April 3, 2023

Your expedition starts in Quito, Ecuador’s capital and most populous city. Quito is the second-highest capital city in the world, perched at 9,350 feet above sea level on the eastern side of Pichincha, a volcano in the Andes. It is also the closest capital city to the Equator (thus the name Ecuador, meaning Equator in Spanish). Originally settled by the Quitu tribe in the first millennium, Quito was eventually integrated into the Incan Empire before being settled in 1534 by Spanish conqueror Sebastian de Benalcásar.

Stroll through the city’s historic center and view splendidly restored period buildings and Colonial-era churches lining the narrow, cobblestone streets. You’ll soon see why Quito’s historic center is described as the largest, least-altered, and best-preserved historic area in all of the Americas. That’s why, in 1978, it was one of the first places in the world to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Your adventure begins with a night in a centrally located hotel.

April 4, 2023

After a nice breakfast, we´ll bring you to the charming colonial quarter for a sightseeing tour of the area. Starting from Plaza San Francisco, we´ll visit the church choir and the patios of the Franciscan order. Then we stroll through the handsome streets to the stunning gold-leaf interior of the Jesuit church of La Compañía.

No trip to Ecuador is complete without a photo of one foot standing in the northern hemisphere and another in the southern hemisphere. Continue by bus to Ciudad Mitad del Mundo (‘City at the Middle of the World’), located just 8.3 miles north of Quito. This stands to honor the Geodesic Mission that established latitude 0 in the 18th century. Depending on the time, you can visit the surroundings of the small village. You will also have the chance to visit the Intiñan Museum, a space of ecological and scientific discovery that transports visitors back to ancient times. Learn about the worldview, customs, and traditions of ancient cultures.

Lunch is served at El Crater restaurant, which overlooks Pululahua Volcano. In the afternoon, you´ll return to your hotel in Quito.

Dinner will be served at the hotel, and then you’ll have the evening to spend at your leisure.

April 5, 2023

Start the day with breakfast at the hotel before being driven to Quito’s airport for our flight to the Galápagos Islands (via Guayaquil). When we arrive at Baltra’s airport, our local guide will be waiting to transfer you to the Itabaca Channel, where a small ferry awaits you to bring you to the island of Santa Cruz.

Our travels will take us through a rural agricultural area surrounded by wild landscapes, where we can see many different species of flora and fauna. If you are lucky, you might spot a few of the famous finches that inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution based on natural selection. The highlands are one of the best places on the island to observe giant tortoises in their natural habitat. They are easy to spot. They lumber around eating grass and leaves and wallow in the small, muddy rain-formed pools. Younger giant tortoises tend to be smaller with shinier carapaces, while the larger, older giant tortoises proudly don weathered and worn shells—distinguished armor in a long life that can span over 100 years in the wild. Enjoy lunch in the Highlands.

After settling into your hotel in Puerto Ayora, we’ll walk to the nearby Charles Darwin Research Station. The station hosts educational museums about the history and development of the Galápagos Islands and the different ways of protecting its unique natural heritage. You can also observe the giant land tortoises native to the islands. The station is the only place in the Galápagos where most of the different species reside at one site.

Spend the afternoon at your leisure and explore the small, picturesque town of Puerto Ayora and its many local handicraft shops. Observe the colorful murals at the churches around town or stroll over to Tortuga Bay to look for marine iguanas, crabs, and white-tip reef sharks among the mangroves. Dinner will be served at the hotel´s restaurant.

April 6, 2023 - April 7, 2023

After breakfast, we'll begin to explore the islands that have become synonymous with the theory of evolution and hailed as a natural laboratory for natural selection. The range of wildlife on display in the islands is mind-boggling. The islands are teeming with endemic species and subspecies ranging from the wonderful to the weird and everything in between. On each of our two days here, we’ll visit one island by boat, meaning we’ll see two of the possible six islands. We don’t know which islands we’ll see, as that is at the discretion of the park authorities, who regulate and assign visitors one month beforehand.

Could it be Bartolomé Island, famous for the dramatic Pinnacle Rock and the rare colony of Galápagos penguins at its base? How about North Seymour Island, with its large populations of hilarious blue-footed boobies, swallow-tailed gulls, and magnificent frigatebirds? Another possibility is Santa Fe Island, known for having the most beautiful coves in the archipelago, with beaches covered in lounging sea lions. Perhaps we’ll head to South Plaza Island, where a growing colony of land iguanas roam among prickly pear cactus trees.

It’s clear that wherever you set foot to explore, you’re in for a real treat! You’ll go on walks to learn about the island’s geology, human history, and its exceptionally diverse wildlife. After two days, you’ll understand why these islands impressed Darwin so much and why they inspired his world-changing theory of evolution by natural selection.

April 8, 2023

After breakfast at the hotel, we will make our way to Baltra airport to fly to Guayaquil. From there, we continue on to Lima, where our local guide will transfer you to your hotel in the city. Dinner will be served at your hotel upon your arrival.

April 9, 2023

After a good night’s sleep in this historic city, known originally as ‘La Ciudad de los Reyes’ (The City of Kings), you’ll enjoy breakfast at the hotel. After check-out, we’ll take a half-day tour of Lima, including a visit to the city’s UNESCO-listed historic center. Some of the tour’s highlights include Plaza San Martin, Plaza Mayor, the Government Palace, and Santo Domingo Convent, the best-preserved colonial building in all of Lima.

Our visit continues with a stop at the Larco Museum, for an excellent overview of Peru's ancient past. It holds the best private collection of pre-Columbian art in the country.

We will then enjoy lunch at a typical Peruvian restaurant.

The tour finishes at the quayside in Callao, where your expedition ship awaits you.

Once on board, you’ll check-in and run through an important safety drill. Then settle into your cabin and take a look around the ship. Later, you’ll enjoy a special welcome dinner, where you’ll meet the captain, the crew, and the Expedition Team. Together, we’ll raise a glass and toast to the adventures ahead! The day ends with a briefing from the expedition leader and the hotel manager. After, maybe wander over to the Explorer Lounge and Bar for a drink with your new shipmates!

April 10, 2023

Pummeled by the Pacific’s wind and waves, Salaverry can be a hard port to access. If we are able to land there, though, it’ll be a good starting point to explore Trujillo, Peru’s third-largest city, and the array of archeological sites scattered throughout the region.

Trujillo sits in a fertile valley oasis irrigated by the Moche River. It boasts a colorful Baroque 17th-century cathedral, 10 colonial churches, and many Neoclassical mansions, not to mention one of the longest mosaic murals in the world at the local university. It’s more likely, however, that your focus will be further back on the past.

The city of Chan Chan was created by the Chimú Empire, which appeared in the region around 900 A.D. The vast ruins of the complex, measuring almost 8 square miles, include the Tschudi temple-citadel and Huaca Esmeralda. On the other side of Trujillo are you’ll find the Mochican pyramids of the Sun and the Moon. These pre-date Chan Chan by a few hundred years! Huaca del Sol stands out as the largest adobe structure on the continent, while Huaca del Luna is a more detailed specimen, with many of its pastel frescos still visible.

April 11, 2023

As we leave Peru behind and set sail for Ecuador, enjoy another day at your leisure aboard the ship. Spend part of your day walking on deck. Enjoy the seascapes and keep an eye out for marine life such as whales, dolphins, and seabirds. Want to feel closer to the water? Go for a dip in the outdoor hot tubs (where you can still admire the scenery).

Head to the Science Center and make the most of the Expedition Team’s lectures to learn about what you will experience in the following days. Participate in a Citizen Science project, where you will help contribute to current scientific research being conducted around the world. When darkness falls and it’s a starry night, you can also join the Expedition Team on deck for some stargazing. Or settle into a seat in the Explorer Lounge & Bar to raise a glass or two with your new-found friends.

April 12, 2023

Machala’s main claim to fame is Puerto Bolivar, an important Ecuadorian port where coffee, cocoa, shrimp, and bountiful bananas (which the locals call ‘oro verde’, or green gold) leave for export. As part of one of our optional excursions, you may have the opportunity to visit a local banana plantation, or to try and spot hummingbirds, parakeets, and howler monkeys in the Buenaventura Nature Reserve to the south. The nearby Puyango Petrified Forest has one of the largest collections of fossilized trees in the world, thought to be about 100 million years old—as old as the Andes Mountains themselves.

Feast on fresh seafood at Puerto Bolivar at one of the harbor’s many restaurants, and enjoy views of the natural mangrove swamps of Isla Jambeli. Machala has all the charm you’d expect from a small coastal city. Stroll through quaint plazas filled with friendly locals, and admire unusual monuments dedicated to sorting fish and bananeros. The restaurants here are evolving and have started dabbling in the hip, modern cuisine for which Ecuador and Peru have increasingly become known.

April 13, 2023

Manta is a bustling and prosperous port city with high-rise buildings, resort hotels, and several casinos. It is well-known for its long stretches of beach whose blessed wind and waves draw surfers, body-boarders, and kitesurfers from across the globe. You can mingle with casual beachgoers at the shops, restaurants, and bars of Malencón Escénico at Playa el Murcielago. You can also head to San Lorenzo for surfer-sweet swells or go to Playa Bonita at Santa Marianita to watch kitesurfers take off from the sea into the sky.

Aside from tourism, the city’s tuna fishing and canning industry is a successful and key industry here. As is typical for a coastal city, seafood is the specialty on the menu at most restaurants in the area. Try succulent wild-caught shrimp, black clams, octopus, red snappers, and much more. Make a point to try a bowl of the local encebollado broth made with fresh tuna, the pride of Manta. The Museo Municipal Etnografico Cancebi showcases Ecuadorian art and artifacts from the local pre-Columbian civilization, including ancient fishing tools. You may also have the opportunity to visit the nearby town of Montecristi, famous for handicrafts, and where traditional Panamanian straw hats were first created and still hand woven to this day.

April 14, 2023

A day at sea means the opportunity to attend interesting lectures, learn basic expedition photography, try your hand at an art workshop, and enjoy the fresh sea air out on deck as you watch for wildlife. You can also use microscopes in the Science Center to analyze samples taken during the cruise. As we cross the Equator, it’s the tradition of Norwegian sailors to hold a ceremony to seek King Neptune’s blessing. If we’re in luck, he may even make an appearance.

By this stage of your journey, you’ll likely regard your fellow explorers as friends, after finding so much in common in your interests and passion for nature. Chat with your shipmates over a snack and share your favorite stories from the expedition so far. The Explorer Bar is also open for drinks—you might even catch the crew and Expedition Team here in the evening for some friendly banter. As night falls, there is nothing as romantic as stargazing on deck with the one you love.

April 15, 2023

Today, we will sail through the Panama Canal, transiting from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean. The complex canal network is over a hundred years old, stretching almost 50 miles through natural and man-made waterways. We’ll wait eagerly for our allocated slot to enter the first of a series of huge locks. In a feat of modern engineering, these ingenious locks effectively lift the ship more than 80 feet above sea level. If weather allows, the Expedition Team will be on deck to point out sites of interest around the canal and talk about the history of this ambitious project.

Roughly halfway through the 12-hour transit of the canal, the ship will enter the Gatun Lake section. Created after the nearby Chagres River was damned, it’s one of the largest artificial lakes in the world. In contrast, the surrounding rainforest is virtually untouched by any development. The flora and fauna native to Central America flourish here, undisturbed. If you’re lucky, you may spot a crocodile or alligator ashore. Watch the trees and you may also catch a glimpse of a monkey (and maybe even a sloth or two).

After a few more locks and lakes, the ship will eventually sail into the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. In one day, you’ll have experienced the culmination of centuries of planning, hard work, and resourcefulness, and cross from one great ocean to another in the process. It’s sure to be an experience you won’t forget.

April 16, 2023

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our expedition cruise concludes at the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal. This bustling port town is a popular stop for cruises going to the Caribbean and has a diverse population for such a small size.

Not quite ready to end your adventure? Add three extra nights with our Post-Program and stay at an exotic jungle lodge nestled in the rainforest next to the Chagres River. During your stay, you’ll also visit a rainforest center and a farm dedicated to reforestation, explore the jungle on a night boat safari, and enjoy views of the area by cable car.

Another Post-Program travels to Casco Viejo, arguably the most charismatic neighborhood in Panama City. Stroll the rustic cobblestone streets and plazas. Admire the architecture of Colonial churches, mansions, and the Metropolitan Cathedral. Along the way, try local specialties like coffee and cocoa.

You can even book another expedition cruise from here that takes you through the ingenious man-made locks of the Panama Canal and through to the Pacific Ocean on the other side. Then go on to explore the many sights and coastal cities of South America.

Whatever’s next for you, we wish you a safe onward journey and look forward to seeing you on your next adventure!