GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS CRUISES
LENGTH: 4 Days/3 Nights, 5 Days/4
Nights and 8 Days/7 Nights
FIXED DEPARTURE DATES: Dates available
upon request. Please contact Rainforest and Reef by
e-mail: info@rainforestandreef.org
or call toll-free: 1.877.255.3721.
Note: There are many variables involved with travel
to the Galápagos Islands. Our Staff is comprised of
Biologists that have been to Galápagos many times.
If you have an interest in traveling here, we strongly
suggest that you call us toll-free at 1.877.255.3721
for details and pricing information. Thank you.
*Affordable EXTENSIONS are also available in Ecuador
upon request including: OLD-TOWN QUITO CITY TOUR;
SAQUISILÍ MARKET (half or full-day); VILLAGE of BAÑOS
and the AVENUE of the VOLCANOES (3d/2n); CUENCA; OTAVALO
and SURROUND VILLAGES and COTOPAXI NATIONAL PARK.
Please contact Rainforest and Reef for details and
pricing by e-mail: info@rainforestandreef.org
or call toll-free: 1.877.255.3721.
*WHITE-WATER RAFTING and TREKKING are also available
in Ecuador upon request.
*An affordable EXTENSION to CUZCO and the LOST CITY
of the INCAS-MACHU PICCHU is also available to individuals
and groups. Please contact Rainforest and Reef for
details and pricing by e-mail: info@rainforestandreef.org
or call toll-free: 1.877.255.3721. Pricing and itineraries
are also available at http://www.rainforestandreef.org.
Look under our PERU A, B and C FIELD COURSES, as well.
GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS
The Galápagos Archipelago is a cluster of 13 major
and six smaller islands, scores of low-lying islets
and 47 coral reefs located in the Pacific Ocean, 600
miles off the coast of Ecuador, South America. Galápagos
is a province of Ecuador and the largest in its' National
Park System. Five of the islands are inhabited and
the rest are considered a Biosphere Reserve, a protected
world of animals and plants, of soils and surf that
preceded man by millions of years. Ten million years
ago, raging volcanoes erupting over time, created
the mystical Archipelago de Colón, that we know today
as the Galápagos Islands. Scattered across a vast
17,000 square miles of ocean and discovered in 1535,
the archipelago has remained sequestered from the
mainland. No mainland connection has ever existed.
Here, pirates buried stolen treasure, castaways found
refuge, and, in time, a myriad of reptiles, mammals,
birds and plants drifted or flew to its' shores. It
was Charles Darwin's September 1835 exploration of
the Galápagos while serving as the Naturalist on
the British ship HMS Beagle, and his subsequent 1859
publication, "On the Origin of Species by Natural
Selection" that first brought world attention
to the Islands. Long isolated in this unique environment,
the Islands, their plants and animals became a living
laboratory and were to forever change the course of
Biological Science.
Beautiful and bizarre, you are in for an extraordinary
experience with some of our planet's most intriguing
flora and fauna! So rare are its' species that virtually
all the reptiles and many of the plant and bird species
here are found nowhere else in the world….curious
mockingbirds peck at your shoelaces….prehistoric land
iguanas….13 species of Darwin's finches....600 pound
land tortoises….boobies with red feet....boobies with
blue feet....marine iguanas....crimson-throated frigatebirds
showing off for their mates….waved albatrosses….the
pinkest flamingos on earth and so much more! Untouched
for centuries, these creatures have no fear of humans.
Where else can you swim with penguins on the equator,
snorkel with a sea-lions in secluded bays or sit for
hours and watch birds perform unique and, at times,
comical mating dances?
You will be captivated by the moon-like landscapes
and mist-covered volcanic peaks, green and red sand
beaches, forests of opuntia cactus that grow taller
than man. This surreal setting is as mysterious as
the creatures that inhabit it. In an effort to preserve
the islands just as they were centuries ago, the Galápagos
have been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The National Park Administration and the Charles Darwin
Research Station, founded in 1964, look after the
conservation of the Islands where all native mammals,
reptiles and birds protected.
Anyone interested in natural history, wildlife and
geology will find a visit to the Galápagos a rare
and truly unforgettable travel experience.
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