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The Galapagos Islands
An In-depth Two Week Experience of Pure Magic Monday, May 16 – Monday, May 30, 2005  Imagine exploring a tropical island rich in charismatic wildlife that is totally unafraid of you and your camera. Imagine having ample time to explore on a special expedition that caters to the pace of nature lovers and photographers and does not rush you back to your boat every day. Imagine 12 days of the best itinerary possible in one of the world’s most intriguing natural history destinations outfitted with one of the best boats (the S/S Sagitta with spacious private bath cabins), best crews, and best natural-history guides in the archipelago. Cheesemans’ Ecology Safaris offers this opportunity to explore the Galapagos outside the norm of tourism among breeding boobies, albatross, penguins, frigatebirds, endemic landbirds, sea turtles, sharks and many hundreds of species of fish. This trip is full. Please join us next year to the Galapagos:
Costs: $4990, including meals beginning on May 17, except dinner on May 29, plus airfares and the national park fee of $100. Single supplement available at $750.
Airfare: about $800 to Ecuador, plus Guayaquil-Baltra on TAME: $350. Group size: 15, plus our leader and our resident naturalist/guide. Conditions: Nonsmoking tour. Boat: 16 passenger S/S Sagitta in 8 staterooms, private baths, hot showers, and air-conditioned cabins, chartered from Andando Tours. See cabin plan on last page. Leaders: Ecologist Ted Cheeeseman plus a very experienced resident naturalist and the captain of the Sagitta. Note: The itinerary depends on the conditions at the time of travel. The Captain will recommend any possible improvements. The weather is usually calm within the archipelago. Trip extension: This voyage is perfectly combined with Itinerary Updated 12/2003  Itinerary In Brief:
Itinerary In Full: May 16, Monday: Flights to Guayaquil, Ecuador The American Airlines flight leaves Miami at 4:50 pm and arrives in Guayaquil at 8:04 pm. Depart from your home in time to connect with the Miami flight. There are also connections via Dallas and on Continental via Houston. Look for our Andando Tours agent for your transfer from the Airport to the hotel. Overnight two nights in Guayaquil at the Hilton Colon Guayaquil.
Meet a guide from Andando Tours for a morning tour of Guayaquil, a visit to the Guayaquil botanical gardens, and lunch together. Afternoon free to rest. Dinner together this evening at the Hilton Colon Guayaquil. May 18, Wednesday: Baltra and North Seymour After an early breakfast fly from the Guayaquil Airport to Baltra at 11:15 am on TAME. The flight arrives in the Galapagos at 12 noon (with a one hour change). Go through customs, then meet our resident naturalist. Board the 16 passenger Sagitta, a very beautiful and popular yacht owned by Fiddi Angermeyer of Andando Tours.
May 19, Thursday: South Plaza and Santa Fé Go ashore on South Plaza early and have the entire morning here on this incredible island. The Land Iguanas pose obligingly for photos. The Cactus Finch and Small and Medium Finches are very fascinating to compare on Plazas. Along the cliff is a sea lion colony, plus Red-billed Tropicbirds nesting. The swimming is wonderful at North Plaza with sea lions, rays, and fish. After lunch head to Santa Fé. At Santa Fé bring your mask if you would like a swim following the wonderful walk. From the beach walk a trail where a beautiful species of Scalesia thrives near a large forest of Tree Opuntia. Here search for Land Iguanas, a different species from those on South Plaza. May 20, Friday: Punta Suarez on Española (Hood Island) Land at Punta Suarez on Hood for one of the great highlights of the Galapagos: courting displays of the Waved Albatross. Spend all morning observing and photographing the incredible display behavior. In May these remarkable albatross will have very young chicks or eggs ready to hatch. We will also find the Hood Mockingbird, Blue-footed and Masked boobies, Swallow-tailed Gull, Galapagos Hawk, Marine Iguana (a race unique to this island that is red and black), Lava Lizard, sea lions, beautiful seascapes, a blowhole and much more. After lunch we will enjoy the brilliant snorkeling in Gardner Bay. Later this afternoon sail for Academy Bay and the town of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz. These waters are rich with seabirds, such as Waved Albatross, three species of storm-petrels, Audubon's Shearwaters and boobies. May 21, Saturday: Santa Cruz Highlands and the Darwin Research Station Depart at 7 am to travel by bus to the highlands of Santa Cruz where two incredible volcanic sinkholes are surrounded by Scalesia forest, excellent habitat for Darwin finches. The genus Scalesia is a classic example of adaptive radiation in the plant world, as the Darwin finches are for birds. The elegant tall Scalesia tree evolved from beach composites. Here it is possible to see Short-eared Owl, Large and Small Tree finches, Vegetarian Finch, and Woodpecker Finch, the famous tool user. Lunch will be at a restaurant up in the Highlands. Stop at Steve Devine’s farm to look for Land Tortoises if they are being seen in the area. We recommend hiking boots or some sturdy, water resistant footwear. Later this afternoon visit the Charles Darwin Research Station beside the town of Puerto Ayora. Stay overnight again in Academy Bay. May 22, Sunday: Floreana (Charles) and Champion Floreana is known for excellent snorkeling, especially at the dramatic Devil's Crown, an eroded submerged volcanic cone, and at the nearby islet of Champion. The very rare Charles Mockingbird, which no longer survives on Floreana, can be seen on the shores of Champion from the pangas (skiffs). Landings are not allowed on Champion to protect the bird, but the snorkeling is wonderful. After two highlights underwater, we will land to walk along the flamingo lagoon behind Cormorant Beach, an excellent site for teal and shorebirds alongside flamingoes. Plant life here is unique with another species of Scalesia. The sand on Floreana contains a large proportion of olivine crystals, a glassy volcanic mineral, giving it an olive-green tone. Later this afternoon sail west for the crossing to Isabela. These are great waters for dolphins coming in to steal a free ride on the bow wave of the boat, a delightful and photogenic way to get close to marine mammals. These waters are also rich with seabirds, such as Waved Albatross, three species of storm-petrels, Audubon's Shearwaters and boobies. May 23, Monday: Isabela at Punta Moreno and Elizabeth Bay Our first stop today is Punta Moreno, a fascinating lava flow with many photographic possibilities, hopefully including nesting Flightless Cormorants and wading flamingoes on a beautifully improbable lagoon nestled in bare black lava rock. In the afternoon we will watch for whales as we head for Elizabeth Bay. We will stop for a unique snorkel in a lagoon along the way. This side of Isabella is a paradise for sea turtles, rays, and Flightless Cormorants and one of the best areas for the Galapagos Penguin. Anchor in Elizabeth Bay tonight. May 24, Tuesday: Isabela at Urbina Bay and Tagus Cove In the morning sail north to Urbina Bay, a fantastic place that few people visit, just south of Tagus Cove at the foot of Volcan Alcedo on the west side of Isabela. One can find rocks full of bleached shells, lifted out of the sea by a 1954 volcanic uplift. There are giant sized iguanas of both species, Land and Marine, also Flightless Cormorants and Brown Pelicans nesting, Galapagos Penguins, sea turtles, and Land Tortoises if there has been rain near the coast. Land at Tagus Cove in the afternoon for a beautiful walk with excellent views of Isabella’s young volcanic slopes. Tagus Cove is also a good area for the Vegetarian Finch and Woodpecker Finch, so famous for fashioning a tool to probe for insects. Anchor overnight at Tagus Cove. May 25, Wednesday: Punta Tortuga, Isabela, and Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Look for the Mangrove Finch at Punta Tortuga, one of the most difficult Darwin finches to find. To have any chance, we will land very early to search the mangroves. We'll have all afternoon at Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island, a highlight of the trip. Here observe and photograph Flightless Cormorants, the largest of the Marine Iguanas, Galapagos Hawks, Galapagos Penguins, and Brachycereus cactus growing out of seemingly fresh bare lava.
A walk along the tidepools of James Bay at low tide reveals a fascinating and photogenic intertidal zone where oystercatchers hunt for exposed crustaceans and marine iguanas graze on intertidal algae. At our walk’s end we will look down on beautiful blue and green grottos formed by collapsed lava tubes, perfect hideouts for Galapagos Fur Seals. Here it is enchanting to watch and photograph not only fur seals, but bright red-orange Sally Lightfoot Crabs (so named because they contain so little meat). This site offers a great diversity of ecosystems and geological strata, as well as great snorkeling along underwater lava tubes that hide any number of large marine creatures. This evening we will cross to Genovesa (Tower) to the northeast. May 27, Friday: Genovesa (Tower Island) The anchorage at Tower is in Darwin Bay, actually a huge flooded volcanic caldera. The walls of the caldera provide wonderful hauling out ledges for Galapagos Fur Seals and nesting sites for tropicbirds. After breakfast we will hike up "Prince Philip's Steps" through very photogenic Red-footed and Masked Booby colonies to the Wedge-rumped (Galapagos) Storm-Petrel colony. These three species like the open ocean for feeding, so they tend to nest on the outer archipelago. The largest Red-footed Booby nesting site in the Islands is here on Tower. They are adapted to hunting far out to sea and can only rear a single young, while Blue-foots fish shallow water close to shore and raise two or three young in a brood if conditions are good. In the storm-petrel colony, Short-eared Owls hunt during the day for this small tubenose by hiding within the colony. This is the only diurnal storm-petrel and the only visitor site where you can walk within the colony. After lunch and a snorkel along the crater wall, we land at Darwin Bay. Here, boobies and Great Frigates nest with unparalleled density, and the island’s four species of Darwin finch show themselves for easy comparison. Between the Large Ground Finch, Large Cactus Finch, Small-beaked Ground Finch and Warbler Finch we see huge variation in bill size. Following a lava flow along the cliffs we will find ourselves in a fly-way for incoming boobies and frigates, an excellent opportunity for photographing these magnificent birds in flight. We will see aerial displays of kleptoparatisim among the frigates, who dog-fight along the cliffs for scarce nesting material. Arrive at Bartolomé by morning. May 28, Saturday: Bartolomé and Sullivan Bay Another night's journey will find Sagitta anchored at Bartolomé. If the light is good in the early morning we will visit the surreal landscape of the Sullivan Bay Pahoehoe lava flow. The lava here is nearly 100 years old, but is virtually uneroded. The flow retains a rainbowed patina that adds color to a study of natural flow, form and pattern. After breakfast climb the trail (360 ft) to the summit of Bartolomé for a gorgeous view. Then, a wet landing puts us on a beach for a short walk through mangroves and dune vegetation to another beach. Near Pinnacle Rock, penguins are often present in small numbers. Perhaps snorkel with Galapagos Penguins and maybe even the harmless, but exciting White-tipped Shark. May 29, Sunday: Daphne Major, Baltra and Quito We end our stay in the Galapagos Islands at Daphne Major, providing that the weather is favorable and we are able to get approval from the Park Service for the landing. The highlights here are the Darwin finches. If you read Beak of the Finch, the story of Rosemary and Peter Grant’s research on Darwin finches, you will be very interested in this island, despite the difficult landing. By mid-morning head for the airport on Baltra for the flight to Guayaquil at 1 pm, arriving at 3:45 pm. Overnight in Guayaquil at the Hilton Colon Guayaquil. Dinner on your own this evening if still in Guayaquil. May 30, Monday: Flights homeward or onward to Peru We recommend American Airlines, which has a departure at 8:26 am. It arrives in Miami at 1:43 pm, to connect with flights homeward. (Check in 2 hours before flight, so depart from the hotel at 6:00 am.) Continental has a night flight to Houston if you prefer. Peru extension: Manu Biosphere Reserve and Machu Picchu May 29 to June 13. From Lima, Peru, we fly to Cusco and traverse the Andes to Manu Biosphere Reserve, the largest tropical rainforest biosphere reserve on earth. We will explore the cloudforests of Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge to lowland Amazonia, only 100 miles from the spectacular Inca ruins of Machu Picchu, and then return to the highlands to explore Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of the Incas in the Andes. The price is $3890, plus airfare. Please contact us for a full itinerary. A deposit of $300 is required to secure your reservation for the extension. Leaders: Ted Cheeseman and resident naturalist/guide. Limit: 12 people. Please read the full itinerary. Reservations: Please contact us before sending a deposit. To reserve a place, please mail a deposit of $500 ($350 refundable) and our reservation form (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, available free) to: Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris For questions, comments or reservations, e-mail us at: info@Cheesemans.com or use our information form. Upon receiving your deposit and signed reservation form we will send extensive trip materials, including a travel guide, reading list, species lists, animal behavior notes and maps. Payments: Deposits refundable, except $150 until February 1, 2005. A second deposit of $1000 will be due on November 1, 2004, final payment due February 1, 2005. Cancellations: Refunds given after the final payment are based on the separable costs only, insofar as the providers of these services return monies to Cheesemans' Cancellation insurance forms are available from us. Conservation: Please see our webpage on Galapagos conservation Boat Specifications: Fiddi Angermeyer, owner of Andando Tours, completely refitted the vessel into what is now the very popular and beautiful S/Y Sagitta. We will have 15 passengers, plus our leader, in 10 cabins. Each cabin has two separate beds, a private bath, and air conditioning. The Sagitta is a beautiful 3 mast sailing yacht with a speed of 8 knots. It has a high capacity desalinator producing 1500 gallons per day and carries 5000 gallons of water. The yacht has twin SCANIA engines of 185 HP each, two generators: Furuno radar, depth sounder, GPS, VHS & SSB radios, 2 tenders with outboards, color TV and VCR. The crew includes the captain, professional naturalist guide, first mate, engineer, cook, assistant, cabin attendant and two sailors who drive the two tenders for landings. Follow this link for pictures and yacht deck plans. Expenses not covered: One dinner in Guayaquil (depending on your flights) and bottled beverages are not included in the costs. We suggest a gratuity of $12/day for the crew of the Sagitta. The Galapagos National Park fee of $100 is not covered, nor the airport departure tax of $25 from Ecuador. Separate airport/hotel transfers in Guayaquil are not covered. Entry requirements: Your passport must be valid for at least 3 months beyond the entry date into Ecuador. A visa is not required from citizens of the USA and of most countries. Responsibility: Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris, Saratoga, CA, act only as agents and shall not be responsible or become liable for any delay incurred by any person in connection with any means of transportation, nor for the loss, damage or injury to person or property by reason of any event beyond the control of the agency or default of such agency suppliers. The right is reserved to cancel the tour prior to departure, in which case full refund will constitute full settlement to the passenger. No refund will be made for any unused portion of the tour unless arrangements are made at the time of booking. All rates are based on current tariffs and exchange rates in effect September l989, and are subject to adjustment in the event of any change therein. Baggage is at the owner's risk.
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