Travel

Item Description

Metropolitan Touring, Quito, Ecuador

Four Nights for Two on the Santa Cruz II, Galapagos Islands

www.metropolitan-touring.com

Metropolitan Touring is Ecuador’s foremost travel company and pioneered expeditions to the Galapagos Islands in the 1960s.

The Santa Cruz II is Metropolitan Touring’s newest expedition vessel in the Galapagos Islands. The 50-cabin Santa Cruz II brings a stylish new way to explore the wonders of the Galápagos Islands in comfort. This newest boat of the Metropolitan Touring fleet offers guests the unrivalled guiding Metropolitan Touring is famous for, while ensuring the utmost care is taken to preserve the islands’ delicate ecosystem via the latest in sustainable sailing technologies.
 
The Santa Cruz II offers five spacious decks, with modern interiors designed by renowned ship designer, Richard Nilsson. Created with the ethos of stylish simplicity at its heart, the new boat will ensure sumptuous surroundings from which to take in the magnificent vistas of the enchanted islands.

From top to bottom, the Santa Cruz II features ample, welcoming spaces. Modern, generous social areas laid out with choice contemporary materials feature prominently on four of its five decks. With an intelligent layout, including wide hallways and broad stairwells, guests will immediately know their way around. From dining areas indoors and out, the fitness room and hot tubs to the elegant bar and lounge, not to forget the well-stocked library, the ship is designed to please with sophisticated simplicity. Luxury ratios of crew and guides to passengers guarantee quality individual attention.

The Santa Cruz II accommodates only 90 guests and averages just eleven guests per guide. There are seven naturalist guides and one Expedition Leader. 99% of their visitor sites are not shared with other vessels. Glass-bottom boat, kayaks, snorkeling, swimming, panga coastal exploration are included. There are no

cabins at sea level, near engines or generators. You’ll have a Cordon-Bleu gastronomy Director and Doctor on board (24/7), with a fully equipped infirmary, free of charge.

Metropolitan Touring’s captains, naturalist guides and expedition leaders are all dedicated to one thing: making sure that your trip of a lifetime is surrounded by safety and comfort. Not only do they employ naval-ranked officers, but they also staff the ship with experts in the field so that you can experience the region from an enriching point of view.

The four night adventures include the Northern Island Galapagos (Monday to Friday) or the Eastern Islands (Saturday to Wednesday).

With the Northern Islands itinerary, you begin from the bay near Baltra airport, from where you’ll sail to the glorious white beach of Las Bachas with a pair of brackish lagoons only a few steps from the sea. These lagoons serve as feeding grounds for various wading birds, including stilts and flamingos. On Tuesday, you’ll explore two fascinating visitor sites on Santiago Island: Buccaneer Cove, home to a large number of marine birds, sea lions, and inter-tidal organisms, and Puerto Egas, with its great walk-along pools full of life and good snorkeling and swimming possibilities. The next day you’ll visit the red-sand beach of Rabida Island, a lovely trail around some cliffs and a popular spot for swimming, followed by the volcanic viewpoint of Bartolome Island in the afternoon, combining a hike, a swim, a beach and coastal exploration – a top Galapagos day! From there you’ll sail northeast to the sunken crater of Genovesa Island, a wild place that is home to thousands of marine birds and feels like a world a million miles from our own. You finish in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the capital of Galapagos Province.

The Eastern Island itinerary begins on San Cristobal Island, the capital of Galapagos Province. From there, you’ll venture east along the northern shores of the island, visiting the fascinating site of Punta Pitt, Galapagos’ furthest eastern tip. You then sail west to the central island of Santa Fe, with its beautiful tranquil bay (great for swimming and snorkeling), before continuing to the wild cliffs of South Plaza with their lofty cacti, land iguanas and stunning marine birds. The following day you’ll visit the world-famous Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island, the most populous in the archipelago, with a range of activities on offer in the afternoon. Española Island, voted number one island by guides and expedition leaders, awaits on your last day with its remarkable visitor site of Punta Suarez. Here, you’ll wander along the rugged coastline, home to hundreds of marine iguanas, sea lions, marine birds, and even albatross (between April and December). In the afternoon, Gardner Bay provides a wonderful setting for a combination of beach-time, swimming, snorkeling or exploring aboard the glass-bottom boat.

Included are accommodations, meals and excursions in the Galapagos.

Air tickets, beverages, tips and gratuities are not included.

Valid until April 30, 2018. July 1 to August 15, 2017 and December 15 to January 5, 2018 are excluded.