Independent Galapagos At the Finch Bay Resort

Welcome to Quito, where your hotel is available for mid-afternoon check-in.

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 marvellous stained-glass windows. (B)

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. (B/L/D)

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. (B/L/D)

Board a yacht bound for Santa Fe, where you will see the endemic Santa Fe 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 snorkelling with sea turtles. (B/L/D)

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 feeling 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 Galapagos' natural habitats and protect the area's famous giant tortoises. (B/L/D)

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. (B)

Your holiday ends with breakfast this morning. (B)