Dates April 29–May 15, 2006
Leaders Wayne Lynch and Aubrey Lang
Fee $9,495 in double occupancy from Guayaquil, Ecuador
Deposit 25% of tour fee
Limit 13
Special Terms and Conditions Apply

Straddling the equator, 600 miles west of mainland Ecuador, are Las Islas Encantadas, the Enchanted Islands. Better known as the Galápagos Archipelago, it is one of the premier nature photography locations in the world, and a must see for anyone who enjoys viewing wildlife at close range, warm tropical weather, snorkeling with colorful fishes, and sunset dining on the deck of a luxury yacht.

Participants will see virtually all of the famous Galápagos wildlife specialties, and photograph many of the incredible and unique life forms that captivated Charles Darwin. One of the great joys of a visit to these islands is the remarkably unwary seabirds which include such photogenic favorites as the red-footed, blue-footed and Nazca boobies, as well as the flamboyant magnificent frigatebirds with their scarlet throat pouches and aerial acrobatics. These birds of the open ocean allow human approach within a few yards during courtship and breeding. In addition there are elegant swallow-tailed gulls, handsome waved albatrosses, and flocks of resplendent flamingos in their feathered finery. Our extended tour includes the less-visited western side of the archipelago where we will photograph, and possibly snorkel with, the endearing Galápagos penguin and the comical flightless cormorant, both of which are rare endemics of the archipelago. The islands are also home to those marvels of evolution, "Darwin's Finches," as well as lumbering giant tortoises, marine and land iguanas, and abundant sea lions with their doe-eyed pups. Each island is its own microcosm—different from, but integrally linked to, the others of the group.

Our flexible schedule has us photographing usually in early morning and late afternoon—the best times for observing and photographing animals. Whenever possible between morning and afternoon shooting sessions, we will take time to snorkel in the coastal waters of the islands, searching for green sea turtles and enjoying the myriad coral reef fishes that bejewel the clear, warm waters.

We have chosen one of our favorite vessels in the Galápagos. She is the Parranda, a stabilized motor yacht built to exacting standards in the Jakobson Shipyard, USA. Designed for speed, she also provides exceptional seagoing comfort. Inside, the Parranda is fully air-conditioned with a well-appointed lounge and bar. A covered top deck offers lots of comfortable lounge chairs from which you can enjoy the relaxing sparkle of equatorial waters as well as search for seabirds and whales. Cabins have two lower beds, ample storage, small windows and private baths.

We have timed the trip to coincide with one of Nature’s busiest seasons in the islands. Spring is the time when warm weather, calm seas, blue skies and occasional showers combine to stimulate elaborate courtships in the birds and cloak the desert landscape in greenery and flowers. It is the perfect season to capture a multitude of memorable images and the perfect season to relax and enjoy the tropical Pacific.

This voyage has been designed as our Galápagos dream trip. Most trips to the islands are a week in length and restrict themselves to the eastern half of the archipelago. Our route will take us to all the best visitor sites in the east but also include Fernandina Island and the western shore of Isabela in the west. In addition to the penguins and cormorants we will see there, the area offers great opportunities to shoot Caribbean flamingos and rugged volcanic landscapes. We will go where the majority of tourists never go and see the islands as they really should be seen, with a small group on a spectacular boat.

Join Wayne Lynch and Aubrey Lang for this exceptional opportunity to photograph all of the extraordinary creatures of the Galápagos, without sacrificing time to relax, snorkel and get a true “sense of place.”



Day 1
Depart home for Guayaquil, Ecuador. Overnight at our hotel.

Day 2
Fly to San Cristóbal Island, embark our vessel and have lunch on the deck. This afternoon we’ll go ashore at Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and enjoy the new Visitor Center. We’ll depart at dusk and cruise to Kicker Rock—a magnificent split rock rising 500 feet out of the ocean—for sunset photography. (BLD)

Day 3
We’ll explore Santa Fe Island this morning. From our picturesque anchorage the land rises quickly to a high, rolling interior of eroded lava. A variety of birds nests here, but of particular interest are Galápagos hawks, Galápagos mockingbirds and Galápagos doves. Here a colony of sea lions provides constant entertainment. A walk inland will reward us with attractive scenery and cactus forest, and a possible photo opportunity with the large endemic Santa Fe land iguanas. We’ll snorkel the island’s rocky shallows for their many fish and close underwater views of sea lions and possibly sea turtles. A panga ride around Barrington Bay will complete the day. (BLD)

Day 4
After breakfast we’ll disembark in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island, and drive into the highlands. We’ll explore the lush scalesia forests—the favorite haunt of vermillion flycatchers—and investigate volcanic craters and lava tubes; then visit a tortoise reserve and photograph the charismatic animals in the wild, followed by lunch at a local ranch. Returning to Puerto Ayora, we’ll spend time at the Charles Darwin Research Station, which plays a major role in the environmental monitoring of the archipelago. Here we’ll see rearing pens for giant tortoises from the different islands and have another chance to photograph the large reptiles at close range. We’ll end the day in town where you’ll have time to explore and shop before returning to our vessel for dinner. (BLD)

Day 5
The Plaza Islands are flat, gently-tilted, lava fault blocks uplifted from beneath the sea. Our visit this morning to South Plaza is particularly interesting because of several hundred land iguanas that live there among the island’s giant cacti. Our landing beach is a whelping area for sea lions, and the steep cliffs along the southern coast are one of the best locations in the islands to photograph flying red-billed tropicbirds with their elegant streaming tail feathers.

This afternoon we will sail to North Seymour, another uplifted island that is quite flat. The island is home to a large population of magnificent frigatebirds. We should see the frenzied displays of courting males, and the nest building antics and thievery of neighbors. In the open areas, blue-footed boobies perform their courtship dance and on the cliff edges swallow-tailed gulls will be roosting and loafing. Despite tremendous surf on the outer shore, sea lions haul out onto the beach here, and are joined by marine iguanas. (BLD)

Day 6
Genovesa Island is the summit of a partially submerged volcano and the circular caldera has been invaded by the sea. Gentle slopes covered with sprawling Opuntia cacti and silvery palo santo trees rise 200 feet above the rugged shoreline. We will go ashore at dawn to explore a coral covered beach and tidal lagoons. This is the best spot in the islands to photograph great frigatebirds, yellow-crowned night herons and swallow-tailed gulls, as well as lava gulls. With a total population of just 400 pairs, the sooty-plumaged lava gull is the rarest gull in the world. In the afternoon we’ll climb the spectacular cliffs of the caldera and hike through a palo santo forest, photographing Nazca and red-footed boobies, Galápagos doves and mockingbirds. As well there are at least four kinds of Darwin’s finches and the possibility of finding the endemic race of the elusive short-eared owl. (BLD)

Day 7
Bartolomé is a small island with beautiful white sand beaches skirting rugged volcanic slopes. Activities will include swimming and snorkeling and a climb to the summit of the island for one of the most breathtaking views in all the Galápagos. If the day is sunny, there will be backlit views of extraordinary volcanic cones on nearby Santiago Island in the distance. Green sea turtles nest on the sandy beaches of the island and if we are very lucky we may see a female turtle dragging herself back into the sea after a night of egg-laying.

This afternoon we’ll visit the stark beauty of the volcanic terrain of Sullivan Bay. Two hundred years ago an eruption covered the area with molten rock leaving behind dramatic examples of ropy lava and spatter cones, all of which are a graphic photographer’s dream. At sunset we’ll take a panga ride and search for our first Galápagos penguins of the trip. (BLD)

 Day 8
Rábida Island lies at the center of the Galápagos archipelago. The reddish sand beach always has clusters of sea lions lounging and loafing in the surf and, in May, brown pelicans commonly nest at shoulder height in saltbushes close by. The island is a good location to search for Galápagos hawks, some of which may perch right over our heads.

This afternoon we’ll stroll along the intertidal rocks of Puerto Egas on Santiago Island. The black sand beaches were the site of a small salt mining industry in the 1960s and hikes in the area are an excellent opportunity to see finches, doves and hawks. As we hike along the coast, basking marine iguanas, gaudy orange Sally Lightfoot crabs and feeding American oystercatchers will keep us busy until we reach a colony of Galápagos fur seals resting on the black lava rock at the end of our walk. Snorkeling is good in the waters near our landing beach. (BLD)

 Day 9
This morning we’ll cruise the northern coast of Isabela Island searching for whales. By midday we should reach Tagus Cove, a former refuge of pirates and whalers, on the volcanic western shoreline of the island. We’ll hike inland to a scenic viewpoint overlooking Darwin Lake. We may also take a panga ride along the cliffs of the cove to search for penguins, brown noddies and marine iguanas soaking up the sun. (BLD)

Day 10
Fernandina, the youngest of the volcanic islands, lies on the westernmost edge of the archipelago and is bathed by the cool waters of the Cromwell Current. Our landing site at Punta Espinosa is our best chance to photograph nesting flightless cormorants as well as great numbers of marine iguanas piled atop each other in animated heaps. The nearby waters offer a unique opportunity to snorkel with foraging marine iguanas as they scrape algae from the gin-clear waters along the shoreline. (BLD)

Day 11
This morning we’ll cross the Bolivar Channel, returning to Isabela Island to visit Urbina Bay, where we’ll go ashore to search for land iguanas, and possibly more giant tortoises. In the afternoon we’ll explore the beautiful mangrove channels of Elizabeth Bay where we’ll again encounter more flightless cormorants. The sheltered waters are an important mating area for green sea turtles and snorkeling among the mangroves can be an exciting and novel experience. At sunset we’ll board pangas to explore three small islets known as Las Marielas, home to one of the largest concentrations of Galápagos penguins in the islands. (BLD)

Day 12
We’ll loiter around the Elizabeth Bay area again this morning, revisiting the highlights of the previous afternoon, doubling our chances for rewarding photography. We’ll sail at midday in time to reach Punta Moreno for our afternoon outing. The stark barren beauty of the lava landscape is dotted with brackish ponds where we’ll search for our first “shocking pink” flamingos, as well as ducks and a variety of shorebirds. (BLD)

Day 13
We will awake this morning offshore from the village of Villamil, on the southern coast of Isabela Island. We will spend the day searching the lagoons and nearby shoreline for herons, gallinules, stilts, ducks and shorebirds. This is the best location in the islands to find flamingos and no one can have too many photographs of these stately beauties. We will also visit the “Wall of Tears,” a stone wall built by convicts during the first half of the 20th century when a penal colony was located here. (BLD)

Day 14
Floreana rises to a height of 2,100 feet and is studded with volcanic cinder cones. We will spend the morning in “Post Office Bay,” one of the key historic sites on the islands. In the early 1800s, whalers in the area were the first to use an old barrel as a post box to send their mail home to family and friends. The tradition continues today. Search the barrel for mail directed to an address near your home then deliver it when you return. You can also drop off a postcard to see how long it takes to be delivered to you! Of course, as everywhere in the Galápagos, there is wildlife here as well. Darwin’s finches abound and, in a small lagoon behind, the beach herons and shorebirds frequently hide in the vegetation.

At midday we’ll sail to an old, eroded volcanic cone called the Devil’s Crown—a roosting site for boobies, pelicans and frigatebirds. The center of the “crown” provides some of the best snorkeling in the Galápagos.

In the afternoon we’ll focus on a very productive landing site—Punta Cormorán. Forests of palo santo and scalesia harbor the endemic medium tree finch and the pale green beaches and shallow lagoons are home to the greater flamingo, as well as ducks. (BLD)

Day 15
We’ve saved one of the best islands for last—Española Island. The island is virtually the sole nesting grounds of 12,000 endemic waved albatrosses. When we arrive the birds will be in the peak of their courtship period. As if that was not enough, the island is also home to blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, swallow-tailed gulls, red-billed tropicbirds, Hood mockingbirds, sea lions, lava lizards and unusual (red) marine iguanas. Punta Suarez is an outstanding site for wildlife, but also has a spectacular blowhole. When heavy swells are running, the spray shoots 30 yards into the air.

We’ll end the day strolling the sandy beaches of Gardner Bay. It will be hard to resist the antics of the lounging sea lion pups as they frolic in the shoreline surf, wrestle and play with each other, and pester their mothers. All of this is set against a backdrop of turquoise water and azure sky. (BLD)

Day 16
We return to San Cristóbal Island for our midmorning flight to Guayaquil. The afternoon is free until we gather for dinner at our hotel. (BLD)

Day 17
We depart for home. (B)



Please Note: The above itinerary is intended as an example only. Participants should allow for flexibility due to changes in weather, natural history events, or other logistical arrangements deemed necessary by our leaders.




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