Arrive into Quito, Ecuador’s capital and the jumping off point for your wild adventure on the Galápagos Islands. You will be picked up from the airport via private transport and taken to your hotel. Spend some time exploring the streets of Quito with your guide before meeting up with your co-adventurers at a welcome dinner this evening that will highlight the best of Ecuadorian cuisine.

Bienvenidos! Fly from Quito to the Galápagos island the locals call The Capital of Paradise - San Cristobal, the quaint seaside capital of the Galápagos. Spend the afternoon immersed in nature's theater at La Loberia, a striking coastal stretch where boisterous sea lion colonies reign supreme. Wriggling pups and yawning bulls beckon you to don your snorkel gear and frolic alongside these charismatic marine mammals in their playground of rugged lava shores and crystalline waters. With luck, you may even be serenaded by their iconic barks! As the Pacific's gentle swell lulls you, drink in the spectacular scenery and scout for rays, turtles and a rainbow of fish - an apropriate welcome to these islands of unrivaled biodiversity.

Dive into the azure waters around the steep crags of Kicker Rock today, considered one of the best snorkelling sights in the Galápagos. Snorkel through schools of colorful fish, spotting marine iguanas, sea turtles, rays, and, with some luck, hammerhead sharks. In the crevasses of the rock, you might encounter blue-footed boobies, masked-boobies and frigate birds. Erosion has given the formation its characteristic shape of a shoe (hence the name Kicker Rock). Share stories of today’s animal encounters over lunch and dinner with your fellow intrepid explorers. 

Hop over to Española Island, quite possibly the most spectacular Galápagos island, to visit the Punta Suarez wildlife sanctuary. Hike through unique windswept scenery towards Suarez Point, and enjoy panoramic cliff-top views. Keep an eye out for painted ‘Christmas’ marine iguanas, Galápagos hawks, masked nazca boobies, and the noble waved albatrosses. Then you will head to Gardner Bay, a beach full of sea lions and hood mockingbirds, where you will have time to relax on the beach and go snorkeling with reef sharks, turtles, and many species of tropical fishes.

Take a spectacularly scenic early morning boat ride towards Isla Floreana. Along the way keep your eyes peeled for wildlife such as dolphins and whales. On the island, there will be plenty of time to snorkel in the clear blue waters in search of large, smiling sea turtles, and sting rays. After lunch venture to a black sand beach which belongs to the Witmers, decendents of some of the first settlers on the Galápagos. The town here, Puerto Velasco Ibarra, has about 150 residents and an intriguing history involving deaths, disappearances, and murders. Later in the afternoon, wave goodbye to Floreana and continue to Isla Isabela.

Hop on small pangas (inflatable, motorized dinghies) this morning and make a beeline for Tintoreras, better known as Shark Alley. Spend an idyllic day hiking and snorkelling your way around this exquisite isolated islet, a popular iguana nesting site that’s home to hundreds of marine iguanas. Snorkel in a calm inlet with colourful fish, giant manta rays and spectacular underground lava tubes. This area is also frequented by green sea turtles that like to rest on the calm, sandy bottom. 

Today, you'll rub shells with the real stars of North Seymour - its resplendent residents! This uninhabited islet is a prime rookery for boisterous blue-footed boobies, with their laugh-out-loud courtship dances. Keep an eye skyward for magnificent frigatebirds and other feathered characters soaring overhead. But the headliners are undoubtedly North Seymour's thousands of lumbering land iguanas - Godzilla-esque vegetarians who've roamed here for millennia. After the morning's wildlife theatrics, it's off to lovely Bachas Beach on Santa Cruz. This nesting refuge for sea turtles also hosts the occasional flamingo flamboyance in its serene lagoon. Cap off your final day in paradise with a snorkel through turquoise waters before a farewell feast recounting your wild Galápagos escapades!

On your final day, you will visit the Charles Darwin Research Station, which is dedicated to the conservation and protection of the Galápagos Islands. Meet Lonesome George, one of the Island’s most famous residents, now preserved at the nearby Fausto Llerena Breeding Center. Then it’s time to say goodbye to this one-of-a-kind archipelago and fly back to mainland Ecuador. From Quito, why not continue to explore more of South America, check out the Atlas Obscura Guide to Ecuador for itinerary inspiration. Until our next adventure!