Galápagos Islands: Family Volunteer Vacation
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Overview
Highlights
- Get up close to giant tortoises while volunteering at a conservation sanctuary
- Snorkel alongside penguins, reef sharks and sea lions
- Kayak in search of the famed blue-footed booby
- View creatures in their natural surroundings on uninhabited islands
- Experience the Galapagos’ unique biodiversity up close
What's this trip about?
Details
Travel Themes
Destinations
Activities
Min Group Size
Max Group Size
Trip includes
- 9 nights double occupancy lodging in standard level lodging
- Most meals throughout the trip (24 total)
- English-speaking local guides that are there to support, guideand inform you throughout the trip
- Admissions and entrance fees to national parks, historicsites and other scheduled events throughout the trip
- All land and water transportation during the trip.
- $50,000 emergency medical evacuation insurance
- Trip literature
- Turnkey customer support from preparing for your trip to arrivalback home
Itinerary
Meals: Dinner
Touching down in Quito, you’ll be met at the airport by your Discover Corps guide, who will accompany you to our hotel for a welcome dinner with your fellow travelers. Have a restful night for the adventures ahead.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Today we’ll explore Quito, walking the pretty cobblestoned streets of its UNESCO-listed colonial center. A cable car ride to a nearby mountain summit will afford us a bird’s-eye view of the city and the surrounding volcanic peaks, before dinner at a chic restaurant. (B,L,D)
Meals: Lunch and Dinner
Our Galápagos adventure begins in earnest now, with an early morning flight from Quito to Baltra, before we take a bus and then boat to Isabela Island. After checking into our hotel, we’ll have the evening free to explore the town Puerto Villamil, the third largest human settlement in the archipelago.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
One of the most spectacular sites for snorkeling off the coast of Isabela is Los Tuneles (or the Tunnels), tangled formations of hardened lava next to the mangroves. These unique formations of tunnels and bridges create one of the most astonishing locations for viewing sea turtles, rays, white-tipped sharks, and a variety of seabirds
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
We’ll spend this morning kayaking along the coast of Las Tintoreras on Isabela Island, stopping to snorkel along the way in the El Elestero wetlands for those interested. After a picnic lunch, we’ll enjoy a beach sid mangrove walk, viewing a whole ecosystem of animals that are not normally visible.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Today we’ll visit a tortoise sanctuary on the island of Santa Cruz. Here we’ll explore more otherworldly lava tunnels, before helping out with odd jobs at the sanctuary. In particular, we will be removing invasive plant specie...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
This morning we’ll visit the Charles Darwin Research Station to learn about the conservation projects across the archipelago, before an hourlong trek to the white sands of Tortuga Bay. Here you can go swimming or follow the le...
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
Today we’ll venture out to the tiny, uninhabited island of North Seymour, home to one of the largest populations of blue-footed boobies and majestic, red-throated frigate birds. Witness the frigate birds swoop down and cheekily swipe...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Today we’ll snorkel the waters around the small island of Daphne, a scientists colony, before continuing to Pinzon, home to some of the best snorkeling in the archipelago. Jump in from the boat to see sea lions, a kaleidoscope of reef fish and, if you're lucky, penguins. Tonight well share a farewell dinner in Santa Cruz. (B,L,D)
Meals: Breakfast
Whether or not you’ve chosen the trip extension, we’ll return to the airport in Baltra for a flight back to Quito today. From there we’ll either say our goodbyes before your flight home, or you’ll stay an extra night in Quito with us for our Amazon Basin post-trip extension (next page).
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Dates & Availability
You will only be charged the single supplement if we cannot find you a suitable roommate
$3,795 Children's price
Check Current Availability, prices, specials with Discover Corps.
The total tour cost includes the tour price (regular or promotional) and the compulsory local payment. The promotional price is subject to change. Check directly with the operator for the latest price offer. The tour operator requires you to pay only the tour price to purchase your travel. The compulsory local payment will be paid when you join the trip. All prices are based on double, twin or triple share occupancy. Solo passengers will be accommodated in a double, twin or triple room according to availability with a passenger(s) of the same gender. Single supplement only needs to be paid if the passenger does not want to share and requests their own room. Discounts can only be applied at the time of booking and cannot be added at a later date, regardless of any changes made to the original booking.
Prices may vary due to local taxes and trip seasonality. Click "Request Info" to inquire directly with the tour operator for the final trip price.
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Logistics
What's excluded
- International airfare
- One breakfast and one dinner
- Alcoholic beverages
- $600 supplement fee - round trip airfare, tax, and entrance
- Fee to the islands
- Tips for Discover Corps guide and driver
- Laundry, phone, and Internet services
Accommodation
Standard Lodging
We’ll divide our time during the trip between three major locations: Quito, and the islands of Isabela and Santa Cruz. In each place, we’ll stay in quaint hotels that will serve as our home-away-from-home during our time in Ecuador. Double, triple and single occupancy rooms with private bathrooms are available. Relax by the pool and gardens along the way and take in the slow pace of life.
8 Breakfasts, 7 Lunches and 9 Dinners
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