Hidden Galapagos: A Private Adventure to the Galapagos Islands

Mountain Travel Sobek • Celebrating 45 Years of Adventure Hidden Galapagos: A Private Adventure to the Galapagos Islands TRIP DETAILS 9 days • Ecuad...
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Mountain Travel Sobek • Celebrating 45 Years of Adventure

Hidden Galapagos: A Private Adventure to the Galapagos Islands TRIP DETAILS 9 days

• Ecuador & the Galápagos Islands • Activity Level: Easy to moderate

HIGHLIGHTS

• Kayak and snorkel among sea lions and marine iguanas in the world’s top nature destination • Hike on an active volcano (whose last eruption was just a few years ago!) • Experience up close and personal encounters with wildlife • A perfect alternative to our yacht-based adventures

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1266 66th Street, Suite 4, Emeryville, CA 94608 1-888-MTSOBEK • 510-594-6000 www.mtsobek.com • [email protected]

Mountain Travel Sobek • Celebrating 45 Years of Adventure

Hidden Galapagos: A Private Adventure to the Galapagos Islands

OVERVIEW

Here’s a unique land-based perspective of the Galápagos Islands! The Galápagos inspired Charles Darwin as no other place he visited on his long journey in the 1830s, and led to his extraordinary vision of the theory of evolution. Today these islands are still a living laboratory and a renowned paradise for nature lovers. Their all-but-tame wildlife and extraordinary landscapes never fail to impress—it’s a “must-see” destination for young and old alike. Most people visit the “Enchanted Isles” aboard an expedition yacht that stops at designated visitor sites among the islands. We’ve been offering such excursions since 1970—adventurous cruises aboard small expedition yachts that carry a maximum of just 12-16 passengers. They are extraordinary journeys that are “once-in-a-lifetime” experiences. But now we’re offering a way to see another side of the Galápagos: based at comfortable hotels and lodges on Santa Cruz Island, home to the famous Charles Darwin Research Station—and Isabela Island, the largest island of the archipelago. You’ll set off each day to explore various facets of the islands not usually visited by tourist boats. Excursions include a hike up Sierra Negra Volcano—a chance to see fumaroles and a huge caldera, plus panoramic views of the ocean; snorkeling with Galápagos penguins and marine iguanas at a little-visited site off Isabela Island; and many other activities that can be arranged from the hotel. On our Private Adventures, you will travel with an intimate group of close friends or family. You will pick the itinerary and the activities, we'll do everything else including provide the expertise of your dedicated guide!

TRIP DATES Private departures are available on the dates of your choice, pending availability. Call us for details.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

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1266 66th Street, Suite 4, Emeryville, CA 94608 1-888-MTSOBEK • 510-594-6000 www.mtsobek.com • [email protected]

Mountain Travel Sobek • Celebrating 45 Years of Adventure

Hidden Galapagos: A Private Adventure to the Galapagos Islands

Day 1: • Quito Arrive in Quito. A Mountain Travel Sobek representative will meet you outside the customs and immigration area at the airport. He or she will answer questions, brief you on the immediate arrangements, and escort you to the elegant Swissôtel, a five-star hotel with many amenities, including a beautiful spa and indoor/outdoor swimming pools.

Swissôtel - Quito, Ecuador Day 2: • Quito After breakfast, enjoy a half-day guided sightseeing tour of colonial Quito, the oldest part of the city (residents call it “old town” or simply “downtown”). Your tour may include Independence Plaza, surrounded by important buildings such as the government palace, the archbishop’s palace, and the cathedral built in the 16th century. Among the churches you may visit are El Sagrario, San Francisco, and La Compañia, one of the finest examples of Baroque churches in all the Americas as well as a showcase of the Quito School period. Your guide will explain the history and traditions of Quito and offer special insight into everyday life during the colonial period. After lunch in an area restaurant, the afternoon is free to relax, shop, or explore on your own.

Breakfast, Lunch / Swissôtel - Quito, Ecuador Day 3: • To the Galápagos Islands – Isabela Island After breakfast at the hotel you have an early transfer to the airport. With your guide, you’ll fly from Quito to Baltra, Santa Cruz Island, in the Galápagos Islands. From here you’ll connect with a local flight to Isabela Island. Transfer to a beachfront lodge in Puerto Villamil, and have the remainder of the day to swim at the beach and explore the village. Casa Marita sports the charm and atmosphere of a large country home. Its 16 rooms—with ocean or garden views—are individually decorated with fanciful flair.

Day 3: • To the Galápagos Islands – Isabela Island

Breakfast, Lunch / Casa de Marita - Puerto Villamil, Isabela Island

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1266 66th Street, Suite 4, Emeryville, CA 94608 1-888-MTSOBEK • 510-594-6000 www.mtsobek.com • [email protected]

Mountain Travel Sobek • Celebrating 45 Years of Adventure

Hidden Galapagos: A Private Adventure to the Galapagos Islands

Day 4: • Sierra Negra Volcano Today you’ll have a full-day guided nature hike up Sierra Negra (4,890') to see its 30-square-mile caldera, petrified lava formations, and fumaroles, and enjoy spectacular views of the ocean and surrounding islands. (You can also go by horseback at additional cost.) You’ll be transferred to the trailhead at Santo Tomás and from there it’s a 6- to 8-hour roundtrip hike to the rim and back. Picnic lunch en route. Among the bird life you may see are the endemic Galápagos martins (large swallows noted for their flight patterns), vermilion flycatchers, and Galápagos hawks. (Note—the weather here is often rainy; we advise bringing your rain gear.) Return to the hotel in the late afternoon.

Day 4: • Sierra Negra Volcano

Breakfast, Lunch / Casa de Marita - Puerto Villamil, Isabela Island Day 5: • Isabela Island A full day to explore the flamingo mangrove lagoons, swim at Estuary Beach among the mangroves, snorkel with Galápagos penguins and marine iguanas at Las Tintoreras, a small island off Puerto Villamil, visit the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center, where you’ll see tortoises of all ages and sizes, or relax and swim from the beach.

Breakfast, Lunch / Casa de Marita - Puerto Villamil, Isabela Island Day 5: • Isabela Island

Day 6: • Isabela Island – Santa Cruz Island Early morning to swim or take a nature walk before a transfer to Puerto Villamil airport for the local flight to Baltra on Santa Cruz Island. Transfer to the main town of Puerto Ayora, stopping to visit the highlands and search for giant tortoises in their natural environment as well as a variety of finches and other specialties of the lush fern- and bromeliad-laden forests, lava sinkholes and tunnels, and marshy lakes and mud holes where the giant tortoises wallow. You’ll explore one of the lava tunnels, then have lunch at a restaurant in the highlands and continue on to the town of Puerto Ayora.

Day 6: • Isabela Island – Santa Cruz Island

Breakfast, Lunch / Angermeyer Waterfront Inn - Puerto Ayora

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1266 66th Street, Suite 4, Emeryville, CA 94608 1-888-MTSOBEK • 510-594-6000 www.mtsobek.com • [email protected]

Mountain Travel Sobek • Celebrating 45 Years of Adventure

Hidden Galapagos: A Private Adventure to the Galapagos Islands

Day 7: • Santa Cruz Island Full day to enjoy the surroundings of Puerto Ayora. In the morning, we will kayak to Las Grietas, a beautiful calm bay near Puerto Ayora, where natural fissures in the lava cliffs have formed channels often visited by sharks and rays. Or, you can have a full morning visit to Tortuga Bay, one of the most beautiful beaches of the Galapagos. You will arrive to Tortuga beach after an easy 30 minutes walk through a dry forest dominated by giant prickly-pear cactus. Once at the beach, you will be amazed by the beauty of this white-sand beach, one of the best of Galapagos.

Day 7: • Santa Cruz Island

In the afternoon you can visit the Charles Darwin Station or one of the nearby beaches. At an additional cost you can choose to go horseback riding on a private ranch in the highlands; take a day dive trip to a nearby island (this should be scheduled ahead of time); or go on a day boat trip to a nearby island with a naturalist guide to view wildlife (North Seymour, South Plaza, or Bartolomé on a space available basis).

Breakfast / Angermeyer Waterfront Inn - Puerto Ayora Day 8: • Quito Early morning to swim or take a nature walk before your transfer to Baltra airport for your flight to Quito, or connect with your Mountain Travel Sobek nature cruise in Galápagos. Upon arrival in Quito, you’ll be met and transferred to the Swissôtel. Dinner on your own.

Breakfast, Lunch / Swissôtel - Quito, Ecuador Day 8: • Quito

Day 9: • Fly home Private transfer to the airport for departure on homeward-bound flight, or embark on an extension to Sacha Lodge, Otavalo & Hacienda Zuleta, or Machu Picchu, Peru.

Breakfast

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1266 66th Street, Suite 4, Emeryville, CA 94608 1-888-MTSOBEK • 510-594-6000 www.mtsobek.com • [email protected]

Mountain Travel Sobek • Celebrating 45 Years of Adventure

Hidden Galapagos: A Private Adventure to the Galapagos Islands

LAND COSTS

2016 Prices $4,595 2-3 members, double occupancy $4,195 4+ members, double occupancy $1,200 single supplement $900 internal airfare (age 12 and older) $820 internal airfare (age 11 and younger) $20 Galapagos Transit Control Card, required Mimimum age: 6 years old 11 days option available. Please call for details: 1-800-282-8747

Payment & Cancellation Policy

Payment At time of reservation

$800 or 25% of Land/Cruise Cost, whichever is greater

120 days prior to departure

25% of Land/Cruise Cost

90 days prior to departure

Balance of Land/Cruise Cost

Cancellation If written cancellation is received:

Cancellation fee will be:

90 days or more prior to departure

$800 or 25% of Land/Cruise Cost, whichever is greater

89 to 60 days prior to departure

50% of Land/Cruise Cost

59 days or fewer prior to departure

100% of Land/Cruise Cost

Tier Pricing

Adventure travel works best with a small group of people. In order to operate these small groups, our trips are priced according to the number of full-price passengers on the trip. (Mountain Travel Sobek staff, trip doctors, and other discounted travelers are excluded from the count for this purpose.) We initially invoice you at the highest tier level

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1266 66th Street, Suite 4, Emeryville, CA 94608 1-888-MTSOBEK • 510-594-6000 www.mtsobek.com • [email protected]

Mountain Travel Sobek • Celebrating 45 Years of Adventure

Hidden Galapagos: A Private Adventure to the Galapagos Islands

price (the smallest group size we can operate). If the price drops due to an increase in group size, you will be refunded the difference. What’s Included

• • • • • • • • • •

expert leadership accommodations as noted in itinerary (or similar) meals as noted in the itinerary airport transfers sightseeing as noted in the itinerary ground transportation additional guides and porters where necessary tips for lodge, hotel, or camp staff entrance fees and permits, unless noted separately in costs basic medical and evacuation insurance

What’s Not

International airfare; meals not noted on itinerary; insurance other than basic medical and evacuation insurance noted above (we strongly recommend you purchase the supplementary trip insurance offered by Mountain Travel Sobek, which includes trip cancellation insurance); optional tipping to leader, guides and local staff; excess baggage charges; airport taxes (international—varies by location); cost of medical immunizations; and items of a personal nature (sodas, alcoholic beverages, laundry, etc.). Air Travel

Airfare is not included in the land cost of our trips. For air reservations, we recommend you contact the airlines directly, either by phone or the Internet. In addition, many travelers elect to use their “frequent flyer” miles when traveling with us. But please check with our staff before purchasing or obtaining your tickets. We need to verify your arrival and departure schedule and ensure we have enough participants to operate the trip.

Luis Die Luis Die was born in Seville, Spain, and is a graduate of the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid with a degree in environmental biology. He is fluent in Spanish, English, and French and has guided in Galápagos for more than a decade. In addition to being a professional nature photographer, Luis is working on a Master’s Degree in geographical ecology and is active with conservation groups on the mainland. Luis is a born teacher and enthusiastically shares his knowledge of Galápagos with people of all ages. He lives in Quito with his wife and twin sons and is our head naturalist guide, working exclusively with Mountain Travel Sobek.

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1266 66th Street, Suite 4, Emeryville, CA 94608 1-888-MTSOBEK • 510-594-6000 www.mtsobek.com • [email protected]

Mountain Travel Sobek • Celebrating 45 Years of Adventure

Hidden Galapagos: A Private Adventure to the Galapagos Islands

The Galápagos Islands are a year-round destination. The best time to visit is up to your individual preference. There are two seasons in the Galápagos: the warm season (November-March) and the cool season (April-October). The cooler waters of the Humboldt Current bring rich oceanic upwellings to the Galápagos in April, thereby stimulating the breeding season for sea lions and seabirds. During the cool season, daytime temperatures are generally in the 70s and water temperatures in the 60s (a wetsuit is recommended for snorkeling); this season is the best time of the year for viewing dancing boobies, baby sea lions, and whales and dolphins, with comfortable short sleeve weather for hiking. There is usually some fog that drifts in and out (known locally as garua) from July to mid-October and a oneto two-foot chop in the open ocean during this time, but don’t let this deter you! This is our favorite time in the islands—wildlife abounds! In November, the Humboldt Current starts to recede and the warmer Panamic Current ushers in warmer daytime temperatures of 80-90+ and water temperatures in the low to mid-70s. Showers can accompany the warm season, but waters are generally calm and clear and showers are short and welcome. This is a great time to enjoy the warmer waters for snorkeling and to view green sea turtles that come into the islands to breed. Allour trips year-round feature hikes in the highlands to look for giant tortoises. No matter when you visit, there’s always a lot to see in the Galápagos.

THE NEXT STEP Ready to go? Signing up is easy!

Just call us at 1-888-MTSOBEK (687-6235) and reserve your spot! If you prefer to use a travel agent, he or she can book your trip at no extra cost and provide other helpful assistance. Then Leave the Rest to Us

Before you go, we provide you with extensive pre-departure information, including clothing recommendations, suggested reading lists, up-to-date health advice prepared by our consulting physician (an expert in wilderness medicine), and other details. Why Mountain Travel Sobek is Your First Choice for Adventure

Mountain Travel Sobek is the pioneer in active adventure travel. No other adventure travel company can lay claim to that title. We were the first to take Americans trekking in Nepal, raft the wild rivers of Africa, and open up many previously inaccessible corners of the world to curious travelers. We set the standard for adventure travel and have a strong reputation for excellence that we do everything we can to maintain. Since we are the leading adventure company, we have a lot to live up to, so we make sure we provide safe, quality trips and the best customer service to our passengers. References

Don’t take our word for how great our trips are. We’ll be happy to provide you with references of satisfied past travelers.

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1266 66th Street, Suite 4, Emeryville, CA 94608 1-888-MTSOBEK • 510-594-6000 www.mtsobek.com • [email protected]

Mountain Travel Sobek • Celebrating 45 Years of Adventure

Hidden Galapagos: A Private Adventure to the Galapagos Islands

Questions?

Feel free to call us at 1-888-MTSOBEK (687-6235) if you still have any questions or concerns. We’re here to help you. You can also check out our website at www.mtsobek.com. Note on Itinerary

Although we will do our best to adhere to the itinerary schedule as listed, it is subject to change. Please read the Limitation of Liability and Booking Conditions in the four-page Participant Information Form. You can find all this information on our website at www.mtsobek.com/faq and the form itself at www.mtsobek.com/pdf/ participant_info.pdf. Terms & Conditions

Once you have made a deposit for a trip, you agree to be bound by all our terms and conditions including the Limitation of Liability Clause. The full Terms and Conditions can be found at www.mtsobek.com/faq/#liability or call 1-888-MTSOBEK (687-6235) for a copy. These are partial conditions. Your participation is contingent on your signature on the full list of terms specified in the four-page Participant Information Form (www.mtsobek.com/pdf/ participant_info.pdf). Any dispute concerning, relating or referring to the Terms and Conditions, to any literature concerning this trip, or the trip itself, shall be resolved exclusively by binding arbitration in San Francisco, California, according to the then existing commercial rules of the American Arbitration Association. Such proceedings will be governed by substantive California law (but not procedural law) without regard to the California Arbitration Act. ©2010, Mountain Travel Sobek CST 2014882-10 Registration as a seller of travel does not constitute approval by the State of California.

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1266 66th Street, Suite 4, Emeryville, CA 94608 1-888-MTSOBEK • 510-594-6000 www.mtsobek.com • [email protected]