Darwin's Triangle with Red Mangrove Galapagos Lodges

Day 1: Santa Cruz Island

Arrive in the Galapagos. You will arrive into the Baltra Airport on Baltra Island, north of Santa Cruz. This is a former US Naval Base. You will pass through what is essentially Galapagos Customs. You will pay your park fee, retaining the part you will need for departure. If you have purchased a program or airport transfer, a Red Mangrove Representative will meet you at the airport to assist with luggage. You will board a Tame or Aerogal bus for a five-minute ride to the ferry. From there, you board a passenger ferry for the 5-minute crossing to Santa Cruz Island. It is a scenic, 45-minute drive up and over the highlands and down into Puerto Ayora and the Red Mangrove Aventura Lodge. After check-in, you will have lunch at the Lodge.

RED MANGROVE AVENTURA LODGE:
Our Aventura Lodge in Puerto Ayora is as enchanted as the islands themselves. From the bright, hot light of the equatorial sun and the bustle of activity along Charles Darwin Avenue in Puerto Ayora, suddenly you step inside a cool, shaded tunnel of wild red mangrove and stroll into another world. The terracotta colored, soft adobe walls seem to rise organically from the mangrove forest. The horizon is an emerald green bay dotted with blue and white boats with the shops, restaurants and other hotels of Puerto Ayora lining Academy Bay as a backdrop. This shore has no beach, only broken, jet black volcanic rocks which add yet another contrast to this extraordinary palette of color. That the Red Mangrove Aventura Lodge is so close to both the Charles Darwin Station and the town of Puerto Ayora, yet is seemingly its own secluded little world right in the middle of it all is a very rare find anywhere in the world.

Afternoon: La Loberia & Tortuga Bay
Depending on the tide, departure will either be from our own dock or the main dock in Puerto Ayora. Our shaded speedboat will comfortably whisk you in roughly 10 minutes to “La Loberia” Island, named after its large colony of sea lions. You will have the chance to snorkel with these frolicking creatures, a great opportunity for photos if you have underwater housing for your camera. Keep an eye out for sea turtles and try not to be so distracted by the playful sea lions that you forget about the great variety of colorful fish.

Next we will travel over to Tortuga Bay, one of the most beautiful beaches on Santa Cruz Island with powdery white sand and calm turquoise water. On the way through the bay, you may see sea turtles, Galapagos sharks, reef rays, pelicans, blue footed boobies and herons in the mangrove forest lining the bay’s side as well as other Galapagos marine birds.

We will disembark for a quick walk to observe marine iguana colonies sunning and sneezing the salt from their recent outings at sea. The ‘long’ walk (10 minutes) back to Tortuga Bay is through a cactus forest above a carpet of crimson Sesuvium ground covering. It is a stunning array of colors against the beautiful blue skies, the black volcanic rock, the white sand and the emerald green or deep blue sea. Just remember to keep an eye on the path so you don’t step on a marine iguana, as they are very abundant in this area. Enjoy your box lunch in the sun, under the shade of a beach umbrella or under one of the trees that line the beach. No doubt you will have many Galapagos ground finches nearby hoping to pick up crumbs from your lunch. As tempting as it is, please do not feed the finches. Outside food products may disturb their digestive tracks or cause other harm. After lunch, enjoy a swim in this peaceful bay or just relax awhile.

Next we will go to Punta Estrada where we will sail through the Canal de Amor (Tunnel of Love). Many endemic birds nest or rest in the cavernous walls providing wonderful up-close and personal photo opportunities with blue-footed boobies, pelicans, lava herons, frigates and more. We will disembark for a short, rocky walk where you will probably need to step around the sleeping sea lions to walk out on the dock above volcanic rocks dotted with bright orange/red Sally Lightfoot crabs before heading over to a viewing platform to observe resting white-tipped reef sharks in abundance. If you wish (and/or weather/visibility permits), we will bring the boat around to the Canal entrance where you can snorkel with the sharks. Eagle rays have also been known to visit this canal.


Day 2: Puerto Ayora – Floreana

Morning: 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.

Tortoise Quest Tour: This tour begins with a trip to "Los Gemelos" (The Twins), two enormous collapsed lava chambers - an awe-inspiring visual reminder of the power of nature. The short, easy hike to each of the twins is teeming with endemic flora and fauna, including the remaining Scalesia Forest draped in Liverwort, large and small tree finches, the adorable Vermillion flycatcher and more. It's a wonderful introduction to the majestic power of the forces of natures and the great biodiversity of the Santa Cruz Highlands.

Afterwards, we will visit a 600-acre private reserve where the giant Galapagos tortoises freely roam, graze and sleep. Sometimes, it's a bit muddy here, so before we set out, there is a selection of field boots to choose from, large sizes for men are available. You will be transported through this tropical environment by truck and from there, you walk through fields to mingle with these gentle giants. As prehistoric as these creatures look, wait until you hear what they sound like!

After visiting the tortoises, we'll take a 5-minute ride to the entrance of a 450 meter (1350 feet) illuminated lava tunnel. With a ceiling nearly 20 feet high in most places, this is an incredible opportunity to ramble through the remnants of one of the most powerful forces in nature...lava flows. Stalagmites, stalactites, sulfur and mineral colored walls and the rippled form of a floor of lava can all be experienced in this uniquely Galapagos stroll.

In the Afternoon: Return to Aventura Lodge for lunch. 2:00 PM departure for Floreana. Sailing time is 1.5 – 2 hours.

Floreana: We will arrive into Floreana around 4PM. First, we cruise a cove called “Luz del Dia” (Light of Day). There is an abundance of life in this cove. You will most likely see penguins and sea lions on the steep, rocky shore and rays and tropical fish beneath the clear waters. We will continue on to the main dock in Floreana. It’s not unusual to have to ‘shoo’ sea lions sleeping on the steps we need to ascend. On the other side of the dock are black lava rocks typically full of the amazing rich red and turquoise colored Floreana marine iguanas. We will head to our Red Mangrove Floreana Lodge for check-in. You will have a couple of hours free before a BBQ dinner.

RED MANGROVE FLOREANA LODGE: Our newly constructed Lodge in Floreana consists of 10 wooden cabins located directly in front of the sea. Consider it well-appointed camping in cabins, although be warned...the lodge has no air conditioning nor fans and it can get hot during the day though it is pleasantly cool in the evenings. We have routed our itineraries with this in mind. Each cabin has one full bed and two twin bunk beds, a private bathroom with hot water and spectacular views of the sea. We provide pure drinking water, cotton towels and fresh linens. Soothing ocean waves beat against black lava shoreline mere meters away from your front door. A broad, wooden deck runs the length of the 10 cabins down to an open, breezy gazebo on the sea at our isolated part of Floreana Island...a nice cool place to lounge in the afternoon heat.

Though only five minutes out of town, we are located where the road ends. A path behind us leads you to a magical sandy point where a colony of sea lions sun on a sandy beach. Anywhere sea lions gather is called La Loberia. In Spanish, sea lions are called “lobos del mar” or “wolves of the sea”. In the Galapagos, they’re usually referred to as simply “lobos”. Take your gear with you to enjoy the opportunity to snorkel with the frolicking sea lions. Just be careful of the macho protecting his harem. He can be aggressive.

Turtles are frequently in the sea through the desolate stretch in front of Floreana Lodge and Black Beach, located back towards town. This is a black, sandy beach called Playa Negra, which can be another great place to snorkel or just relax. Both La Loberia and Playa Negra are easy walks from our Lodge. Puerto Velasco Ibarra is the ‘town’ in Floreana, but with only 120 inhabitants, there is NO nightlife. You come to Floreana for the exploration of this renown island, its wildlife and to walk in the footsteps of the early “Floreana Mystery” inhabitants. Nowhere else in the Galapagos is it possible to stay overnight in such an isolated, undeveloped location.


Day 3: Floreana – Isabela

Morning: Wake-up call at 6:30 AM. Staff will call for your luggage at 7:00 PM for transport to dock. Breakfast. 8:00 AM departure.

Floreana Highlands Tour: An open-air bus will transport you up to the highlands of Floreana while your Naturalist Guide begins filling you in on the history of 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. 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.

RED MANGROVE ISABELA LODGE: Our Lodge (in Puerto Villamil on the island of Isabela) is located directly in front of the sea on one of the most beautiful, white sand, palm-lined beaches all of the Galapagos. It stretches on for 3 kilometers (1.8 miles).

Our Lodge offers 8 oceanfront guest rooms. Each guest room has 2 queen beds and a private bath. Guests arriving at our Lodge on Isabela tend to be very pleasantly surprised by the luxurious appointments and spectacular ocean views. We provide pure drinking water, fresh linens, cotton towels, housekeeping, AC and a CD Alarm clock with an iPod dock. There are two charming decks...one wooden with chaises and umbrellas and the other a roof deck with spectacular views of the sea under the shade of bushy palm trees. The beach is quite broad and the sea beyond that is a spectacular shade of Isabela green. Immediately in front of the Lodge, at low tide, Isabela marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies and sea lions grace our shoreline in abundance offering guests great up-closes and personal photo ops.

The laid-back fishing village of Puerto Villamil, with its sandy streets and tree trunk street lights is surrounded by lagoons on one side, where you often find many aquatic birds (especially the huge, pink Great Flamingo) and a remarkably beautiful sea on the other. Penguins are often spotted around the town’s main dock as they dash through the crystal-clear water.

2:30 PM departure to La Tintoreras: 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


Day 4: Isabela

Morning: Wake-up call 6:30 AM Breakfast. Depart for Sierra Negra at 8:00 AM. 4X4 vehicles will drive us up through the transitional zone and into the humid highlands that are the slopes of Valca Sierra Negra until we can go no further. Here, we will mount horses to continue our journey. Horses are tame, trail horses, however, there is the option to walk. The trail is quite muddy and it does take a bit longer on foot.

After a gorgeous ride / hike, we arrive to the caldera of Sierra Negra, the second largest in the world at 4 miles across. The views are breathtaking! We will relax a bit and have a snack on the edge of the caldera. For the more hardy of the group, the option exists to walk an especially difficult hour further to Volcan Chico, where fumarole activity is abundant and again, the views are spectacular. This is not an easy hike, as it is mostly across lava fields on slopes.

Afternoon: After returning from Sierra Negra, we will have a late lunch at the Lodge, around 2:30 PM. Most people are ready to catch up on a bit of rest and relaxation at this point in the tour. Many prefer to laze on the beautiful beach or climb on the rocks to take photos of the marine iguanas and blue-footed boobies. If you wish, near the main dock of Isabela is a beautiful walk through the mangrove that leads to an area known as Concha de Perla. In the shallow waters there is a sea turtle ‘cleaning station’. It’s a great place to snorkel and see these creatures from a few feet away.

Evening: Briefing and dinner in the Lodge at 7:00 PM.


Day 5: Isabela – Santa Cruz

Morning: Wake-up call 6:30 AM. Staff will call for your luggage at 7:00 AM for transport to dock. Breakfast. 8:00 AM departure for tour. We begin with a drive out of town along the most beautiful, white sand, palm lined beach in the whole of the Galapagos, Long Beach. This travel magazine cover stretches on for 3 kilometers before we hit the National Park. Here we climb some stairs to take in an astounding vistas from the top of Cerro Orchilla.

As we drive down the road, you will very likely see the largest of the Galapagos marine iguanas sunning by the side of the road and don’t be surprised if you have to wait for a Galapagos tortoise to cross the road in front of you. You will visit the “Muro de Las Lagrimas” (Wall of Tears), backbreaking effort carrying jagged volcanic rock distances when constructed by prisoners of a penal colony built there. The path to the Wall of Tears is abundant with lava lizards, the males are larger and striped and the females red-throated. If you visit during breeding season, be careful not to step on or disturb the many nests along this trail. They appear as holes that a gopher might have dug, but in fact are nests. Birds are also incredibly abundant and your Naturalist Guide will assist you with identification.

Isabela has more tortoises in the wild than any other island with several sub-species as lava fields created a barrier that limited their mobility to freely roam. On your way back to town, you will visit the Interpretation Center, a breeding center for the giant Galapagos Tortoises and the only place to view the rare, remaining flat backed (so-called 'tabletop' shells) Galapagos tortoises, many of which still bear the scars of volcanic activity from Sierra Negra.

Around 11:00 AM, we will depart Isabela for Santa Cruz (sailing time 1.5-2 hours). We arrive into Puerto Ayora around 12:30/1:00 PM. We will check into the Aventura Lodge and have lunch. We depart at 3:00 PM for a guided tour of the fascinating Charles Darwin Research Station. After the Darwin Station there will be some free time to shop for souvenirs or browse the shops along Charles Darwin Avenue.

Evening: Dinner is at 7:00 PM at the Aventura Lodge. You have the night free to enjoy Puerto Ayora. Puerto Ayora is a very safe town, but we do recommend that you remain in the central area of Charles Darwin Avenue along the sea front. Many galleries and gift shops line the avenue. The Malecon is a lovely walk along the sea in front of the main dock in Puerto Ayora.

Most early evenings offer lots of activity as locals compete earnestly in well-played volleyball games. Many spectators turn out and we hear more that a bet or two might be placed on the teams playing. Next to the volleyball courts, as the sun begins setting, the steps down to the sea are a great place to watch blue-footed boobies perform their kamikaze dives to feed in the shallow rocks now hidden by the high tide. They have a pattern of diving, then flying in huge loops, often only a few feet above where you’re sitting, before they return for the next dive. Just after sunset, walk to the main pier and stand under the bright lights. Baby sharks, rays, pelicans and sea lions are all drawn to the light to begin their nightly feeding.

Across from the main dock is the supermarket, an ATM machine and the post office. You can buy postcards at many of the gift shops in town and then mail them back to friends and family from the post office. They might appreciate the many colorful Galapagos postage stamps as much as hearing from you!

About half way between the Red Mangrove Aventura Lodge and the main dock in Puerto Ayora is a small park with a wooden deck through the mangrove, a pleasant way to see pelicans very close-up. In the park, you can also find a daily highlight in Puerto Ayora. Watch pelicans, sea lions, frigates, blue-footed boobies and herons vie for scraps as the local fisherman bring in their daily catch. They are all so focused on the potential goodies, that they are oblivious to the gallery of photographers, all as thrilled as you will be to snap away at the countless photo ops this experience provides, sometimes from mere inches away. A group of a dozen or more pelicans, with one or two sea lions tucked in the fray, sit quivering as if in anticipation. A fisherman will toss a piece and they swarm for the bounty. At times, the fisherman’s arm may move in a motion that makes them think he is about to throw something, at which point, in complete unison, the pelicans necks follow the motion before realizing it was false hope. Sometimes, a sea lion stands between two fishermen rubbing his head against their legs like a pet cat. It doesn’t seem to create any position of favor though. If the frigates sweep in, it can seem like a scene Hitchcock should’ve used.


Day 6: Departure Day

Morning: Wake-up call and breakfast will depend on your flight departure time.

Departure: You will need to depart 3 hours before your flight in order to be assured of arriving back at the Baltra Airport the requested 1.5 hours before your flight. We will transport you from the hotel to the airport, accompany you on the ferry over to the airport and assist you the whole way with your baggage. Before entering the ‘gate’ to depart, you will pass through a line where you need to present the part of your Migratory Control card that you have carefully guarded and now have handy for the Immigration officer.