Heading up the coast from Wreck Bay and Puerto Baquerizo, you will see Isla Lobos across a small channel off the coast of San Cristobal. This basalt island outcrop lives up to its name of "Sea Lion Island" with its noisy population of frolicking and barking beasts. It is also a nesting place for blue-footed boobies and an excellent spot for snorkeling. This is your first chance to share the water with a playful colony of the "wolves of the sea".

After lunch we land at Punta Suarez. The quantity and variety of wildlife here is remarkable. Sea lions surf the waves beyond the breakwater landing, and tiny pups are known to greet your toes upon arrival. A few steps inland are the largest variety of marine iguana in the Galapagos. The trail then takes us beside the western edge of the island where masked boobies nest along the cliff's edge, and then descends to a rocky beach before rising to an open area and a large gathering of nesting blue-footed boobies. Galapagos doves, cactus finch and mocking birds forage by, unconcerned by human presence. Further east along the cliffs is the "Albatross Airport" where "Waved albatross" line up to launch their great winged bodies from the cliffs, soaring out over the dramatic shoreline of crashing waves and driven spray.

In the afternoon we stop at Post Office Bay where, in 1793, British whalers set up a barrel as the island's Post Office, to send letters home on passing ships. The tradition continues to this day, simply by dropping a postcard into the barrel without a stamp. The catch is you must take a post card from the barrel and see that it gets to the right place. That is how the system began and continues to this day. Some 250 meters north from Punta Cormorant is an old submerged volcanic cone that has been worn down by waves, Devil's Crown is home to a myriad of marine species including a variety of corals, pencil sea urchin, wrasses, angelfish, amberjacks and many other creatures, making for some of the best snorkeling in the Galapagos. The eroded crater walls form a popular roosting site for seabirds including boobies and Pelicans.

After lunch we head to the Santa Cruz Highlands, where the sparse, dry coastal vegetation transitions to lush wet fields and forests overgrown with moss and lichens. Our destination is the Tortoise Reserve, where we will have chances to track and view these friendly ancient creatures in their natural setting. This extends to the adjacent pasturelands, where farmers have given tortoise safe quarter in exchange for allowing paying visitors to see them.

In the afternoon we continue to Price Phillip's Steps, named for a visit by the British Monarch in 1964. The 25 meter steps lead to a narrow stretch of land that opens out onto the plateau surrounding Darwin Bay, and extends to form the north side of Tower Island. Red-footed boobies wrap their webbed feet around branches to perch in the bushes, and, in contrast, their "masked-booby" cousins dot the surface of the scrublands beyond. Crossing through the sparse vegetation, you will come to a broad lava field that extends towards the sea - this forms the north shore. "Storm petrels" flutter out over the ocean in swarms, then return to nest in the cracks and tunnels of the lava field, where their predator, the short-eared owl, is a frequent visitor.

After lunch we continue to Isabela, the largest island in the archipelago, It is also home to the highest point in the Galapagos, Wolf Volcano, and calderas of up to 20 kilometers across. Located at the "mouth" of the head of the sea horse, which forms the northern part of the Isabela is Punta Vicente Roca. Here the remnants of an ancient volcano form two turquoise coves with a bay well protected from the ocean swells. The spot is a popular anchorage from which to take panga rides along the cliff where a partially sunken cave beckons explorers. Masked and blue-footed boobies sit perched along the point and the sheer cliffs, while flightless cormorants inhabit the shoreline. The upwelling of coldwater currents in this part of the Galapagos, give rise to an abundance of marine life which, in combination with the protection of the coves, make Punta Vicente Roca one of the archipelago's sough after dive spots. One cove is only accessible from the sea by way of an underwater passage. The passage opens to calm waters of the hidden cove where sea lions like to laze on the beach having travelled along the underwater route.

After a break for lunch we travel to North Seymour Island, lifted from the ocean floor by a seismic event, and its origins as a seabed give the island its low, flat profile. Cliffs form the shoreline, where swallow-tailed gulls sit perched in ledges. This island is teeming with life. You might have to give way to a passing sea lion or marine iguana; blue-footed booby nests sit beside the trail where mating pairs perform their courtship dance. Further along, the rocky shore displays white sand, and large flocks of pelicans mass for a dive-bomb feeding frenzy, rendering a tableau for us from ages long past. The trail turns inland to reveal the largest nesting site in the Galapagos of the "magnificent frigate bird." These huge, dark acrobats have two meter wingspans, and males, with puffed up scarlet throat sacks, sit precariously perched in low bushes to watch over their chicks.

In 1998 the Galapagos National Park Visitor Center opened for the benefit of islanders and travelers alike, presenting a comprehensive exhibit of the Islands' natural history, human interaction, ecosystems, flora and fauna. Our guide will use the exhibits to provide an illustrated overview of the natural history of the islands. From the Interpretation Center, a short trail arrives at Frigate Bird Hill, where both "magnificent-frigates" and "great-frigates" can be seen in the same colony. Following this visit we return to Puerto Baquerizo, where you'll have time for some last minute island shopping. Then it is off to the airport to catch flights back to mainland Ecuador (flights not included).

N.B. Galapagos National Park Entrance Fees are not included in the cost of this cruise.