Compare Galapagos Islands: Wildlife Odyssey by Discover Corps vs Wildlife of Ecuador: Amazon and Galapagos by Audley Travel

Day 1: Arrive in Quito and Meet Your Group

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.

Day 2: Quito Cable Car City Tour

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 the summit of Cruz Loma. Experience an unforgettable view of the city, 14 peaks of the Andes (or the “Avenue of Volcanoes”), and the surrounding mountain towns. After returning to town for dinner, experience Quito by night on a city tour around the beautiful colonial part of the city. Marvel at breathtaking views of the famous colonial churches illuminated by night before heading to Panecillo Hill for your final and most spectacular view of the city – a panoramic night view where each church lights up the sky.

Day 3: Journey to Otavalo and Learn Ecuadorian Culture from the Peguche People

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 indigenous Otavalenos as you meander through the streets. Visit the people of Peguche for lunch, live music, and a lesson in creating traditional Andean instruments. Enjoy dinner back in Quito and a free night to relax and prepare for an early morning.

Day 4: Spot Galapagos Giant Tortoises at the Galapaguera Breeding Center

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 of wildlife at The Junco Lake, an inactive volcano home to frigate birds, before a medium-level hike 1 hour to the Galapaguera Breeding Center.* Run by the Galapagos National Park Authority, travelers will have the opportunity to not only see these magnificent tortoises, but also see some of their eggs and learn about the Center’s conservation efforts. After a busy afternoon, relax on the white sand beaches of Puerto Chino before heading back to the hotel for an ocean view dinner.

Day 5: Experience the Wildlife and Beaches of San Cristobal Island

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 watch manta rays, sharks, seahorses, and more (for those interested in fishing, move on to Punta Pitt). After lunch, move through Sardine Bay and hike 30 min up to Punta Pucuna, a place only recently opened up to travelers, where you will get the unique opportunity to see the lava ground. Humans have not modified this land in any way, so it is a unique and usually untouchable place. Continue your journey to Cerro Brujo and Kicker Rock, a gorgeous rock formation full of Galapagos wildlife including the endemic Galapagos shark, before enjoying dinner with a local fisherman and his family.

Day 6: Visit a Local Farm and Learn about Coffee Harvesting

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 and fruit picking process, and take part in Otoy recollection – the food the tortoises will eat. Enjoy a fresh, organic lunch with the produce grown at the farm before relaxing and snorkeling at La Lobería.

Day 7: Free Day or Charles Darwin Station

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.

Day 8: Snorkel in the Famous Bahia Borrero Bay

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 the Daphne Island finch and the blue footed boobies!

On Daphne Island, feel like you’re on the moon and marvel at two craters – the Daphne Major and the Daphne Minor. Spend your afternoon and early evening in Bahia Borrero Bay, some of the best snorkeling in the world, before heading back to Pinzon Island and finally Santa Cruz Island for dinner.

Day 9: Visit the Gorgeous Tortuga Bay for World-Class Wildlife Scouting

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 rays and seas turtles, it’s a great place to try surfing, kayaking, or to just relax on the beach. In the afternoon, visit Las Grietas, or “the cracks,” a series of volcanic crevices that were formed during the cooling of molten lava.

Day 10: Return Home or Continue on to the Amazon Basin

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).

Day 1 : Quito

Today you begin your journey by boarding your international outbound flight to Quito. On arrival today you will be met and taken to your hotel.

Day 2 : Quito

Private city tour of the highlights of Quito, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Day 3 : Sacha Lodge

Transfer to the airport in time for your flight to Coca. Here you will be met by members of your lodge who will take you to your accommodation. Afternoon activities.

Day 4 : Sacha Lodge

Today you'll embark on activities from your Amazon lodge. These might include small group guided walks through the rainforest with a qualified naturalist guide, who can explain all about the biology and botany of the area. Keep an eye out for howler monkeys, sloths and squirrel monkeys. You may also visit a butterfly farm.

Day 5 : Sacha Lodge

You'll spend a second day exploring the Amazon from your lodge. Today, you might find yourself canoeing through creeks, going on a canopy walk, or visiting a Parrot Lick at nearby Yasuni National Park.

Day 6 : Quito

Transfer back to Coca in time for your flight to Quito. Here you will be met and taken to your hotel for one night.

Day 7 : Galapagos Islands

Transfer to the airport for your flight to the Galapagos Islands. On arrival you will be met by a member of your crew and transferred to your boat. Group excursions.

Day 8 : Galapagos Islands

Today you'll visit Santa Fe Island. Sea lions usually snooze on its sandy beaches and birdlife to spot includes Darwin's finches and yellow warblers. The island also has its own species of land iguana.In the afternoon you may visit South Plaza, a tiny island covered in red low-lying sesuvian plants and inhabited by sea lions and copper-orange land iguanas. Look out, too, for swallow-tailed gulls, Audubon shearwaters and red-billed tropic birds.

Day 9 : Galapagos Islands

Today you'll visit San Cristóbal Island, the easternmost island of the Galapagos archipelago. You'll explore the beaches around the volcanic cone of Cerro Brujo (Witch Hill) which are usually bristling with sea lions, pelicans, blue-footed boobies, waders, and marine iguanas. Other places to explore on the island include El Junco, a ferny freshwater lagoon, or Cerro Tijereta, where a colony of frigate birds live.

Day 10 : Galapagos Islands

Española Island is on the agenda for today. After breakfast, you'll go ashore for a short guided walk in search of the island's resident sea lions and hood mockingbirds. At Punta Suárez, you can take a guided walk over lava terrain to observe the island's colony of waved albatrosses. Nazca and blue-footed boobies, as well as swallow-tailed gulls, can also be seen in this area.

Day 11 : International return flight

Excursions on Santa Cruz Island, exploring its highlands and scalesia forest, followed by flight back to the mainland to connect with your international flight home.

Day 12 : International return flight

Arrive home today to complete your journey.