Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
Hike, Bike & Snorkel the Galápagos Islands With Your Family
Program No. 21987RJ
Galapa-go on this active adventure that brings you and your family up-close to the natural wonders of the Galápagos, from volcanic landscapes to exciting wildlife.
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10 days
9 nights
21 meals
9B 7L 5D
3
Fly to Baltra, Giant Tortoises at Highlands, Local Artisan
Galápagos Islands
4
Day Cruise, Hike and Snorkeling, Free Time, Lecture
Galápagos Islands
5
Bike Ride, Local Home, Charles Darwin Research Station
Galápagos Islands
6
Transfer to Isabela, Tortoise Center, Tintoreras Islets
Galápagos Islands
7
Hiking Sierra Negra Volcano & Volcan Chico
Galápagos Islands
8
Bike Ride to Wall of Tears, Kayaking
Galápagos Islands
At a Glance
Do you and your family enjoy getting active and up-close to astounding wildlife? Home to over 400 species of fish, the world’s only swimming lizards and 13 active volcanoes, the Galápagos offers a once-in-a-lifetime exploration opportunity. Hike, snorkel, kayak and bike your way across these islands together as you make unforgettable memories through firsthand experiences with animals like Blue-footed Boobies and giant tortoises. Your activities will also bring you to incredible landscapes, including a seven-hour hike to the Sierra Negra volcano and walks on wetland and volcanic trails. From walking explorations of the town of Santa Cruz, the largest settlement on the Galápagos, to swimming and snorkeling off white sand beaches, experience the Galápagos’ unique ecosystems together and discover why these islands are also known as “nature’s laboratory.”
Activity Level
Outdoor: Spirited
Walking up to 4-7 hours at a time over varied terrain. Trails are easy or moderately challenging; volcano hike is challenging. Island transfers can be in rough waters. Kayak and paddle board on calm bays. Bike on sandy coastal roads. Elevations of 5,600 feet.
Small Group
Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.
Best of all, you’ll…
- Encounter the unique wildlife and environments of the Galápagos through hikes, walking and biking explorations and water sports.
- Snorkel together off remote beaches in search of marine life and hike up to the edge of the largest caldera in the Galápagos Islands at Sierra Negra.
- Learn from expert naturalists about the survival and adaptive techniques of the indigenous animals, including Galápagos penguins, Darwin's finches and giant tortoises.
General Notes
Participants on this program will be accommodated in different room types. Please see the hotel record for the room types and descriptions. This is a Family program for participants, their adult children and grandchildren ages 8-17. Due to the nature of this program, listening devices are not available.
Suggested Reading List
(27 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Hike, Bike & Snorkel the Galápagos Islands With Your Family
Program Number: 21987
Charles Darwin and the Evolution Revolution
This nicely presented account of Darwin for young adults focuses on the social and scientific context of his life and work. It's an excellent short biogra-phy. With 19th-century illustrations, cartoons and photos.
Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, Travellers' Wildlife Guides
An excellent guide to Ecuador's wildlife, featuring concise descriptions and color illustrations of 500 frequently encountered reptiles and amphibians, birds, mammals and insects. The Galapagos Islands get a separate chapter and section of illustrations.
Reef Identification, Galapagos
Sturdy enough to take along on a boat, this comprehensive photographic guide includes a map, checklist and brief overview of the archipelago.
Birds, Mammals and Reptiles of the Galapagos Islands
This strikingly compact, comprehensive field guide features 500 color photo-graphs, distribution maps and information on status, habitat and behavior.
Galapagos Wildlife, A Visitor's Guide
FIELD GUIDE: A compact guide to the birds, reptiles, insects, plants and marine life of the archipelago featuring a very good selection of large color photographs. Separate chapters cover visitor sites, history, conservation and habitats. The authors present key information on the flora, fauna and places in Galapagos for the traveler.
The Boy on the Back of the Turtle
Humorist, novelist and family man on a quest, Quarrington offers an entertaining account of a Galapagos voyage in the company of his seven-year-old daughter and seventy-year-old father.
Evolution's Workshop, God and Science on the Galapagos Islands
A vivid history of the Galapagos -- and the role of the islands as a crucible of evolutionary ideas. It covers not just Darwin but the discovery of the islands, visits of Hancock and Beebe, influence of the United States during WWII, and the establishment of the national park. Pulitzer Prize-winning Larson, a historian of science, has also written about the Scopes trial (Summer for the Gods) and the creationist controversy in the United States (Trial and Error).
Voyage of the Beagle
The wide-eyed tale of a young man on a five-year voyage that changed his life -- and our way of thinking about the world. First published in 1839, this book is still essential reading. Darwin's South American chapters are an excellent introduction to the Galapagos, Beagle Channel, Chile, Tierra del Fuego, the Chilean fjords and the Brazilian coast. With maps and appendices.
Ecuador in Focus, A Guide to the People, Politics, and Culture
This slim guide provides a lively overview of Ecuador’s history, cultural heritage and political, environmental and economic challenges.
Galapagos, Discovery on Darwin's Islands
All the birds, mammals, reptiles and other vertebrates of the Galapagos are beautifully illustrated in this insightful overview of natural history and evolution by a researcher who has worked throughout the islands. Steadman's brother Lee provides the full-color, full-page water color illustrations.
Galapagos Islands Explorer Map
A detailed map of the Galapagos archipelago for the traveler at a scale of 1:400,000, including illustrated biographies of famous visitors, a brief wildlife guide with color photographs, a map of Darwin's route.
Infinite Ecuador
The Andes, Amazon, Pacific, Galapagos, historic cities, remote villages and farms are all on display in this collection of photographs.
Galapagos Wildlife
This fold-up, laminated card includes color drawings and short descriptions.
Galapagos, A Novel
In this madcap novel, a classic, Vonnegut looks back from the future (alas, the human race has been wiped out except for a small group stranded in the Galapagos) on the Nature Cruise of the Century.
Galapagos, Exploring Darwin's Tapestry
Professor Hess pulls off the rare trick of being both scientifically accurate and inviting in this illustrated coffee-table primer on Galapagos, its geology, evolution and magnificent wildlife.
Galapagos, World's End
A wry, wonderfully evocative account of a 1924 scientific expedition, including an excellent chapter on the human history of the Galapagos by Ruth Rose. A contemporary reviewer wrote, "Galapagos is a glorious book. It is high romance, exact science and wild adventure." Originally published in 1924, it includes several color plates and maps.
Charles Darwin Slept Here
John Woram recounts with verve and humor the human history of the archipelago, featuring a colorful cast of buccaneers, scientists and adventurers. With ar-chival drawings, maps and extensive notes.
The Galapagos Affair
The book provides interesting and colorful details about some of the Galapagos' most notorious inhabitants including Baroness Wagner Eloise Von Wagner, the Wittmer family, and Dr. Friederich Ritter who settled on Floreana Island in the 1930s. The book includes all the makings of a good mystery novel; tales of illicit love and betrayal, culminating in unsolved murders and suspicious disappearances. This is a real whodunit!
The Beak of the Finch
This Pulitzer Prize-winning work is an accessible look at the modern debate on the mode and rhythm of evolution, using the story of Peter and Rosemary Grant and their field work on Daphne Major as an example.
The Panama Hat Trail
An accurate and wonderfully descriptive picture of Ecuador and its people. The author tells the story of the Panama hat and the lives it touches; from growing the straw, processing it, and weaving it, to the final product that is exported worldwide.
Galapagos, A Natural History Guide
This comprehensive overview of the habitats, plants, birds, and animals of the islands, written with the curious visitor in mind, is practically mandatory reading. It's the single best overview of the archipelago. Jackson also includes a useful bibliography, wildlife checklists and a list of plants by vegetation zone. Illustrated with many charts and maps, we refer to the book often.
Flowering Plants of the Galapagos
Indispensable for the botanically minded, this excellent guide features color photographs of 436 species, an overview of ecology and habitats, and a plant checklist for each visitor site.
Galapagos, Preserving Darwin's Legacy
Tui de Roy corralled researchers and friends for this stunning survey of the natural history, ecology and conservation of the Galapagos. With 450 breath-taking color photographs and chapters by Jack Grove (fishes), Peter and Rose-mary Grant (finches), Dennis Geist (geology) and many other scientists.
Galapagos, The Islands That Changed the World
This stunning three-part BBC documentary captures the rugged beauty, allure, wildlife and history of the archipelago like never before
Galapagos: The Enchanted Islands, Through Writer's Eyes
John Hickman weaves original accounts by Galapagos whalers, gentleman pirates, fitful castaways, settlers and scientists, including Ambrose Crowley Herman Melville, Charles Darwin and William Beebe, in this these tales of the color-ful human history of the archipelago.
Lonely Planet Phrasebooks: Latin American Spanish
This portable phrasebook provides a useful mix of everyday phrases, words and expressions used in different Spanish speaking countries in Latin America. Learn the nuances of the Spanish language as it is spoken in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile.
Floreana: A Woman's Pilgrimage to the Galapagos
Margret Wittmer provides a first-hand description of her experiences in the Galapagos Islands after her family settled on Floreana Island in 1932. The incredible account includes tales of challenging sea travel, sheltering in an abandoned pirates' cave, daily struggles and accomplishments, self-discovery, and very eccentric neighbors.
