Galapagos Islands: Wildlife Odyssey
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Overview
Highlights
- Search for white-reef sharks, the Galápagos iguana, and more on world famous snorkeling sites
- Relax at the beach of Tortuga Bay, famous for its expansive and pristine shoreline
- Search for blue-footed boobies at Kicker Rock on San Cristobal Island
- Enjoy a meal with a local fisherman and his family in the beautiful town of Cerro Brujo
- Journey to Otavalo for a world-class artisan textile market, Andean instrument making lessons, and lunch with the people of Peguche
What's this trip about?
Details
Travel Themes
Destinations
Attractions
Activities
Trip includes
- 7 nights lodging in premium level accommodation
- Expert local guides that are there to support, inform and guide you throughout the trip
- Reliable in-country transportation with experienced drivers
- Admissions and entrance fees to national parks, historic sites and other scheduled events throughout the trip
- An active daily itinerary including snorkeling, dinner with a local family, hiking, a cable car ride, and more
- All gratuities for hotels, meals & baggage
- $50,000 emergency medical evacuation insurance
- Trip literature & turnkey customer support from preparing for your trip to arrival back home
Popular Trips
Itinerary
Meals: Dinner
On arrival at Quito’s Mariscal Sucre Airport, you’ll be met by a member of our staff for the short journey to your home away-from-home. After a welcome cocktail as you settle into your hotel, sample Ecuadorian cuisine at a welcome dinner and discuss the schedule for the week before a relaxing night.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
This morning we’ll head to the city center of Quito, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for a panoramic view of Alameda Park and the Basilica, eventually making our way to Teleferico Complex, the 4,050 meter cable car located on th...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
After breakfast move on to Otavalo, the village town famous for its artisan markets. Taste the delicious “bizcochos,” a traditional recipe of the Ecuadorian highlands, visit a textile market, and take in the culture of the ind...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
After breakfast, catch a 2-hour flight out to San Cristobal Island in the Galápagos Islands. You will be met by our naturalist guide who will take us to the San Cristobal highlands for a traditional lunch. Get your first taste...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day five marks our move to the water. Visit the tucked-away beach of White Rose Bay. Because this is not a common stop for travelers visiting San Cristobal Island, we’ll experience a very open, uncrowded place to snorkel and w...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
After breakfast, journey to El Trinar, a farm that has been supporting the work of the MAGAP, the Ministry of Agriculture and Animals of Ecuador, and the Galapagos National Park. Get an up-close look at the coffee harvesting a...
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Awake bright and early to board the boat to Santa Cruz. Today is a free day to enjoy the amenities at your luxurious hotel, scout for wildlife just outside your front door, or take a five-minute walk to the Charles Darwin Station to learn more about the ongoing conservation effects taking place to preserve the giant tortoises.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Zip over to Pinzon Island, the island where Charles Darwin first proved his theory of evolution, for world-class snorkeling. Move on to Daphne Island for more snorkeling and fantastic bird watching – keep your eyes open for th...
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
After breakfast, experience Tortuga Bay, famous for its expansive and pristine shoreline that stretches across the southern coast of Santa Cruz. Full of wildlife including iguanas, colorful reef fish, white-reef sharks, hammerhead ra...
Meals: Breakfast
After breakfast, head for your local flight back to Quito. Either catch your international flight back home or continue on to our Amazon Basin extension (next page).
Want a tailor-made trip instead?
Your trip, your way, planned by an expert:
- You choose budget, destinations, activities, transport & lodging type
- Expert designs the itinerary for you, and once approved, takes care of logistics
Dates & Availability
Check Current Availability, prices, specials with Discover Corps.
The total tour cost includes the tour price (regular or promotional) and the compulsory local payment. The promotional price is subject to change. Check directly with the operator for the latest price offer. The tour operator requires you to pay only the tour price to purchase your travel. The compulsory local payment will be paid when you join the trip. All prices are based on double, twin or triple share occupancy. Solo passengers will be accommodated in a double, twin or triple room according to availability with a passenger(s) of the same gender. Single supplement only needs to be paid if the passenger does not want to share and requests their own room. Discounts can only be applied at the time of booking and cannot be added at a later date, regardless of any changes made to the original booking.
Prices may vary due to local taxes and trip seasonality. Click "Request Info" to inquire directly with the tour operator for the final trip price.
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Tour Operator
Discover Corps is a volunteer travel company that is pioneering a new way to explore life and culture around the world in a way that rejuvenates the human spirit.
Our vision is of a world where people value our shared humanity and promote global citizenship while celebrating our many unique cultures.
Our mission is to give travelers a deeper understanding of life in communities around the world while helping to improve the lives of the people we visit.
We accomplish this by operating enjoyable and safe, enjoyable volunteer vacation programs that provide real connections between travelers and the communities. We specialize in trips for adults and families.
Our Trips and Projects
Discover Corps volunteer projects are driven by the local communities — not by us. We respond to requests where our travelers can make a meaningful contribution in a short amount of time. In order to maximize your time, our local staff plan everything in advance and provide you with the support you need while you’re there. From building classrooms and improving water systems to creating eco-friendly homes, we partner with local communities to help them achieve their development goals.
While our trips only last a week or two, we strive for a long-term impact by partnering with organizations that have ongoing relationships with the communities where we volunteer. This allows each of our volunteer groups to become a link in the chain of our partner’s ongoing work.
We are a certified B Corporation, which means we have passed a rigorous independent audit of our social, environmental, and legal practices. B Corporations (or Benefit Corporations) are recognized by the State of California as providing a social good.
Discover Corps operates trips for the National Peace Corps Association as well as other non-profit organizations and universities.
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Logistics
What's excluded
- International airfare
- One breakfast and one dinner
- Tip for driver and guide
- Laundry, room service charges, drinks or phone calls
- Required non-refundable deposit of $600/person.
Transportation & Flights
Transportation & flights
9 Breakfasts, 7 Lunches and 8 Dinners
Optional Extension: Amazon Basin
Day 11: Fly to El Coca and Explore the Napo River By Boat
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
A short flight takes us from Quito to Puerto Francisco de Orellana, or ‘El Coca’. Your next two hours will be spent on a motorized canoe heading down the Napo River, with the Amazon rainforest creating an unforgettable backdrop. At dusk, hike along Matapalo Trail and marvel at 400-year-old mahogany trees and strangler figs.
Day 12: Choose From a Range of Hiking Trails Through the Countryside
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
A short early-morning hike will take us to an observation tower, where we’ll spot colorful tropical birds soaring above the Amazon. This afternoon we’ll either hike the Tucaneta Trail to learn about medicinal plants, or walk to the Mandi Cocha lagoon, spotting birds and giant otters. After sundown, we’ll hop into a canoe to enjoy an Amazonian sunset and spot nocturnal wildlife.
Day 13: Visit the Famous Clay Licks and Meet a Kichua Woman
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Today we’ll take to the river again, this time to witness hundreds of parrots and parakeets feeding on clay licks. Back on dry land, we’ll meet a Kichua woman who will share stories about life in the Amazon rainforest. After lunch, we’ll visit a beautiful lagoon to spot squirrel monkeys, capuchin monkeys and, if we’re lucky, howler monkeys and pigmy marmosets.
Day 14: Return Home
Meals: Breakfast
Your Amazon adventure comes to an end today, and we’ll take a motorized canoe upstream back to Coca for your journey home.
Extension Lodging
We’ll stay in a distinctive Amazon lodge designed to give you the ultimate feeling of being in touch with nature. Made from all-natural materials, the lodge is comfortable, clean, and safe. Created with designs traditional to the local Amazon cultures, it assures a well-built room which nevertheless gives the feeling of being immersed in the jungle.
Single room supplement for this extension: $299
There is a required $300 flight supplement for this extension from Galápagos Islands to the Amazon (arranged by Discover Corps)
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