Island Paradise - 2 Weeks in GALAPAGOS!    $7,995

We have carefully put together (and refined in 2011) this amazingly diverse and excitingly unique itinerary to get you to all the best places, and at just the right time of year, to help you get THE best Galapagos photos ever! Join Australian Geographic Photographer and Canon Ambassador Chris Bray photographing giant tortoises congregating beside misty mountain lakes, snorkel with seals and turtles in crystal clear water, climb and gaze out over the planets 2nd largest volcano crater, snap tropicbirds and frigatebirds performing acrobatics overhead and marvel at the iconic marine iguanas as they clamber around you, basking in the sun before they scamper back into the ocean beside penguins, sea lions, dolphins and even manta rays. Home to the world's rarest animals, Galapagos really is a stunning island paradise, bursting with the same impossible abundance of wildlife that first got Sir Charles Darwin pondering on his theory of evolution by natural selection in the 1930's. Most other safaris to Galapagos are unfortunately boat-based, and as many islands have strict landing times, this means many safaris here really frustrate photographers as you can never get ashore for the beautiful morning or evening lighting. Excitingly, while we do have boat transfers to and from some tightly controlled islands, we'll always be staying the night on shore in hotels, which not only means we'll have more time for photos, but we'll be living, eating and relaxing in the villages rather than stuck on a ship, meaning we get to experience the true Galapagos! Read the full daily program below!

Day 1

Our safari begins at the Guayaquill airport in Ecuador where we'll meet, and board our 2hr flight to Galapagos - landing at Baltra Island - the point of entry into the amazing Galapagos Archipelago! From here we'll jump on a quick 5-min ferry ride across to the main Island 'Santa Cruz', and on to our brand new hotel accommodation "Posada del Mar" in Puerto Ayora. Once you've checked in and made yourself at home (we'll be based here for the next seven nights so you can spread your gear around!), we'll grab a bite to eat (they do awesome Pizzas at the cafe next door!), and then explore the village with our lovely guide on our way to the famous Charles Darwin Research Station. Here she'll explain about the islands, and accompany us on a walk around the centre, photographing various species of birds, iguanas, and giant tortoises, including THE rarest animal in the world, 'Lonesome George' - the ONLY surviving 'Pinta Island Tortoise' on Earth! As evening falls, before heading out for dinner (Crayfish only costs about $15!), we'll all chill-out on the hotel's balcony overlooking the bay, review your pics and enjoy a cold beer or two while I brief you on what's in store for tomorrow!

Day 2

Bring your snorkel gear and walking shoes to breakfast, because right after, we're off on a boat tour, exploring the local coastline. Keep your eyes peeled for swimming iguanas and sea lions as we head over to our first stop. After a fascinating boardwalk through the local mangroves, ticking off yet more species of finches, our guide will lead us on through the cactus zone, to a stunning vertical-sided gorge filled with crystal clear water for your first snorkel! After that, we'll head back to the boat and off to another snorkel destination filled with all colours of fish, and if you're lucky, maybe even a sea turtle! We'll be back in town for lunch, and after that for those that are keen, we'll head to 'Turtle Bay' - regarded as the most beautiful beaches in Galapagos: A picturesque seascape with stunning while sand, turquoise blue water and an amazing variety of wildlife including sea lions, marine iguanas, pelicans, frigate birds and more! It's approximately a 30-40 min walk from our accommodation - however you won't be disappointed as you photograph your first marine iguana heading out to sea to dive and eat the seaweed on the bottom, posing bright orange crabs, or ghost crabs darting back into their sandy homes. Perhaps even try for a shot of the Mangrove Finch - one of the birds that helped Sir Charles Darwin form his ground-breaking theory of evolution by natural selection. By the time we head back to our accommodation to download all your images, you'll be more than ready for a hearty dinner and, if you can cease your excited chatter, sleep.

Day 3

After an early breakfast and a boat trip out to the island of Santa Fe, when stepping ashore you'll literally have to walk carefully around all the sea lions lazing across the beach (this island has one of the archipelago's largest colonies of these playful characters!), and you'll have no problems getting plenty of unforgettable close-up images before we head off into the surprisingly arid landscape, punctuated by 10 meter high Opuntia cactuses whose fruit feed the endemic Galapagos land iguana. This unique species of iguana is the largest of it's kind, growing up to 5 feet with bright red eyes, and despite Charles Darwin describing them as "ugly animals with a singularly stupid appearance", they offer fantastic photo opportunities, especially as they skillfully roll these spiky fruits around to smooth them before eating them! Santa Fe also has numerous blue-footed boobies, frigatebirds, the Galapagos Hawk and other magnificent species! Back onboard you'll have the chance to go for another snorkel during which you might be lucky enough to have a sea lion come up and say hello, or a blue-footed booby spear into the water right beside you as it dives for fish! They'll cook us an amazing lunch onboard as we cruise back to Santa Cruz island, and after enjoying the usual evening chill-out & briefing, we'll head out for some dinner before recharging our barriers and our bodies.

Day 4

Today is awesome! We'll enjoy a cruise out to the magic island of South Plaza - a very small island formed by lava. Despite its small size (one of the smallest in the whole archipelago), it's one of the richest - home to a famously huge variety of species, both flora and fauna. Even as we approach your cameras will already be clicking away at the beautiful colours of the landscape - the turquoise waters of the channel contrast brilliantly with the white sand and black lava flows of the shoreline. Keep an eye out and you'll probably see the shadowy form of an imposing Galapagos Shark cruising the shore, waiting for a young sea lion pup to stray too far from shore. The rocks are smothered with thick green seaweed, speckled with bright orange 'Sally-lightfoot' crabs. You'll see more sea lions and marine iguanas, as well as many bird species guarding their nests, including the beautiful red-billed tropic bird, masked and blue-footed boobies, Galapagos lava gulls with their red-rimmed eyes and more. In many places the rocks looks like polished glass, worn smooth from countless sea lions lazing upon them for centuries. The flora is just as impressive, and you'll be grabbing some macro shots of the intricate mosses and lichens, or the prickly pear cactus trees, dropping their fruit to the land iguanas waiting patiently beneath. Keep your eye out - you might even see a rare land-marine iguana cross! After a testy hot lunch onboard we'll head to a great snorkeling spot (hopefully we'll see some harmless white-tipped reef sharks here!) and then it's back home to the main island. You can use the spare hours in the afternoons to relax or, more likely, to hang around the waterfront fish markets and snap photos of the marine iguanas, or practice tracking your long-lens on the Galapagos Pelicans as they glide past, while trying not to have your feet squashed by the sea lions as they flop around waiting for fish scraps to fall. Come beer-o-clock though, you'll find us on the balcony ready for briefing & dinner! Crayfish anyone? Followed by ice cream?

Day 5

Today we visit the island of Bartolome - one of the "younger" islands in the Galapagos archipelago. The island boasts a small volcanic core that is easy to climb and provides magnificent views for your wide-angle lens back out over the islands of Galapagos. Bartolome is also famous for it's enormous "Pinnacle Rock" - a jagged lava spire rising 100 feet into the air forming one end of the island - it's one of the best recognised and most photographed landmarks in the archipelago. The underwater world around this rock is really impressive too - alive with fish, sea lions, turtles, white-tipped reef sharks and more. Most excitingly perhaps though, the endemic Galapagos Penguin lives here - the only species of penguin that lives north of the equator! There is a small cave behind Pinnacle Rock that houses a breeding colony of these penguins, many of whom wander around to the island's moon-shaped beach where we can swim with them after lunch. We'll then do a bit of a zodiac cruise around the pinnacle rock, and those that want to can actually snorkel around it too, which is amazing. Try not to fall asleep on the boat trip back home, as there's a good chance of seeing dolphins, or leaping manta rays on the way!

Day 6

We're off to North Seymour Island this morning, and, as yesterday, it's not uncommon for bottlenose dolphins to accompany us, and manta rays to explode from the water as they try to dislodge parasites etc! North Seymour is home to the magnificent Frigatebird - the 'pirate of the skies' - which gets it's name from its technique of harassing other birds returning from a day's fishing until they drop their catch in mid air, whereupon the frigatebird skillfully swoops in and grabs the free meal before it even hits the water! Some will be flying right close to us putting on aerobic displays (which will be a photographic challenge!), and others will be collecting wood for their nests but the real beauty of these birds is when the males puff out their brilliant red throat pouches to impress potential mates. They'll be nesting there right in front of us, rattling their bills, and posing for the perfect shot, and further on we'll see nesting blue-footed boobies dancing, herons, pelicans, more land iguanas, more sea lions (you can never have enough photos of these playful marine mammals), as well as a distinctively smaller sub-species of marine iguana - the tiny lava lizards! After a tasty lunch onboard we'll head to a little beach back on the main island where you can either laze in the sun, go for a snorkel, or try and capture your reflection in the eyes of the colourful red crabs!

Day 7

It's an early start today, as we and our guide are taken up into the misty highlands. It'll be birds, mosses and landscape galore as we walk through the jungle around the rim of two massive craters (bring your wide-angle lens!)! Next our knowledgeable guide will lead us through a spectacular 1km long lava tunnel, lit up periodically with fixed lights, around which miniature micro-cosmos of little plants now grow! Conveniently at the end of this underground passage is a quaint little traditional restaurant that will have a steaming hot buffet lunch ready for us, to refuel our bodies before we head off on the hunt for the perfect giant tortoise photo! There are several locations up here with natural pools of water around which the giants gather at this special time of year. There could even be a mystical mist, swirling over and around the pond which creates an unreal atmosphere and majestic photographs of these ancient creatures. We have all afternoon to crack the perfect tortoise shot in this wonderfully unhurried setting until shortly before dark, when we'll head back to our hotel once more in town.

Day 8

Time for a change of address! We are taking a three hour water-taxi ride to Isabella island today - the largest island in the Galapagos archipelago - which we'll be calling 'home' for the next few nights. It's less populated and less visited than 'Santa Cruz', and is a beautiful place to spend a few days. We're staying at the wonderful 'La Laguna Hotel', gazing out over a lagoon popular with the flamingoes in the evening, and a mere one minute walk to the beach! Around the lagoon is an elevated boardwalk - providing the perfect vantage point to get your flamingo shot. A short drive outta town is another even more populated flamingo haunt which we can also visit, and if we save this for the evening, there's a little hill to one side that should offer us a great shot of the sun going down between two palm trees. Perfect! Before picking the most interesting looking restaurant for yet another impossibly cheap, fantastic dinner, let's sit around the fire and enjoy Happy-Hour at the local 'Iguana Bar' right on the beach - just mind the marine iguanas that crawl all over the rocks and even stash themselves in and around the counter! Just awesome!

Day 9

Isabella island has six volcanoes and today we're about to hike up to the crater of 'Sierra Negra' - a whopping 9 km across - the biggest crater Galapagos and actually the second largest in the world, and it's still gently active! Absolutely stunning. It will take all morning to hike up, but only because we'll be stopping for countless photographic opportunities along the way! There is a convenient rest area with a spectacular lookout to enjoy a chocolate bar or whatever energy food you've stashed into your camera bag, and when you've finally had enough of the panoramic views of the clouds rolling down into the black lava-field floor of the crater, we'll head back down. On the way be sure to keep your eyes peeled for a flash of bright red in the trees - the stunning Vermilion Flycatcher! You don't want to miss this one! We'll be back in our beachside village / 'town' for a late lunch, and you can spend the afternoon as you please - but swimming in the surf, lazing on the sand and reviewing your photos until dinner sounds good to me! Maybe I'll even throw in a mini lecture / tutorial on using Adobe Lightroom.

Day 10

Today is one of my favorites of the trip. This morning we'll hop onboard a little boat with our guide, and explore some of the fascinating waterfront coves nearby. You can leave your snorkeling gear in the boat as we hop ashore at out first stop, and walk through the impossibly jagged, rocky landscape (on the conveniently smooth path), marveling at the masses of marine iguanas swarming everywhere (the largest lizard colony on Isabella Island), including some huge males who'll be turning impressive yellows, greens and reds for the mating season, vigorously shaking their head at other rival males, even breaking out into full-on battles sometimes! Every so often, these iguanas will snort excess salty water out from their nose, and if you're patient, you can lay in wait and try and get that perfect shot! There's a tide-locked inlet here too which we can peer down into and try and count the dozens of white tipped reef sharks and rays that hang out there. After this, it's back to our boat and off to my favorite snorkeling destination of the trip: We'll drop anchor just off a little sea lion colony, don our snorkeling gear and dive right in from the boat. Once you're bored of the playing sea lions cavorting around you (or, once they bore of us), we'll swim over to a favorite haunt of the huge green sea turtles, some with shells as big as 1.4 meters long that usually graze nonchalantly on the beds of seaweed here oblivious to your presence! It's unforgettable. Anything's possible here, and you could see giant eagle rays flying past underwater, giant sea toads, eels - anything! Just amazing! You'll be on a high all evening as we chill-out back at the Iguana Bar before dinner!

Day 11

You may think you've seen it all by now, but todays boat trip will be amazing, even for the most well travelled photographer as we're off to the 'lava tunnels'! After a brief mid-ocean stopover at a towering rocky outcrop smothered in birdlife, our skilled boat driver will guide our boat right into the heart of a the bizarrely contorted watery maze of black lava tubes, arches and passage ways, formed by lava rushing directly into the sea. We'll scramble up onto one of the bigger mini black islands punctuated by incongruously towering cactuses, surrounded by countless green sea turtles flying through crystal clear water - there can sometimes be up to 40 of these majestic animals around at once, and mating is not uncommon! Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, you get to now go snorkeling here, diving around and under the larva arches, watching the turtles, and if you're lucky, you'll even see penguins and even the smaller but equally playful 'fur seals' (rather than the now 'usual' sea lions!). What a day!

Day 12

Well, to be honest, by today, some of you'll be pretty well knackered, and in need of a day-off to relax on the balcony of the hotel, check your emails using the wireless internet (perhaps stick a photo of yourself swimming with the turtles as your new Facebook profile picture?), stroll through the village or along the beach, and buy-up some of the local carvings. If you're still up for more action, then we could wander down to the local harbor and snorkel there ourselves, or the surrounding lagoons of Isabella are heaven on Earth for any bird photographer - walking along boardwalks, you'll pass by mangroves, dry forests and brackish water pools literally bursting with an astoundingly diverse array of birdlife: Pin tailed ducks, whimbrels, stilt walkers, moorhens, and even more pink flamingos will soon fill your camera's memory cards and you'll wonder where the day went! You'll have plenty to talk about and photos to compare over our celebratory 'last night in the Galapagos' dinner, out on the now friendly and familiar town!

Day 13

This morning we have an early water taxi crossing back to the airport island of Baltra, where we'll then be transferred on a flight to Quito (Ecuador's capital city), back on mainland. We'll arrive at our hotel (Hotel Rio Amazonas) with just enough time to dump your bags, freshen up, and then head out to the famous local markets: Theses markets have so much colour and diversity it's unbelievable and again, great for photography (if you have any more space for photos that is!), as well as a cultural experience. We're up high in the mountains now, so as the sun goes down it'll get cold, and you might just find yourself buying one of the wonderfully soft and cheap alpaca-wool jumpers at the market, or perhaps some more carvings, jewelry - just about anything! Tonight's the very last night of the Safari, so over dinner and afterwards I'm sure there will be a bit of celebrating the journey we have all just been on - from crouching beside giant tortoises, to walking up the side of volcanoes, and snorkeling with sea lions and turtles!

That's it folks! This morning we'll just be offering airport transfers to Quito airport, from where you can jet back from Ecuador to the reality of your busy lives back home, attend to that flood of emails building up in your inbox and get ready to return to work. Stick a few of your best photos up on the wall and remember, forever, two of the most exciting weeks of your life!!

• The exact order of the itinerary above may be shuffled around and tweaked due to weather, island control etc but you can rest assured that we'll be working flat-out to get you to all the best places, for the best photos possible.
• The accommodation we've selected in Galapagos is not luxury - it's perfectly functional and clean, every hotel room has a private ensuite, there's hot water, electricity, comfy beds, air conditioning and some even have wireless internet - but it's not the Ritz or the Hilton ok! However, we wont be spending much time in our rooms any way - just to sleep! Galapagos is an expensive place, and we have carefully selected our itinerary mainly to get you to the best photographic locations, with the best guides, at the best times - and not splurge on extravagant accommodation options instead!!! If you're concerned about this, let us know and we can organise superior accommodation for you at a (significant!) added cost.
• We will form our own private group - we will have our own guide, and all boat trips and inter-island taxis etc will be just us.
• If you need your mobile phone to work - be sure to enable global roaming before you go, there's great coverage, but be warned of global roaming fees, especially for data. Perhaps treat it as a much needed break from your hectic lives at home! You'll be able to access the internet from most of the hotels if you wish, and there's wireless internet in just about every restaurant.
• No meals are provided (except for the lunches when on a boat cruise), so all other meals and beverages must be purchased at your own expense. This frees you up to spend as much or as little as you wish on dinners etc at each venue. However, the average cost of a wonderful meal (even including a whole crayfish!) is between $10 and $20, and a beer less than $3.
• Accommodation arrangements vary for each location, however it is all twin-share. So, if you're booking on your own, then expect to share a room with someone else, and if you're booking as a couple, then we can organise a double bed rather than two singles - just let us know.
• Level of fitness - moderate? You do need to be able to get in and out of boats, and wander around for a morning or afternoon with your camera bag on your back.
• This is a remote island we're going to - there may be occasional power outages etc, but it's all part of the experience though, and I'm sure you'll survive. As with some Asian countries, some of the hotels ask that you don't put toilet paper down the loo, but in the bathroom bins instead, just for ecological reasons - please don't be offended.
• While the price DOES include the flight from Guayaquill airport in Ecuador to Galapagos, and the flight from Galapagos back to Quito airport in Ecuador, the price does NOT include flights from your home town to Ecuador, nor your return flight back home. However, flights from Sydney to Ecuador cost around $2,600 return. We have our own travel agent who is more than happy to help answer all your questions and help you find and book the best flights, travel insurance etc.
• If you have your own good quality snorkelling gear and can fit it in your luggage then do, however if not, fear not, as you can hire mask, snorkel and fins from the two islands at which we stay, for only about $5 a day =)
• We do not loan out our own camera equipment for this trip. We will bring a spare camera or two just in case but... be prepared to be self sufficient regarding your camera gear.
• All boat transfers, island entry fees and guides are included in the price.
• You MUST obtain your own travel insurance, but again, our travel agent can help you with this.
• There are national park rules that we must abide by, including not using flashes on - nor edging closer than 2m to - any wildlife (however you may find that the animals choose to come right up to you, and that's their decision!
• There are many boat trips on this safari, some several hours long, but the weather is generally not bad, and they are pleasant enough. Perhaps bring seasickness medication if you suffer this affliction though.
• The currency of Ecuador (and Galapagos) is the US dollar, so that's easy.
• If we do not reach minimum numbers, then we reserve the right to cancel the trip, and refund all the payments you make to us.
• A non-refundable $1,000 deposit is required at time of booking.
• The first payment of $4,000 will be required by 6th May 20112 (or at time of booking if booking after this date) and becomes non refundable also.
• The final payment is required by 1st September 2012, and if you pull out after this date, you will receive this final payment back (unlike with most other operators!).



Download our 13 page Galapagos Photo Safari Information Document now!
Answering all your questions about what to bring, what to expect, advice etc!



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