We board a morning flight from Quito to San Cristobal Island. Once we arrive we have a welcome lunch and briefing before the adventure begins. We will hike out of town and visit the San Cristóbal Interpretation Center, for a general understanding about island formation, volcanoes, evolution and natural history. We continue on to explore a unique dry forest and will be able to identify cacti, acacia, palo santo, galapagos cotton and more as we hike towards Frigate Hill along trails of lava rock featuring splendid views of the coastline and Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.

This will be a good time to enjoy our first encounters with local wildlife, since the hill is often visited by such Galapagos wildlife such as the magnificent and great frigate birds, blue footed boobies, brown pelicans, gulls, herons and lots of land birds including Darwin finches, warblers and mockingbirds. On our way back we can stop for a refreshing swim at Carola Beach. In the evening we enjoy a gourmet waterfront dinner. The rest of the evening is free to explore town.

We slip into our ocean kayaks and spend the morning paddling along the coast, going north exploring bays and coves full of local wildlife – including Darwin Bay, the site of the first landing of the HMS Beagle.

The route is home to colonies of sea lions, marine turtles, blue-footed boobies, and frigate birds. Once we reach Playa Ochoa, we continue on to nearby Isla Lobos on the lookout for marine iguanas and sea lions. This is a fantastic snorkelling site where we are nearly guaranteed to enjoy one of the best sea lion encounters in the entire archipelago.

We continue on to Leon Dormido, the jagged remains of an old tuff cone whose flanks are home to thousands of sea birds. At Leon Dormido, we enjoy excellent snorkelling; for certified divers, this is also one of the best dives in the islands (optional). There is a good chance of seeing Galápagos sharks, eagle and golden rays, as well as dozens of species of tropical fish, clams, starfish, and marine invertebrates. With a little lucky, we may also swim with hammerhead and white-tipped sharks. In the afternoon we return to our hotel for our last evening in San Cristobal.

In the morning we embark in a fast boat from San Cristobal to Santa Cruz Islands. Once we arrive, we transfer to El Chato reserve in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island which is the natural habitat of the incredible Galapagos tortoise.

We hike in this reserve to learn about these lumbering giants. We also come across highland wildlife such as pintail ducks, egrets, flycatchers, finches, and frigate birds bathing in freshwater lakes. We also walk into and explore some amazing volcanic tunnels that were created by hot flowing lava. As we walk in these underground geological formations we revive tales of buccaneers hiding Inca gold.

We continue to Los Gemelos, two volcanic craters near the top of the island. We walk around these deep craters through a beautiful Scalesia forest covered with epiphytes and ferns. In this habitat we may see the short-eared owl, one of the two owls that live in the Islands. We return to town and the afternoon. This evening is free to dine at any of the good selection of island restaurants.

After breakfast, we visit the Charles Darwin Research Station to learn about conservation and management efforts in the archipelago. We also get to meet Lonesome George, the last giant tortoise of his species.

Later this morning we put-in our kayaks and paddle around Divine Bay and Punta Estrada, through calm turquoise waters that wind through high-walled lava channels. Within the channels, white-tipped sharks and rays tour beneath the clear water, while colonies of blue-footed boobies, tropic birds, herons, crabs and marine iguanas perch along the jagged cliffs.

In the afternoon, we hike to Tortuga Bay, a beautiful white sand beach area, nesting site to thousands of marine turtles. This trail is 3½ miles (6 kilometers) long and crosses through a dry forest lava habitat home to hundreds of iguanas. We return to Puerto Ayora to spend the evening at leisure in the Galapagos’ most populous town.

From Santa Cruz we embark on a fast boat to Isabela Island. During our Island crossing we will be on the lookout for dolphins and whales (July to October) Isabela is the largest Island in the archipelago, formed by 6 shield volcanoes - Alcedo, Cerro Azul, Darwin, Ecuador, Sierra Negra and Wolf. All of these volcanoes except one remain active, making this island one of the most volcanically active places on earth.

When we arrive we set up our mountain bikes to explore the beautiful coastline for its scenery and wildlife treasures. We begin with a visit to El Muro de las Lágrimas which means Wall of Tears, a historic site that dates back between 1946 and 1959 when Isabela Island was used as a penal colony. The wall was built with lava blocks and had no other purpose that of keeping prisoners busy from the madness of isolation.

We continue riding along the coast as we explore expansive white sand beaches, mangroves and brackish lagoons. This area is filled with birdlife such as American oyster catchers, herons, flamingos, finches and many shore birds, as well as sea lions and marine iguanas. In the afternoon we take our ocean kayaks and paddle out to Tintoreras, a set of small Islets within Isabela bay. The Islets are filled with wildlife and are home to the Galapagos Penguin, the only penguin that lives in equatorial region. We will also see sharks, marine turtles, sea lions and much more wildlife as we explore its many small coves and beaches.

From Puerto Villamil, we drive to the highlands up to where the road ends. Here we prepare our day backs and walk into a world of recent geological history. We walk on dirt trails until we arrive to the rim of the Sierra Negra volcano. Sierra Negra is an active volcano which last erupted in October 2005. We explore along the rim of the huge 6x5 mile-wide (9x8 kilometer) lava-filled crater. We may also get views to the other Isabela volcanoes and the Perry Isthmus and beyond.

Optionally, we continue our hike all the way to Volcan Chico, an incredible area that offers puffing fumaroles and extraordinary lava formations, great examples of the dramatic geological events that have forged the Galápagos Islands over millennia. In the afternoon, we return to Puerto Villamil for our last afternoon in its exotic white beaches.

In the morning, we will navigate (or flight based on weather conditions) to Baltra Island for our airport connection back to the continent.