Evening departure from London Heathrow by KLM via Amsterdam to Quito

On arrival in the morning you will be met and transferred to the Swissotel. The rest of the day is free to acclimatise to the altitude of Quito (2,800 metres)

Quito has a rich legacy of colonial architecture some of which you will see during your morning tour which also includes a visit to the Equatorial Monument

Free. Why not take a full day optional excursion by air to the beautiful city of Cuenca. This can be pre-booked for a cost of £195 per person

Morning flight to the Galapagos Islands where you embark on the Isabela II. Afternoon visit to North Seymour Island, an excellent location for viewing sea lions and also frigate birds. In the evening, a cocktail party is hosted by the Captain.

Hood Island is today’s destination, and at Gardner Bay you may spend some time in the clear turquoise water, perhaps even swimming with sea lions, while at Punta Suarez you can see blue-footed boobies, masked boobies, lava lizards, marine iguanas, and most famous of all, the waved albatross, unique to Hood Island

The island of Floreana, visited today, is studded with smaller volcanic cones – more than 50 within an area of only 130 square kilometres. There are often pink flamingos in the brackish waters of the lagoon, and there is also a good chance of seeing other wading birds such as black-necked stilts, oyster catchers and whimbrels.

Today is spent at Santa Cruz Island, which houses the Charles Darwin Research Station, manned by international scientists working on research and conservation projects. See the famous giant Galapagos tortoises which are bred here, then head into the interior where you may see these endangered creatures in the wild.

A wet landing brings you to Tower Island, home to thousands of birds, most notably frigate birds, red-footed boobies and storm petrels. Sail in your ‘pangas’ beneath the cliffs of Darwin Bay, the rim of a collapsed volcano, to see fur seals and more seabirds including the red-billed tropicbird. In the afternoon climb Prince Philip’s Steps (a steep ascent of 28 metres) where you may see the short-eared owl.

Morning visit to Punta Espinosa on Fernandina Island, where you will see the greatest concentration of marine iguanas, found in their thousands on the rocky shoreline. Afternoon landing at Urbina Bay on Isabela Island, a nesting site for the brown pelican and flightless cormorant.

Morning brings a wet landing on the dark volcanic sands of Puerto Egas on James Island to visit the Fur Seal Grotto. In the afternoon we reach Bartolome Island, where we view the striking Pinnacle Rock

After breakfast fly back to Quito for an overnight stay at the Swissotel

Morning departure by KLM via Amsterdam to London.

Arrive London Heathrow in the morning.