast. 8:00 AM departure in an open-air bus that
will transport you up to the highlands of Floreana while your Naturalist
Guide begins filling you in on the history of this, the first settled island
in the Galapagos. You will walk up to see the Asilo de la Paz (Peace Asylum) where the
spring is located, an artisan spring that attracted pirates, whalers and
later settlers to Floreana as it was one of the very few year round sources
of fresh water in the Galapagos. The Cueva de los Piratas (Pirate's Cave) is
quite literally where pirates carved temporary shelter out of soft stone and
is also where one of the original settlers, Margret Wittmer, gave birth to a
son, Rolf, who is still living. Some have almost jokingly referred to it as
the 'Stonehenge' of Floreana due to its interesting shapes. Cerro Pajas (Bird
Hill) truly lives up to its name with a multitude of Floreana Finches. It
also offers spectacular views of the island and the sea below. We will visit
a tortoise reserve where you can watch many of the giant tortoises up close
and personal. All the while, your Naturalist Guide will be pointing out the
wildlife and filling you in on the colorful history of Floreana's first
inhabitants like the Baroness and re-telling the legend of the "Floreana
Mystery" which entailed the mysterious deaths of several inhabitants. It
has never been solved. Departure at 11:00 AM for Isabela. Sailing time is 1.5
- 2 hours.
MID-DAY: Weather and tides permitted, as we approach Isabela by sea, we will
cruise by Isla Tortuga which is chocked full of frigates, blue-footed boobies
and other birds that rely on the sea for their food. If you brought
binoculars, this is a good time to pull them out. We will arrive into Isabela
between 12:30 and 1:00 PM. Arriving in the port is a visual feast with
stunning green and turquoise waters so clear, you can see sea turtles, sea
lions and penguins as though looking through glass. We will check-in to the
Red Mangrove Isabela Lodge and have a hot, wholesome lunch.
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PM
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2:30 PM departure to Las Tintoreras and Bay Tour. After lunch, we will
board a smaller craft to head out across the port, slowing down to view blue
footed boobies and Galapagos penguins sharing the same rocky, sunning space
before turning a bend and docking. From there, we take an intriguing walk
through a jagged 'AA' lava field, passing abundant colonies of marine
iguanas, to see a small canal full of resting white-tipped reef sharks…if the
tide is low, they are sometimes a mere 2 feet below the surface. The views from here
are something you may carry with you for the rest of your life! The black,
treacherous lava field, the emerald green sea, the forest green mangrove and
the cloud capped volcanoes of Isla Isabela is the sort of afternoon backdrop
you are not likely to ever forget. Once you return to the dock, you can
snorkel this warm, shallow bay surrounded by mangrove, for an opportunity to
see white-tipped reef sharks, sea lions, penguins and, of course, the mystery
of the mangrove below the surface. Don't worry, white-tipped reef sharks are
not aggressive, merely fascinating.
We'll have a bit of time to relax and shower before briefing and dinner in
the Lodge at 7:00 PM
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