Galapagos Odyssey & Flavours of Ecuador - 10 Days

Brief itinerary

Wednesday - Arrive in Quito

Thursday - Avenue of the Volcanoes / Saquisili Market            

Friday - Cable Car / Quito by Night  

Saturday - Guayasamin Art Gallery / Dining with a View

Sunday - Fly to Galapagos Islands /  Santa Cruz island

Monday - Rabida / Chinese Hat

Tuesday - Genovesa island

Wednesday - Bartolome island / Sullivan  Bay

Thursday - Santa Cruz island / Fly to Quito 

Friday - Depart Quito  

Detailed Itinerary

Wednesday   Arrive in Quito

Your guide will be waiting to escort you from the airport to your hotel. Overnight stay in a standard boutique hotel.

Thursday        Avenue of the Volcanoes / Saquisili Market

Early in the morning, you will travel south along the Pan-American Highway to Saquisili market, one of the largest remaining indigenous markets in Ecuador. Every Thursday, the town fills with locals that come down from the mountains bringing their produce - a few onions, some carrots, potatoes, perhaps even some chickens or a pig - to sell at the various markets scattered throughout the town. Lunch will be at La Cienega, an old colonial hacienda that now functions as a restaurant and hotel.

You will spend the night at Hacienda Hato Verde, a construction from the colonial era that has been remodeled the by the current owners with original materials and techniques in keeping with the colonial rustic style of the region. For dinner you will enjoy the owner's hospitality with their tradition of fine home-style cuisine which is considered the best food of the region. BLD

Friday    Cable Car / Quito by Night

Morning. There is no better way to appreciate Quito's magical location in the midst of the Andes than by taking the Teleferico cable car, which affords the visitor a spectacular view of the city and its surroundings. On a clear day the vista includes at least 14 peaks of the planet's longest chain of mountains that is the Andes. The Teleferico reaches 4050 meters above sea level on the summit of Cruz Loma.

Evening. The city is especially beautiful by night. Your guide will lead you on an exploration of the World Heritage -listed colonial center of the city which features floodlit churches and other historic buildings. The Panecillo will be the next stop for a panoramic night time view of Quito. Dinner at Theatrum restaurant where chef Julio Avendano has created an extraordinary menu at the vanguard of Mediterranean cuisine, combining seafood, fish, meat, poultry and duck with fine aromatic herbs, spices, and local and imported ingredients. BLD

Saturday    Guayasamin Art Gallery / Dining with a View

On your return to Quito you'll visit the museum of Guayasamin that exhibits excellent samples of pre-Columbian, colonial and contemporary art from the private collections of the famous Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo Guayasamin. Following this, is a visit to "La Capilla del Hombre" (Chapel of Man), the inside of which is covered with a mural by the artist. It narrates the history of "El hombre Americano", but was incomplete at the time of the Guayasamin's death, and remains unfinished. The Chapel holds some of Guayasamin's work as well as that of other well-known Latin-American artists, from Pre-Columbian to contemporary. The altar of the Chapel holds an eternal flame in defense of peace and human rights.

Dinner tonight is at Rumiloma Lodge, a magical oasis of rustic luxury on the side of the Volcano Pichincha overlooking Quito, where you'll be treated to Ecuadorian-style fusion cuisine. BLD

Sunday Transfer hotel – airport / Galapagos Islands

Pick up from your hotel early in the morning to take you to the airport to take your flight to Galapagos. Once you arrive in the islands you have to pay Galapagos National Park entrance fee and show your Transit Control Card. Please keep this document until you leave the islands.

A representative of Galapagos Odyssey will be waiting for you at the airport.

Dragon hill, Santa Cruz Island

The visitor site at Dragon Hill has been open for visits on 1993. This site is located in northwestern Santa Cruz Island and consists of a trail that lead to a hyper-saline lagoon behind the beach, frequented by flamingos, pintail ducks and other species of birds. This site has been re populated with land iguanas from Seymour, Isabela and Santa Cruz islands. There is a short walk to the Hill, which offers a beautiful view of the bay.

Monday Rabida

Rábida Island is unique because the red color of the rocks and sand. The volcanic material in this island is very porous and external factors as rain, salt water and sea breeze have acted as an oxidizing agent.

A short walk along a trail lead us to a coastal lagoon behind the beach permits the observation of land birds as finches, doves, yellow warblers and mocking birds. At the lagoon there is a colony of flamingos.

Chinese hat

This is a small islet (1 sq km) located just off the southeastern tip of Santiago Island. It is a recent volcanic cone, shaped like a Chinese hat when seen from north side. On the west it can be seen lava formations, formed under the sea and raised upward, this is why coral heads are found on the lava. This is an excellent visit for interpretation of geological features such as lava tubes and lava flows. The landscape is covered by sea lions colonies, marine iguanas and Galapagos penguins.

Tuesday Darwin Bay, Genovesa Island

This bay has origin when the crater of this island collapsed below sea level. The wet landing is on a beautiful white coral sandy beach. This is a favorite island for birdwatchers: red footed-booby, masked boobies, wandering tattlers, lava gulls, whimbrels Yellow-crowned, black-crowned and lava herons, with and yellow warblers can be seen in the area.

Continuing on the trail, visitors climb gradually to the edge of the cliff seeing Red-Foots nesting in the Mangrove trees below. Bird watching includes sightings of Sharp-Beaked Finches, Large Cactus and Ground Finches, Galapagos Doves and Swallow-Tailed Gulls. Reaching the end the trail at the cliff's edge offers an incredible view of the island and the many birds living there.

El Barranco, Genovesa Island

El Barranco is located in the southern part of Darwin Bay and it is also known as Prince Philip’s Steps, passengers will climb to a plateau that is part of the stretch of land that surrounds Darwin Bay on its eastern side. There is a big population of Masked boobies and Red-Footed boobies in the tree; Storm petrels and Short-eared Owls have found in Genovesa lava flows the ideal place for nesting.

Wednesday Bartolomé Island

Bartolomé Island is situated across Sullivan Bay. It has an altitude of 114 meters, from where we can observe one of the most beautiful sceneries of the Galapagos Islands such as: Volcanic cones, lunar-like craters, lava fields, and the famous Toba formed pinnacle eroded by the sea. There is very little vegetation on this island.

It has two breathtaking beaches where marine turtles exist and at the base of the pinnacle, as well as a very small colony of Galapagos penguins.

The Sullivan Bay, Santiago Island

Santiago, also called James, or San Salvador Island, is located in the west central part of the Galapagos archipelago. It is the fourth largest island in the archipelago (following Isabela, Fernandina and Santa Cruz). Along with some of the large western volcanoes of Isabela and Fernandina, Santiago is also volcanically active, with many young flows and cones to be seen, particularly along the south, west, and east coasts. These may even be seen from the summit of Darwin Volcano and from space. A number of historic eruptions have been reported over the last 2 centuries. Santiago actually consists of two coalesced volcanoes: a typical shield volcano on the northwest end and a low, linear fissure volcano on the southeast end.

Thursday Highlands, Santa Cruz Island / Quito

The trail to the highlands leaves from Bellavista and passes through the agricultural zone, near the National Park boundary, the Miconia Zone, and then goes to the Fern and Sedge zone. With clear weather (unpredictable) this area affords beautiful scenes of rolling hills and extinct volcanic cones covered with grass and lush greenery all year round.

Transfer to the airport to take your flight back to mainland. Once you arrive in Quito, your guide will be waiting for you to take you to your hotel.

Friday Depart Quito

Transfer to the airport for your flight home or stay to explore a little more of Ecuador.