EXPLORE USA -03
GALAPAGOS AND HIGHLANDS OF ECUADOR TOUR (10Days/9Nights)
Day 01
Arrival at Ecuador & Stay Night in there
Day 02
Visit Charles Darwin Station
The Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS) is a biological research station operated by the Charles Darwin Foundation. It is located on the shore of Academy Bay in the village of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands, with satellite offices on Isabela and San Cristóbal islands.
The objectives of the CDRS are to conduct scientific research and environmental education for conservation. The Station has a team of over a hundred scientists, educators, volunteers, research students, and support staff from all over the world.
Santa Cruz island
The island's coastline has steep cliffs, large sea caves, coves, and sandy beaches. The highest point is Devils Peak, at over 2,450 feet (747 m). A central valley splits the island along the Santa Cruz Island Fault, with volcanic rock on the north and older sedimentary rock on the south. This volcanic rock was heavily fractured during an uplift phase that formed the island, and over a hundred large sea caves have been carved into the resulting faults. The largest of these is Painted Cave, among the world's largest.
Stay Night in Galapagos
Day 03
Isabela Island
Isabela is also interesting for its flora and fauna. The young island does not follow the vegetation zones of the other islands. Isabela's rich bird, animal and marine life is beyond compare. Isabela is home to more wild tortoises than all the other islands. Today, tortoises roam free in the calderas of Alcedo, Wolf, Cerro Azul, Darwin, and Sierra Negra. Other noted species include penguins, cormorants, marine iguanas, boobies, pelicans, Sally Lightfoot crabs, Galápagos land iguanas, Darwin's finches, Galápagos hawks, Galápagos doves, and very interesting lowland vegetation. The west coast of Isabela in the Bolivar Channel is the best place in Galápagos for viewing whales and dolphin.
Other popular attractions include El Muro de las Lágrimas, a wall built by prisoners when the island was a penal colony, and the Flamingo Lagoon, named for the flamingos found there. Both are in the south of the island.
Sierra negra Volcano
Sierra Negra (Spanish: Black Mountain) is a large shield volcano at the southeastern end of Isabela Island in the Galapagos that rises to an altitude of 1124m. It coalesces with the volcanoes Cerro Azul to the west and Alcedo to the north. It is one of the most active of the Galapagos volcanoes with the most recent historic eruption beginning in June 2018 and continuing through the summer.
Guided tours of the volcano typically start at Puerto Villamil and traverse the rim of the caldera along its East side before heading into the fresh lava fields north east of the main crater.
Stay Night in Galapagos
Day 04
Visit Punta Moreno, Isabela Island &Elizabeth Bay
Stay Night in there
Day 05
Fernandina Island
Punta Espinoza is a narrow stretch of land where hundreds of marine iguanas gather in large groups on black lava rocks. The famous flightless cormorant inhabits this island as well as penguins, pelicans and sea lions. The Narborough Island tortoise is a highly elusive species of Galápagos tortoise restricted to the island, thought likely extinct when no sighting had been made for 113 years after 1906, one old female being found in 2019.
Mangrove forests are also found on the island.
Visit Tagus Cove & Darwin Lake
Stay Night in there
Day 06
Visit Espumilla Beach & Stay Night in there
Day 07
Move to Quito & Stay night in there
Day 08
Moving to Otavalo
visit a Rosa Plantation in this rote
Visit Inle Lake
Boat ride at San Pablo Lake
Shopping at Plaza of Ponchos market
During the market's peak, almost one third of the town becomes full of stalls selling textiles, tagua nut jewelry, musical instruments, dream catchers, leather goods, fake shrunken heads, indigenous costumes, hand-painted platters and trays, purses, clothing, spices, raw foods and spools of wool.
Stay night at Otavalo
Day 09
Cuicocha Lake
The intra-caldera islands, on the other hand, support some wildlife, most notably the silvery grebe, which lives around the reeds and feeds on small fish, frogs, crayfish, small water snakes, seeds of water plants, and insects. The bird is found in upper temperate and lower páramo zones throughout the Andes, but little is known about the species. In 1974 a census was taken of the population of grebes at Cuicocha and 44 birds were found.
Move to Quito & Stay night in there
Day 10
Alameda Park Zoo
Notable species at the zoo include the White Sands pupfish, the Mexican wolf, the Hawaiian goose, and the Ring-tailed Lemurs.
The zoo is a Species Survival Plan Captive Facility for the Mexican gray wolf, and in 2006 there were two wolf’s residents in the zoo. Some special exhibits include a lemur exhibit, a birds of prey exhibit, and a butterfly garden.
Visit the presidential palace, the main cathedral, the gold-plated La Compañía Church, San Francisco Church and San Francisco Plaza.
Move back to Airport