Galápagos Family Aventure
Your Itinerary
Our Program
When you book your Galápagos Family Adventure with Toucanto, you can be sure you will be choosing one of the best value family vacations you can find anywhere on the web. But just because we are good value, it doesn't mean that we skimp on quality. We offer incredible animal encounters, spectacular scenery, some of the best snorkelling and a dedicated team who are determined to ensure that you have the most incredible experience on your Galápagos vacation.
Galápagos Family Adventure is a great value family vacation packed with immersive experiences, tours and trips. Carve a wooden tortoise just like an artisan, make syrup from sugar cane, swim with sea lions, snorkel with sharks and turtles, and venture inside a volcano!
If that isn't enough, we also offer early booking with a low deposit and the opportunity to spread the cost of your dream vacation over a number of months! So what are you waiting for? Check out our incredible itinerary below and book your 2024 Galápagos Family Vacation now!
Program Itinerary
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Welcome to Galápagos!
Welcome to Santa Cruz and the fabulous Galapagos Islands! If you have chosen our transfer service, you will be collected from Baltra airport by our representative or group leader and brought to our accommodation in Puerto Ayora on the island's Southside. Our hotel and apartments are just a five-minute walk from the waterfront where you will find bars and restaurants to enjoy a bite to eat before meeting the team and our other families at our welcome evening.
Charles Darwin Research Station
After breakfast you will be met at your hotel by your naturalist guide and taken the short walk to the Charles Darwin Research Centre. Here you will learn about the important conservation work being undertaken by the foundation since 1959 in partnership with the Galápagos National Park. Enjoy special access to the breeding centre with your naturalist guide where you can see tortoises of different ages and species before heading to the exhibition hall where you can learn more about evolution and view their impressive natural history collection including a whale’s skeleton! After your visit to the research station why not cool off with the kids at the nearby Station Beach? Enjoy a group lunch at a local restaurant then rest a while before the first children’s Spanish lesson!
Santa Cruz Highland Tour
After breakfast you will board the tourbus with your naturalist guide and take a 35 minute drive into the Santa Cruz Highlands. Your first stop is Los Gemelos, which translates as the twins. Situated in the highlands of Santa Cruz and shrouded in rich vegetation, you will discover this pair of giant craters that were formed by the collapse of huge magma chambers - a testament to the island’s violent volcanic history. There are many mosses, ferns and epiphytes to observe in this forested region which is home to many species of bird including small and large tree finches, and the scalesia tree which is a giant relative of the dandelion!
From here you will drive to an enormous lava tunnel where your naturalist guide will lead you on a journey underground where you can discover the secrets of these islands’ explosive past.
The next stop is Primicius Ranch for unparalleled proximity to the many giant tortoises that have made it their home. After a stroll around the grounds learning about their lives and their importance to the ecosystem, enjoy a juice or hot drink in the restaurant and try sprinkling a little sugar on a delicious cheese empanada - an Ecuadorean speciality!
El Trapiche & Highland View
Today begins with collection from your hotel and a short bus ride to El Trapiche coffee and chocolate plantation, where the incomparable Don Cabrera will give you a warm welcome as you learn how he grows and roasts the coffee beans. The children will love his clever donkey and enjoy making their own cane syrup while the adults among you can join him in sampling his aguardiente. Here is a good opportunity to buy beautifully packaged chocolate or coffee for presents or keepsakes, before your journey home.
Next is a short drive into the hills above the beach to Highland View with El Columpio Magico, or ‘the magic swing’ as it is known in English. Here you will take a walk around the tourist farm of the Loyola family, enjoying the beautiful colourful plants, the animal encounter area and the peaceful lake. The adventurous among you can climb through an ancient lava tunnel that twists and turns, but be careful, you will need a light! Kids and adults alike will enjoy the giant swings, soaring above the sloping hillside and soaking up the spectacular view. After that, its time for some light refreshments in the form of locally produced fruit juice or locally grown coffee accompanied by the the Loyola family’s delicious own recipe patacones with queso fresco. Return to your hotel around 1.30pm
In the afternoon enjoy a little break while the children have their second Spanish lesson.
Guided walk to Tortuga Bay
After breakfast you will take a taxi to the start of the walk to Tortuga Bay where you will be met by your naturalist guide. From here you will take a 40-minute walk along the pathway that leads through the national park. You will pass Opuntia cacti and Palo Santo, a bare-looking plant that is very fragrant when the inside is exposed. You will learn about the lava lizards and mockingbirds that you pass along your journey until you reach the open beach. Here you may see flags in the dunes on your right-hand side, marking the location of turtle eggs, most likely laid under a recent full moon.
At the end of the first beach, you will find a cluster of mangrove trees where a colony of marine iguanas warm themselves up in the morning sun, before heading into the water to feed.
Beyond the trees lies a horseshoe bay surrounded by mangroves. Here you can snorkel in the shallow water over resting white-tip sharks, relax on the beach or hire a kayak and look for sea turtles in the bay. Perhaps you will find a playful young sea lion in the shallows by the sand. For those who don’t feel like walking back, there are water taxis departing from the bay every hour until five, when the beach is closed to tourists.
Free day or optional tour
Today you are free to rest, laze by the pool, take a stroll around Puerto Ayora or choose from one of our fabulous add-on day tours to discover more of these incredible islands. Take a look at our Trip Extras when you make your booking and choose from two days in Isabela, or our day trips to Pinzon, Floriana and Santa Fé.
Free day or optional tour
Today you are free to rest, laze by the pool, take a stroll around Puerto Ayora or choose from one of our fabulous add-on day tours to discover more of these incredible islands. Take a look at our Trip Extras when you make your booking and choose from two days in Isabela, or our day trips to Pinzon, Floriana and Santa Fé.
Free day or optional tour
Today you are free to rest, laze by the pool, take a stroll around Puerto Ayora or choose from one of our fabulous add-on day tours to discover more of these incredible islands. Take a look at our Trip Extras when you make your booking and choose from two days in Isabela, or our day trips to Pinzon, Floriana and Santa Fé.
La Casa de Los Sueños, Laguna de Las Nynfas
After breakfast we will take a walk through the streets of Puerto Ayora to discover a little more of the unique identity of this town, and the fascinating people that call it their home. Our first stop is the incredible ‘house of dreams’ that has been the life work of local artist, Carlos Palacios. Constructed over three floors primarily from driftwood, corals, shells and bones, this house is a remarkable expression of the ideas and concepts of its talented creator. From here we will walk to the peace and tranquillity of the Laguna de Las Nynfas, where you can discover the important role the Lagoon plays in the local ecosystem. Following our trip to Las Nynfas, we will enjoy a group lunch at a local restaurant.
Our third afternoon Spanish lesson follows in the late afternoon.
Academy Bay Tour with Las Grietas
After breakfast we head to the port where you will board a tour boat for the short ride (10 minutes) into Puerto Ayora bay to see blue-footed boobies perched among the cliffs and snorkel amongst the colourful parrotfish in the aquamarine waters. Next we board a dock for a short walk to see rays and sharks slumbering in a shallow inlet before walking through the candelabra cacti to Playa de Los Perros, which is named after the dog crabs that live there.
After that, we will pass by the colourful salt lakes on our way to the beautiful Las Grietas, a narrow, sea-linked gorge between two cliffs, filled with crystal clear waters and colourful fish.
Our fourth afternoon Spanish lesson follows in the late afternoon.
Artisan Woodcarving and Lava Tunnel
Today we board our bus once more for a short ride to the industrial area that is situated in the hills just outside of Puerto Ayora. Here we will visit the workshop of Jacinto Heras, who has been carving furniture, signage and beautiful animals for the last thirty years. Today, the business is truly a family enterprise with his son having joined him in the workshop while his two daughters are working in their gallery which is located in the Malecon, or the principal waterfront street. Jacinto and his son José work in cedar wood grown locally in a managed forest and use natural products like local coffee grounds to create the wood stains they use in their work. This ensures that the handicrafts from Heras Gallery, as the business is known, are manufactured from truly sustainable materials. Many tourists fall in love with their beautiful work, and it is not unusual for them to export their carvings to the United States or even Europe. We will learn about the different stages of production an animal carving goes through, and have the opportunity to work on our own wood carvings in their workshop and under their expert tutelage.
After saying goodbye to Jacinto and his son, we return to the bus and continue up into the highlands where we are privileged to enjoy access to the most spectacular lava tunnel in the whole of the Galápagos, and quite possibly in the entire world. The spectacular colours, sculpted walls and sheer scale of this tunnel make it an experience not to be missed.
Our fifth afternoon Spanish lesson follows in the late afternoon.
Playa Garapaterro
Pack your swimsuit and sunscreen today because we are headed to the beautiful Garrapatero beach. With several small beaches and bays to explore you may want to hire a kayak to make the most of this visit. Here you may see turtles, sea lions and manta rays in the water, while pelicans nest in the surrounding mangroves. Watch out for the sally light-foot crabs in bold red and blue colours as they scuttle over the black volcanic rocks that rise up out of the beautiful white sand. The calm shallow waters of the bay here are perfect for a snorkel or for playing with your young children.
Free Day or optional tour
Today you are free to rest, laze by the pool, take a stroll around Puerto Ayora or choose from one of our fabulous add-on day tours to discover more of these incredible islands. Take a look at our Trip Extras when you make your booking and choose from two days in Isabela, or our day trips to Pinzon, Floriana and Santa Fé.
Departure
After breakfast its time to say your goodbyes to the Galápagos Islands as there are no more activities scheduled for today and your Galápagos Family Adventure is now at an end. If you booked our optional transfer service, your pick up time will be between 3 and 4 hours before your flight departure.
Optional Tours
