SMALL GROUP TOUR
Trip Length: 8 days
Trip Dates:
April 25-May 2, 2013
7 nights in Quito & aboard MV Eclipse
17 meals
2013 Rates: From $5295 double / $6995 single
International & Domestic Airfares are additional
EXTEND YOUR TRIP
Post-Cruise: Peru's Machu Picchu, Cuzco & Sacred Valley
| USA to Quito | |
| Quito | |
| Fly to the Galapagos. Embark MV Eclipse | |
| Rabida Island / Puerto Egas, Santiago Island | |
| Punta Moreno, Isabela Island / Punta Espinoza, Fernandina Island | |
| Urbina Bay, Isabela Island / Punta Vicente Roca, Isabela Island | |
| Charles Darwin Station. Disembark MV Eclipse & Fly to Quito | |
| Fly Quito to USA |
Depart the USA on any regularly schedule flight to Quito (UIO.) Your airline choices are American, Delta, Copa, Lacsa or Lan Ecuador. Most flights from the USA arrive the same day in Quito. If you have an overnight flight, you will need to depart a day earlier from the USA (April 24.)
Welcome to Ecuador!
Because most flights arrive late evening, our group activities will begin tomorrow.
Hotel: Casa Gangotena
Room: Luxury Room
Meals: None
After breakfast we will meet our guide for a tour of colonial Quito. This morning´s sightseeing demonstrates some of the reasons why Ecuador's capital earned its honor as the first UNESCO World Heritage Site. We will be impressed by the San Francisco Church and its museum of religious art, be dazzled by La Compañía and the seven tons of gold gilding its glittering walls and be fascinated by the bustling Independence Plaza, flanked by the Presidential Palace and the Cathedral of Quito. Rich in art treasures, fine woodcarvings, and flowering balconies, the historic centre is the lifeblood of Quito. Lunch is at Hacienda Rumiloma, which occupies an incredible location on the slopes of Pichincha Volcano . The views over the city are fantastic, but the food and ambience are even better. Be sure to take a few moments to explore Rumiloma’s impressive collection of antiques.
After lunch, drive north to the equator at the Inti Ñan Museum, located on the true equator, which displays examples of pre-Columbian life in Ecuador and offers demonstrations on the unique geography, astrology, and natural sciences of the region around the equator.
Hotel: Casa Gangotena
Room: Luxury Room
Meals: Lunch
Upon arrival at Baltra Airport, travellers pass through an airport inspection point to insure that no foreign plants or animals are introduced to the islands. You will be met transferred to the M/V Eclipse, where you will check in to your cabin before an introductory briefing and safety drill. After lunch, you’ll take a panga to Black Turtle Cove, Santa Cruz Island.
PM: Black Turtle Cove, Santa Cruz Island
Black Turtle Cove is one of the most beautiful marine sites in the Galapagos. It is a complex maze of tranquil salt-water inlets surrounded by three different species of mangrove. Its waters are a nursery site for sea turtles, rays, and sharks as well as a nesting site for sea birds. This site is only accessible by panga. Difficulty level: Easy.
AM: Isabela Island
Punta Moreno (dry landing) is located just southwest of Elizabeth Bay on the west coast of Isabela Island. A dramatic landscape of pahoe-hoe lava stretches to the foot of some of the most active volcanoes in Galápagos (Cerro Azul and Sierra Negra). The vista is interrupted only by small scattered brackish lagoons harboring green sea turtles and whitetip reef sharks. Nearby, lush vegetation and brightly colored birds are a striking contrast with the surrounding jet black lava. If you feel like resting your legs, a panga ride along the shore will reveal mangrove tenants like rays, young sharks, nesting pelicans, and flightless birds like penguins and the endemic cormorant. Difficulty level: Moderate to difficult
PM: Punta Espinoza, Fernandina Island
This afternoon we’ll visit (dry landing) the youngest island of the archipelago, Fernandina. La Cumbre Volcano, which last erupted in April 2009, dominates the landscape, with lava fields stretching towards the ocean from its base. The nearby Bolívar Channel divides Fernandina and Isabela, and hides perhaps the highest diversity of endemic sea fauna in the Galápagos beneath its surface. On shore we find one of the most pristine and unique island ecosystems in the entire world. Having no introduced mammals, Fernandina has fostered the perfect environment for animals such as Galápagos snakes, penguins, and hawks. You may encounter flightless cormorants at their nesting sites and, perhaps best of all, you’ll find the largest and most primitive-looking marine iguanas in the Galápagos concentrated in higher numbers than anywhere else in the archipelago. Observe them as they bask in the sand, swim near shore, and sometimes even block the way at the landing dock in their attempts to share space with sea lions and sally lightfoot crabs. Difficulty level: Moderate
Ship: MY Eclipse
Room: Dluxe, Superior, Stateroom
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
AM: Rábida Island
Disembark at Rábida (wet landing), a small island with red volcanic rocks surrounding a beautiful red-sand beach. The unusually high iron content of Rábida’s volcanoes has lent this distinct tint to much of the island. It is the island with perhaps the most varied volcanic activity in the archipelago, which can be seen in its many unique geological formations, including eroded hills and hardened lava. The fauna is equally as impressive: Nesting brown pelicans are found from July through September and nine species of the famous Darwin’s finches can be seen. A gratifying stroll along the shores of this small island (1.9 square miles) allows the observation of a large colony of sea lions, marine iguanas, mockingbirds, yellow warblers, and several species of Darwin’s finches. Very close to the beach, hidden behind a strip of green saltbush, is a salt pond where at times greater flamingos migrate. Rábida is considered to be one of the best snorkelling sites in the Galapagos due to the unique combination of underwater species and submarine landscapes. Difficulty level: Easy.
PM: Puerto Egas, Santiago Island
Puerto Egas (James Bay) is located on the northwest side of Santiago Island. The landing (wet landing) is on a black beach with eroded rock formations in the background. Arrive on a beach of black volcanic sand that was visited by Darwin in 1835. A trail crosses the dry interior, where the remains of a salt mining enterprise can still be seen, before continuing along the coast. The first part of the trail is comprised of volcanic ash (eroded tuff) while the other half is partially uneven terrain comprised of volcanic basalt that lines the shore. The unique layered terrain of Santiago is home to a variety of resident and migrant birds, including the bizarre yellow-crowned night heron and an astounding array of marine wildlife including sea urchins, octopus, lobster, starfish, and marine iguanas grazing on algae beds alongside sally light-foot crabs. Colonies of endemic fur seals swim in cool water pools formed by volcanic rocks. After the walk, you will have time to swim or snorkel off the beach, where you will see sea lions, fish, and perhaps turtles, rays, and reef sharks. There are also rarities such as octopus or squid. Difficulty level: Moderate
Ship: MY Eclipse
Room: Dluxe, Superior, Stateroom
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
AM: Isabela Island
Punta Moreno (dry landing) is located just southwest of Elizabeth Bay on the west coast of Isabela Island. A dramatic landscape of pahoe-hoe lava stretches to the foot of some of the most active volcanoes in Galápagos (Cerro Azul and Sierra Negra). The vista is interrupted only by small scattered brackish lagoons harboring green sea turtles and whitetip reef sharks. Nearby, lush vegetation and brightly colored birds are a striking contrast with the surrounding jet black lava. If you feel like resting your legs, a panga ride along the shore will reveal mangrove tenants like rays, young sharks, nesting pelicans, and flightless birds like penguins and the endemic cormorant. Difficulty level: Moderate to difficult
PM: Punta Espinoza, Fernandina Island
This afternoon we’ll visit (dry landing) the youngest island of the archipelago, Fernandina. La Cumbre Volcano, which last erupted in April 2009, dominates the landscape, with lava fields stretching towards the ocean from its base. The nearby Bolívar Channel divides Fernandina and Isabela, and hides perhaps the highest diversity of endemic sea fauna in the Galápagos beneath its surface. On shore we find one of the most pristine and unique island ecosystems in the entire world. Having no introduced mammals, Fernandina has fostered the perfect environment for animals such as Galápagos snakes, penguins, and hawks. You may encounter flightless cormorants at their nesting sites and, perhaps best of all, you’ll find the largest and most primitive-looking marine iguanas in the Galápagos concentrated in higher numbers than anywhere else in the archipelago. Observe them as they bask in the sand, swim near shore, and sometimes even block the way at the landing dock in their attempts to share space with sea lions and sally lightfoot crabs. Difficulty level: Moderate
Ship: MY Eclipse
Room: Dluxe, Superior, Stateroom
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
AM: Urbina Bay, Isabela Island
Urbina Bay (wet landing) is located at the foot of the Alcedo and Darwin volcanoes on the western side of Isabela. These volcanoes formed as the result of an uplifting from the ocean floor in 1954. Here you can find corals, shells, and many other calcareous organisms exposed above water. After a wet landing on a beautiful black-sand beach, you may be able to observe sea turtle nesting sites. This area is also known for penguin and flightless cormorant sightings and is one of the best places to see Darwin’s finches as well as large land iguanas. Also be on the lookout for Galapagos tortoises, which like to feed within the site’s dense vegetation. Difficulty level: Moderate
PM: Punta Vicente Roca, Isabela Island
Punta Vicente Roca is a wonderful snorkelling site where you can usually see turtles and many kinds of fish. For those who do not snorkel, a panga ride along the coast will give you the opportunity to learn about the dramatic geology of the area as your guide explains the spectacular rock formations. This is a nesting place for flightless cormorants, the only existing marine birds in the world other than penguins to have adapted from flying birds to diving birds. Other wildlife includes sea lions, Galapagos fur seals, Galapagos penguins, blue-footed and Nazca boobies, pelicans, swallow-tailed gulls, marine iguanas, and noddy terns. Difficulty level: Easy to moderate
Ship: MY Eclipse
Room: Dluxe, Superior, Stateroom
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
AM: Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island
This morning we visit the Charles Darwin Research Station and its famous residents, including tortoise celebrities like "Lonesome George", within an impressive giant prickly-pear cactus forest. These are the headquarters of scientific investigation, conservation, and the National Park administration in the islands. You will gain insight into the huge efforts being made by scientists, guides, rangers and park
managers to preserve this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Difficulty level: Easy
After the visit to the research station we drive to the green highlands of Santa Cruz, located to the northwest of Puerto Ayora, where we will find El Chato Reserve. The reserve is one of the best places in the islands to observe giant tortoises in their natural habitat. The tortoises are easy to spot as they lumber around eating grass and leaves and wallowing in the small pools that are common in the reserve. They can weigh between 250 and 300 kg and live up to 150-200 years. They have few natural enemies; their principal threat has always been humans. You may also spot some highland birds such as cattle egrets, Galápagos rails, mockingbirds, finches, and vermilion flycatchers. There are several lava tunnels in the reserve, a great place to spot the barn owl. There is also a small lagoon covered in red algae where gallinules and Galápagos pintails can be found. Difficulty level: Easy
Transfer to the airport to take your flight back to Quito
At night pick up from the hotel to Casa San Marcos for our Farewell Dinner
Hotel: Casa Gangotena
Room: Luxury Room
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
This morning you’ll be picked up from your hotel and transferred to the Airport for your flight home.
Meal Plan: Breakfast
Meals: Breakfast
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Situated in a newly-restored historic mansion overlooking Plaza San Francisco, the three-story Casa Gangotena boasts 31 rooms, a showcase of eye-catching style, contemporary design, antiques, fine furnishings, modern technologies and quintessential comforts. |
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Rates
CABIN Category |
CABIN Description |
PROGRAM Rates |
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|---|---|---|---|
DELUXE |
There are four Deluxe Staterooms which are located on the Boat Deck. Each Deluxe Stateroom averages a very ample 210sq ft (19.5sq m) and also has large showers and panoramic windows. The Deluxe Staterooms also include a one time, fully stocked mini bar | SOLD OUT |
N/A |
SUPERIOR |
Also located on the Boat deck are the eight spacious, 170sq ft (16sq m), Superior Staterooms. Guests in Superior Staterooms can also enjoy beautiful views through panoramic windows. | $5595 |
$8895 |
STATEROOM |
.The twelve Main Deck Staterooms are the same comfortable size as the Superior Staterooms, 170sq ft (16sq m) and are located in the Main Deck. Guests in these cabins also enjoy great views and natural light as these rooms are equipped with two or three very large portholes. | $5295 |
$6995 |
AIRFARE & PARK FEE |
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Quito / Galapagos Islands / Quito |
$585 |
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Galapagos Park Fee |
$110 |
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No visa is required for Ecuador for American or Canadian passport holders.
None required or recommended. It is recommended you have your regular vaccinations up-to-date before traveling. For further information, visit the Center For Disease Control website.
Do not drink tap water. Avoid ice in your beverages while traveling in Ecuador. However, you can use ice on board the yachts in Galapagos. Always drink bottled water and soft drinks
Try to avoid eating raw vegetables and salads or any raw foods while traveling in the continent
If you wear prescription glasses, it is advisable to bring an extra pair
Always use sunscreen lotion even in cloudy days
For up to date information on latest health and vaccination recommendations, please contact your doctor.
Delta Airlines, American Airlines,LAN Ecuador, Copa, Lacsa Air are airlines that can be used for this trip. We recommend booking at least 7 months in advance if you want to try to use Frequent Flyer Miles for free tickets or upgrades or the American Express Platinum card 2-4-1 program.
The departure is guaranteed. It is not a gay-exclusive depature.
• Tour Rates include accommodations as listed in the itinerary, entertainment, special meals, air conditioned, motor coach, van or sedan transportation, sightseeing, luggage handling, admissions, local guides and drivers. Mineral water on busses and at meals.
• Arrival and departure transfers are included for those who purchase international air through Coda International Tours. Separate transfer costs will be charged to those who are not ticketed by Coda International Tours or who arrive earlier or stay later than the scheduled tour dates. Participants are required to provide Coda Tours with complete international flight details at least 2 weeks prior to the schedule tour departure date.
• Most meals are included as indicated in the itinerary. The meal codes are: B=Breakfast; L=Lunch; D=Dinner; R=Cocktail Reception. Participants with specific dietary requirements must inform Coda Tours at least 2 weeks prior to departure. Every effort will be made to accommodate special dietary needs where possible. Most meals taken as a group are pre-ordered. Local cuisine is given preference over Western choices.
• International airfare is not included. Coda Tour will be happy to assist with business, first or coach class airfares . If you are planning to use Frequent Flyer Miles for an upgrade or free ticket, we highly recommend booking your tour at least 7 months prior to departure.
• Domestic Airfare : Quito/Galapagos/Quito - quoted separately in coach class.
• Galapagos Park Fee
• Passport and visa expenses (if required). Please check our Travel Documents requirements for this trip. Always double check that your passport will remain valid for at least 6 months past your return to the U.S. and that you have sufficient empty pages in your passport to accommodate visa and entry/exit stamps. Always carry a copy of your passport packed separately from your travel documents and leave a copy with someone at home.
• Trip Cancellation & Interruption Insurance which is highly recommended to protect your travel investment in the unlikelihood you would need to cancel or return home early. We recommend Travel Insured International and will send you an application form with confirmation of your trip. You may check the rates for insurance on their website at www.travelinsured.com. We also recommend insuring any expense for airline tickets issued prior to the determination if a tour is guaranteed to operate. We cannot assume responsibility for losses incurred due to the cancellation of a tour.
• Tips to guides, drivers & shipboard personnel are additional during the extensions. Personal Expenses such as phone calls, room service, alcoholic and bar beverages, laundry, airline excess luggage charges, vaccinations, visa fees (if applicable) and other optional incidental extras are not included and may be significant.
Galapagos Weather
Months |
Low Temp |
High Temp |
Season |
Water Temp |
Jan – May |
65 - 70°F |
85 - 90°F |
wet |
75 - 82°F |
June - Dec |
65 - 70°F |
85 - 90°F |
dry |
62- 68°F |
The climate of the Galapagos archipelago is hot and arid, although sea breezes tend to cool the area. The hottest months are January to March, when the average daytime highs are about 28°C/82°F. These are also the wettest months, although rainfall is minimal even then. May to December are cooler and drier, with average temperatures falling to about 25°C/77°F in September.
MY ECLIPSE
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Features:
- Fully air-Conditioned
- Spacious and Well Equipped Cabins
- Nightly Lectures or Entertainment
- Top Naturalist Guides
- Practicing Sustainable Tourism
Overview:
The Eclipse offers all the amenities and services of other luxury cruise ships in the Galapagos with only a fraction of the number of passengers. She is extremely spacious for 48 passengers and boasts an English-speaking naturalist for every 12 passengers.
On-board amenities include a jacuzzi, an observation deck, al fresco dining area, entertainment center and a gift shop. Her spacious cabins and staterooms are well equipped with lovely hardwood furnishings, ocean views and private bathrooms. Guests will enjoy many amenities such as safety deposit boxes in each room, internal communication between rooms and laundry service.
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