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Machu Picchu Tour & Galapagos Islands Cruise Aboard Eric / Letty / Flamingo

Traveling to South America is a once-in-a-lifetime trip for most people

Duration: 14 days
Cost: $4695 per person
Booby Deck Upgrade: +$265 per person
Dolphin Deck Upgrade: +$455 per person
Internal flights are not included in trip costs
Internal airfare: $1170 low season / $1225 high season (subject to change)
Please for cruise itinerary and pricing specifics during your timeframe.
We can arrange this itinerary to either begin or end in Galapagos, depending on your preference.
Traveling to South America is a once-in-a-lifetime trip for most people. Here's an opportunity to take full advantage of your valuable vacation time by pairing the continent's most intriguing sights into one memorable adventure. The trip begins aboard the Eric, Letty or Flamingo, three identical ships designed specifically for cruising in the Galapagos Islands. Staying aboard your comfortable first class Galapagos cruise vessel, you'll spend a memorable week exploring the Galapagos Islands, accompanied by two certified naturalist guides. After your Galapagos cruise, you'll be immersed in Machu Picchu history and the Inca Empire, exploring the legendary ruins of Sacsayhuamán and Ollantaytambo, and enjoy excursions to the colorful markets of Cusco, Pisac, and Chincheros. Your Peru tours culminate with a visit to the hidden city of Machu Picchu where you spend two days exploring the mysterious ruins and surrounding cloud forests. This Galapagos cruise and Machu Picchu tour is the perfect way to see a lot in just two weeks.
To arrange a private departure for the Machu Picchu Tour & Galapagos Islands Cruise Aboard Eric / Letty / Flamingo, please contact us regarding details and private departure costs.

Machu Picchu & Galapagos aboard E/L/F Itinerary

• Day 1 (Sat) ARRIVE QUITO or GUAYAQUIL View Quito accommodations picture gallery When you arrive in the Ecuador capital of Quito, you'll be transferred to your hotel. If you arrive with hours or days to spare, we can arrange optional tours to see the city sights, including museums and other attractions. (B)
  Begin Optional Pre-Itinerary Tour Extensions
• Day 2 (Sun) QUITO or GUAYAQUIL - SAN CRISTÓBAL (CERRO BRUJO, LEON DORMIDO) View Eric/Letty/Flamingo details In the morning, you will be transferred from your Quito hotel to the airport for your flight to the Galapagos Islands with a brief layover in the port city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. You arrive at Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristóbal Island, where our representatives meet you at the airport and escort you to your anchored yacht. Your first destination is Cerro Brujo, its beautiful white, powder-sand beach offering an dramatic introduction to the Galapagos Islands. At sunset, you'll cruise around Kicker Rock (Leon Dormido), a vertical tuff cone formation that abruptly juts almost 500 feet out of the sea. This is a great spot for watching sea lions, blue-footed boobies, masked boobies and magnificent frigate birds on the cliffs. (B,L,D)
• Day 3 (Mon) GENOVESA (DARWIN BAY, PRINCE PHILIP'S STEPS) View Eric/Letty/Flamingo details
  
  

  Cruising the Galapagos Islands aboard the 3 sister vessels Eric, Letty and Flamingo offers comfort and style

  You'll spend the entire day on Genovesa (Tower), one of the most spectacular of the Galapagos Islands. After a wet landing on Darwin Bay's coral beach, you wind your way past tide pools where swallow-tailed and lava gulls gather. Next you enter a mangrove forest where colonies of great frigatebirds nest. After a swim or spending some time sea kayaking, you'll be taken by panga, a flat-bottomed boat, along the jagged shoreline where you may see the beautiful red-billed tropicbird. At Prince Philip's Steps, you'll find storm petrels and the elusive short-eared owl as well as watch the famous red-footed boobies nesting in Palo Santo trees. (B,L,D)
• Day 4 (Tue) SOUTH PLAZA - NORTH SEYMOUR View Eric/Letty/Flamingo details This morning, you'll visit South Plaza, a geological uplift with tall cliffs that offer spectacular views. After a dry landing, you'll hike along trails that lead through "prickly pear cactus" (Opuntia and Sesuvium) that attract Galapagos land iguanas. The cliff is home to a colony of sea lions. The dominant bulls may be found in various stages of recovery from battles over territory. Swallow-tailed gulls, shearwaters and red-billed tropicbirds build their nests along these cliffs. In the afternoon, you'll disembark on North Seymour, also a small geological uplift, and take a trail that leads to sea lions, swallow-tailed gulls and blue-footed boobies. Here you'll visit the largest colony of magnificent frigatebirds found in the Galapagos Islands and then stroll along the beach, watching for sea lions body-surfing on the northern swells. (B,L,D)
• Day 5 (Wed) ISABELA (TAGUS COVE) - FERNANDINA (PUNTA ESPINOZA) View Eric/Letty/Flamingo details Your Galapagos Island travel continues this morning with a visit to Tagus Cove on Isabela Island. Six volcanoes flowed together and formed this largest of the Galapagos Islands. On a nature walk, you'll come to a salt-water lagoon, a scenic overlook with a spectacular view of lava fields, volcanic formations and the sea. You'll explore Tagus Cove in pangas or sea kayaks to watch Galapagos penguins and other seabirds. After lunch, you'll cross the Bolivar Canal and disembark at Punta Espinoza, Fernandina. Located at the western end of the archipelago, Fernandina is the youngest and most pristine Galapagos Island. It is here that the largest colony of marine iguanas in the Galapagos Islands reside. Numbering in the hundreds, these fascinating creatures bask in the sun along the rugged shoreline. Here too are sea lion harems with resident bulls carefully guarding their territory. Flightless cormorants build their nests on the point and Galapagos hawk fly overhead. You'll also see evidence of recent lava flows stretching their way around the coast. (B,L,D)
• Day 6 (Thu) SANTIAGO (PUERTO EGAS) - BARTOLOME View Eric/Letty/Flamingo details This morning, you stroll along the shore at Puerto Egas on Santiago Island (also called James Island) looking for octopus, starfish and other sea life caught in the tide pools. At low tide, you'll be able to catch a glimpse of marine iguanas as they feed on exposed green algae. Here too you'll be watching for great blue herons, lava herons, oystercatchers and yellow-crowned night herons. Your walk ends at the grottos, deep pools of clear water where fur sea lions once on the verge of extinction are today encountered. On Bartolome Island, you'll feel you are walking on the moon. Though inhospitable to most plants and animals, this young Galapagos Island is a fascinating landscape nonetheless. After a dry landing, you'll take a thirty-minute climb up a steep slope to the summit of a once active volcano. Pausing along the way, you'll marvel at lava bombs, spatter cones and cinder cones. From the top, you may gaze out across a panoramic vista that includes the famous "Pinnacle Rock," an eroded tuff cone. Below, you'll find inviting crystal clear water where you'll snorkel among schools of tropical fish. This is an area where Galapagos penguins often swim. On the other side of the Island, you'll encounter sea turtles and white-tipped sharks. (B,L,D)
• Day 7 (Fri) SANTA CRUZ (CHARLES DARWIN STATION, HIGHLANDS) View Eric/Letty/Flamingo details This morning, you'll visit the Charles Darwin Research Station. Scientists from around the world work here and conduct biological research from anatomy to zoology. This is the place to snap the classic Galapagos Island souvenir shot of you with a giant tortoise. You'll observe the Galapagos tortoise when just a year old and learn about the center's important captive-breeding program. Next, you'll stroll through Puerto Ayora, the largest town in the Galapagos Islands, with a population of 10,000. This is the social heart of the islands, a great place to buy souvenirs, mail postcards and soak up the local charm. After lunch onboard, you'll take a bus excursion to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island. You'll see the scenery change through all seven vegetation zones found in the Galapagos Islands. From June to January, you can find the giant Galapagos tortoise on a private farm here in the highlands. The rest of the year, we visit Los Gemelos ("The Twins"), a pair of large pit craters where bright red male vermilion flycatchers are found. Afterwards, you'll head to "the tunnels," the largest lava tubes found in the Galapagos Islands. (B,L,D)
• Day 8 (Sat) ESPANOLA (GARDNER BAY, PUNTA SUAREZ) View Eric/Letty/Flamingo details This morning, you'll step into Gardner Bay on Espanola Island (also called Hood Island) where you'll walk along seemingly endless stretches of sandy beach to find colonies of sea lions. They will be your swimming and snorkeling companions as you enjoy the colorful diversity of sea life near Gardner Islet. This afternoon, you'll disembark at Punta Suarez on Espanola to a noisy sea lion welcome. Here you'll witness the largest number of endemic species on the Galapagos Islands and curious mockingbirds will peck at your shoelaces. From April to November, waved albatross perform their wild mating rituals only on Espanola. Here colonies of blue-footed boobies engage in "sky-pointing" and masked boobies care for their young. Stunning swallow-tailed gulls and red-billed tropicbirds take shelter under the island's cliffs. Other species endemic to Espanola include Darwin's finches, Galapagos doves and Galapagos hawks. You'll observe unique species of marine iguana, identified by their red and green markings. Colorful sally lightfoot crabs crawl along the shoreline near to the famous "blow hole." (B,L,D)
• Day 9 (Sun) SAN CRISTÓBAL (LA GALPAGUERA) - QUITO or GUAYAQUIL - LIMA View Lima accommodations picture gallery This morning, you'll return to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristóbal. You'll travel by bus into the interior of the island to visit a new site called Galapaguera of Cerro Colorado (Red Hill). At Galapaguera, Calandrinia, an endemic plant of this island, is found. The National Park Service has established a breeding program for the giant Galapagos tortoise here and set up an information center for visitors. Passengers not only get to see the terrestrial tortoises living in their natural habitat but also learn about their origin, evolution and threats posed by non-native species introduced to their habitat. Later you'll fly to Quito then on to Lima and be transferred to your hotel. (B,L)
• Day 10 (Mon) LIMA - CUSCO View Cusco accommodations picture gallery View Cusco accommodations picture gallery In the morning, you'll depart for Cusco, center of the Inca Empire. Southern Explorations' guides pick you up at the airport and take you on an introductory tour of the beautiful Plaza de Armas. From there, you'll begin a guided walking tour through the colorful markets of Cusco, the colonial cathedral, and Koricancha, the impressive Temple of the Sun. After a lunch of delicious local Peru cuisine, you'll spend the afternoon touring Cusco's temples and visiting several well-known Inca sights, including: the megalithic stone fortress of Sacsayhuaman; Kenko, with distinctive carved stone surfaces and subterranean altars; a small fortress called Puka Pukara that once protected the royal capital from attacks; and the water temple, Tambo Machay. In the late afternoon, you'll be returned to the comfort of your hotel to relax or learn more about Peru culture by exploring Cusco on your own. (B)
• Day 11 (Tue) CUSCO - SACRED VALLEY View Sacred Valley accommodations picture gallery Today's all-day guided excursion travels through snowcapped mountains to the legendary Sacred Valley, important during the reign of the Incas. Here you'll see Inca agricultural terracing along the steep valley walls and the ruined temples of Pisac with panoramic views of the jagged granite mountains. Pisac is where one of the most interesting textile markets in the Andes is located. You'll find one-of-a-kind souvenirs and enjoy the local Peru culture before lunch. Next you'll reach Ollantaytambo (9,185 ft.), a small town with an impressive Inca fortress where you'll spend the night at a local hotel. (B)
• 
  

  The mountain citadel of Machu Picchu (7,800' above sea level)

  Day 12 (Wed) SACRED VALLEY - MACHU PICCHU View Machu Picchu accommodations picture gallery The morning begins with a short walk from the hotel to the train station. The route follows the Urubamba River as it makes its way east toward the Amazon Rainforest. You reach the station at Aguas Calientes after emerging from a magnificent cloud forest. From there a bus brings you to the mountain citadel of Machu Picchu (7,800 ft.). The rest of the day will be spent exploring the famous ruins before returning to nearby Aguas Calientes in the late afternoon for a soak in hot springs and a dinner of Peru cuisine. You'll spend a restful night at a local hotel. (B)
• Day 13 (Thu) MACHU PICCHU - CHINCHEROS ARTISAN MARKET - CUSCO View Cusco accommodations picture gallery Today, you can choose to rise early to experience an unmatched sunrise at Machu Picchu before the crowds arrive. You'll spend the rest of the day among the ruins where you may climb to the sacred peak of Huayna Picchu or take a picturesque walk to the Temple of the Moon. Returning to Aguas Calientes at midday, you'll stop for lunch before taking the early afternoon train back to Ollantaytambo. Your private van will be waiting at the train station to transport you to the collective Chincheros textile market, where you'll learn about the traditional weaving methods of the Sacred Valley, considered some of the best textiles available in Peru. This is the ideal place for some last-minute shopping before returning to your Cusco hotel for the night. (B)
• Day 14 (Fri) CUSCO - LIMA - HOME After breakfast, you'll be taken to the airport for the Lima return flight and your connecting international flight, marking the end of Southern Explorations' services. If your schedule permits a longer stay, trip extensions to other regions or extra days in Lima or Cusco can also be arranged. (B) Begin Optional Post-Itinerary Tour Extensions
• Key: (B)reakfast (L)unch (D)inner

GALAPAGOS & ECUADOR EXTENSIONS

PERU EXTENSIONS

ARTICLES & INFORMATION ABOUT GALAPAGOS
TOURS AND TRAVEL

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CALL
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2009 TRIP DATES

Departure dates depend on the duration of your Galapagos cruise and the boat of your choice. Please contact us for more details.
2 person minimum / 8 maximum

INCLUSIONS / EXCLUSIONS

Included in tour cost

- Meals as indicated

- All hotel accommodations (twin shared basis)

- All airport/hotel transfers

- Entrance fees for all scheduled tours and archaeological sites (except Galapagos National Park)

- Galapagos Cruise (8D)

- English speaking certified guides

- Southern Explorations pre departure services.

Excluded in tour cost

- International airfare to Quito, Ecuador and from Lima, Peru

- Domestic Airfare: Quito / Galapagos / Quito
Low Season: $360
(May 1 - June 14 / Sept 15 - Oct 31)
High Season: $415
(Jan 1 - April 30 / June 15 - Sept 14 / Nov 1 - Dec 31)

- Domestic Airfare: Guayaquil / Galapagos / Guayaquil
Low Season: $320
(May 1 - June 14 / Sept 15 - Oct 31)
High Season: $465
(Jan 1 - April 30 / June 15 - Sept 14 / Nov 1 - Dec 31)

- airport taxes international (around $30) and local (around $5)

- Galapagos National Park Entrance Fee ($100 Adult/$50 Child)

- Tips and gratuities

- Alcoholic beverages

- Travel insurance

- Continental breakfasts are included at all hotels. All other meals are not included unless specified in the itinerary.

PHYSICAL RATING

Moderate

ACCOMMODATION

Machu Picchu Tour & Galapagos Islands Cruise Aboard Eric / Letty / Flamingo:

6 nights hotels
7 nights at sea

SINGLE SUPPLEMENT

Additional $225

- Single Supplement is the additional cost of a single traveler not sharing a room in double occupancy. We will match you with another same gender traveler unless you request single accommodations.

Prices based on 3% cash discount