Day 1: Fly to Quito via Europe on a daytime flight arriving late afternoon. On arrival you will be met and transferred to your hotel where you will stay for the next two nights.
Day 2: After breakfast you will embark on a visit to the colonial centre of Quito. Walk through the Main Plaza visit the Government Palace, the Cathedral and some of the most important churches built around the XVI and XVII centuries. After lunch you can enjoy an educational visit to the “Ciudad Mitad del Mundo” and the Ethnographic Museum.
Day 3: After breakfast, transfer to the airport for the domestic flight to the Galapagos Islands. Your first visit is to 600-acre private reserve where the giant Galapagos tortoises freely roam, graze and sleep. 5-minute bus ride to the entrance of a 450 meter 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 of nature, lava flows. Stalagmites, stalactites, sulphur and mineral coloured walls, a rippled lava floor can all be experienced. Afterwards you will check into your hotel for lunch. You will be staying on the island of Santa Cruz on a full board basis.
Day 4: Today you have an opportunity to spend a full day cruising on a boat cruise. Disembarking to explore one of the Galapagos Islands.
Day 5: In the morning you will visit a local school in Puerto Ayora. Steppes Schools is able to create a link to this school before you visit so the children will feel at once at home. The children have time to spend with the pupils of the school and interact with their morning. Later you will visit the most import recycling project supported by the students of Puerto Ayora-Santa Cruz Island. See Community Projects for more detailed information
Day 6: Today you have another day scheduled for Island cruising.
Day 7: After breakfast today you will be privileged to enjoy a behind the scenes visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station to learn about all the current projects. It is a chance to see the famous Lonesome George, the last giant tortoise of his species. Afterwards, you will have an opportunity to visit the Puerto Ayora Culinary School. See Community Projects for more detailed information
Day 8: Today you have to say good bye. You will be transferred to the airport where you will meet your flight back to Guayaquil on the Ecuadorian mainland. In the evening you return home overnight and via Europe.
Day 9: Arrive Home