Galapagos Outer Loop Cruise with Quito

Board your included flights from London Heathrow. On arrival you’ll be greeted at the airport by a Celebrity Cruises representative and transferred to the JW Marriott hotel. Enjoy free time to relax and settle in. 

Breakfast is served at the hotel. During your guided tour of the capital of Ecuador, situated at an altitude of 9,350 feet, you’ll stand on the equatorial line at the Intiñan Solar Museum, and marvel at the monastery of San Francisco and la Compañia Church. Lunch with a spectacular view of the city and enjoy a welcome dinner at a local gourmet restaurant. Your Tour Director will escort you throughout your Quito stay and serve as your personal concierge.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your flight to Baltra, Galapagos. During World War II, Baltra served as a U.S. military base protecting the Panama Canal from enemy attack. From the airport, it is just a short bus and tender ride to the ship. Daphne is a satellite volcanic cone located north of Santa Cruz Island. The crater floor is an important breeding site for blue-footed boobies. The cliff shore of the island is home for sea lions, pelicans, blue-footed boobies, and tropic birds which can be observed during the circumnavigation of the island. 

A long white sand beach and clear blue waters make this an ideal spot for swimming, snorkelling, or just relaxing on the beach. In the water, sea turtles, rays, colourful tropical fish, sea lions and maybe even a white-tip reef shark may be seen. Española is the oldest island in the Galapagos and home to an abundance of wildlife. You can expect to see sea lions, Galapagos Hawks, marine iguanas, and both blue-footed and Nazca boobies. 

Floreana was the first capital of the Galapagos, and where Charles Darwin met the islands’ Governor. Its small brackish lagoon is often home to flamingos, stilts, and white-cheeked pintail ducks, and one of its beaches is a highly used nesting site for sea turtles. Check out the green-hued sand where you land! Champion islet provides a wonderful opportunity for ocean adventures. When snorkelling, tropical fish abound with frequent sightings of sea turtles, rays, sharks, sea stars, and sea lions if they’re in a playful mood. On a coastal exploration ride along the rocky shoreline keep an eye out for seabirds such as boobies, pelicans, and frigatebirds.  Post office Bay is rich in history, this site is home to the post office barrel established in about 1793, where pirates, buccaneers, whalers and others could leave their mail to be picked up by outbound ships. The tradition continues today, as visitors leave addressed postcards in the barrel and sort through left mail to deliver at home. The Baroness’ Viewing Point is the ideal place to take in the unique scenery that defines Floreana, and to learn about the intriguing history of the island, once inhabited by an indulgent baroness and her three lovers. During the coastal exploration ride around “La Loberia,” you can observe several marine species such as golden eagle rays, sea turtles, sea lions, mullets and occasionally Galapagos penguins. 

Along this beautiful rocky shore, a field of hardened black lava flows is pockmarked by shallow pools, which are home to shorebirds and flamingos. The mangrove-lined shore also provides a chance to see marine iguanas, sea turtles, stingrays, sharks, penguins, and the flightless cormorant. Composed of five merged volcanoes, this is the largest island in the Galapagos and the most recently active, the latest eruption having occurred at Wolf Volcano in 2015. Here you will see large land iguanas, finches, and if lucky, a giant tortoise or two. In 1954, magma from one of the island’s volcanoes caused part of the bay to be uplifted some 6 meters, allowing you to walk through the remains of what was once a thriving underwater reef. 

Fernandina is the youngest island in the Galapagos and, as Darwin wrote, it is “covered with immense deluges of black naked lava.” Along with its extraordinary black lava rocks, this point of land hosts the largest colony of marine iguanas in the Archipelago, along with sea lions and a nesting site for flightless cormorants. The half-collapsed remains of an ancient volcano make for a spectacular setting at this site. Awe-inspiring cliffs, blue waters, and wildlife create a coastal exploration ride to remember as you search for sea turtles, penguins, fur seals, the flightless cormorant, marine iguanas, marine mammals, and the oddly shaped form of the elusive sunfish. 

One of two islands off Santa Cruz, South Plaza was born of upheaval, uplifted during a geologic event. The rocky island is strewn with prickly pear cactus and home to land iguanas, marine iguanas, and a colony of sea lions. Dragon Hill, or “Cerro Dragon,” is named after its population of land iguanas. The site offers a beautiful view of the landscape and two small brackish lagoons where flamingos and other shore birds occasionally feed. Along the trail, cross a beautiful “white forest” of Palo Santo (incense) trees and Galapagos cotton plants. 

The main population centre of the islands, Puerto Ayora is home to the National Park Service tortoise-breeding centre and the Charles Darwin Research Station. You will be able to visit the breeding centre and walk through the Research Station. You will also have the opportunity to take a bus ride to the highlands to observe giant tortoises in the wild and walk through a lava tunnel. In addition, you will have an exclusive opportunity to participate in the Scalesia reforestation project. 

Enjoy breakfast onboard before disembarking and heading to the Baltra airport for your flight to Quito and on to Lima. Upon arrival at the Quito airport a Celebrity representative will be on hand to assist you with your Lima flight check in. Upon your arrival in Lima, you will be greeted by a Celebrity Cruises representative at the airport. Dinner and overnight at the Westin Lima. 

Your Celebrity Cruises representative will once again escort you to the airport for your return. 

Arrive back at London Heathrow airport.