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EXOTICS


Traveling Well Includes… • Stay overnight in Quito before cruising & in Guayaquil before your flight home


• 4 nights aboard the 90-guest M/V Santa Cruz, designed for comfortable Galápagos cruising • Guided tour & a special toast in colonial Quito, a UNESCO World Heritage Site • Incredible wildlife watching, panga & glass-bottom boat rides, swimming & snorkeling • All shore excursions & onboard briefings led by Galápagos-licensed naturalist guides • Entrance fee to Galápagos National Park – $100 value per adult • Airport transfers upon arrival and departure as noted


• 18 meals, and all gratuities to Tauck Director, drivers, local guides, naturalists and ship staff, service charges, most taxes and porterage


center in Latin America; this UNESCO World Heritage Site dates to Quito’s founding by Francisco Pizarro in 1534. As you explore the pedestrian-only area around Independence Plaza, you’ll see Carondelet Palace (the president’s palace), the cathedral, city hall and the archbishop’s palace. Your tour concludes with a special toast in a historic Quito mansion. Join us this evening for a welcome reception and dinner at your hotel. Meals BLD


3.  FLY TO THE ISLANDS THAT TIME FORGOT Hop on a plane for your flight to Baltra Island, the starting point of your Galápagos cruise* aboard Tauck’s expeditionary ship, M/V Santa Cruz, whose captain and crew members make cruising a welcoming and safe experience. Your first cruise stop is a wet landing, which means that you’ll step into knee-deep water and wade to shore on Santa Cruz Island’s Playa las Bachas. This glorious white-sand beach is a nesting area for the East Pacific green sea turtle, one of the rare species whose ancestors were around in the time of the dinosaurs. Just steps from the seafront, you’ll go exploring around lagoons that attract long-legged wading birds like flamingoes and stilts, and dabbling pintail ducks, in search of food. Back on the ship, meet the captain and crew, get a briefing on tomorrow’s activities from our naturalists, and enjoy a welcome drink. Meals BLD


4.  SANTIAGO ISLAND LOCALS Today you’ll discover Santiago (James) Island, one of the larger islands in the Galápagos Archipelago, and once upon a time, a favorite haunt for pirates and whalers. This morning, you’ll take a panga ride along Buccaneers Cove, where seabirds like frigates, pelicans and boobies thrive in abundant numbers. You’ll be able to go snorkeling off the panga, keeping an eye out for the Galápagos sea lions who blithely share the waters. After lunch, a wet landing at Puerto Egas brings further opportunities for seabird watching, along with discoveries of a colony of fur seals and marine iguanas, exotic-looking marine lizards. Time to enjoy snorkeling and swimming follows. Meals BLD


Straddle the Northern and Southern hemispheres in Quito. Call your travel agent or Tauck Bridges at 877-519-1035 www.tauckbridges.com 53


We had a fantastic time! The guides were so knowledgeable and the Tauck Director was amazing, especially with her understanding of kids. Everything was so well organized, yet flexible.


” – Tauck Traveler Review, www.tauck.com


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