Galapagos Wildphoto expedition for photographers

Galapagos

Welcome to photographers PARADISE! The Galapagos Islands have some of the most interesting birds and reptiles on the planet. The good news is – most of them are very approachable and easy to photograph! The Galapagos archipelago is teeming with wildlife, both above and below the water. This will most definitely give us great encounters and full memory-cards. WildPhoto Travel has extensive experience in the Galapagos archipelago and has customized this trip for photographers to provide for some extraordinary days in this paradise in the middle of Pacific Ocean.

We have selected the best local guides in Galapagos, and the best ship for our purpose, so that we will enjoy some very special photography and unique opportunities. On most days we will do early morning landing and evening landings, as well as snorkeling activity in the middle of the day. We expect to see all the land animals found on the Galapagos islands and a vast variety of the marine wildlife as well.

Date

21.04-02.05 2016 3 spots
Prices from: USD $9.995 (Spør etter pris i NOK)
More info (PDF) – booking form ENG / NOR

Let us know if you want to be on the waiting list for this trip or upcoming trips.

Penguin World

This photo expedition is part of the Penguin World project, where WildPhoto Travel is the main partner. In the Penguin World project we use penguins to raise more awareness about marine conservation issues, and the Galapagos penguins is the ambassador for the El Nino. A new severe El Nino with 2+ warmer sea temperature in the Pacific Ocean is now building up and last time (1997-98) Galapagos was affected, it caused a 65% decrease in the numbers of penguins, together with other anmals like Marine iguanas. In mid-february it is still no signs of negative effects in Galapagos, but it might happend next months.

During the expedition we will offer talks about El Nino, Galapago penguins, Climate changes etc. which will give you a more in-deapth understanding and relationship to what’s might happen soon around the Galapagos archipelago. This is a great opportunity to mix photography and conservation issues.

Itinerary

The itinerary has not been fixed, but will most likely look something like this:

Day 0 Recommended flight from Europe will be KLM from Amsterdam directly to Guayaquil. There are also other possible flights available. At the airport we will be met and transferred directly to the hotel.

Day 1 Fly to Baltra (Galapagos) in the morning. Boarding our ship, which will be our “hotel” for the next 11 days (10 nights). We start shooting 1-2 hours later on the island of North Seymour. Right away we’ll have excellent photo opportunities with Land Iguanas, Blue-footed Booby, Nazca Booby and beautiful Frigatebirds to name a few.

Day 2 During the night we sail north to Tower Island, where we go ashore early morning at Darwin Bay. This is the best opportunity we will have for shooting Red-footed Boobies, and the timing is perfect for breeding behaviour and nest building. In the evening will photograph at a plateau, which is the breeding site for the Elliot’s Storm-petrels. This is a great place to observe and photograph the Short-eared Owl hunting Storm-petrels. At mid-day we will also go for our first snorkelling.

Day 3 During the night, we sail to Santiago Island. In the morning session we will mostly photograph Marine Iguanas, while in the afternoon we will explore a beautiful sandy beach where we’ll have some good opportunities for close-ups of the very curious Galapagos Hawk.

Day 4 During the night we will pass the equator twice, and arrive at the north west section of Isabela Island in the morning. We’ll be snorkelling with Sea Turtles, and perhaps also Marine Iguanas. Evening session will be on Fernandina (the youngest of the islands), surrounded by hundreds of Marine Iguanas and other interesting wildlife.

Day 5 We continue our exploration on Isabela where we will be visiting a “secret” location where we will doing a Zodiac cruise and snorkel with Galapagos Penguins and Galapagos Cormorants ! The evening session will be in Elizabeth Bay, with nice mangrove forest and good photo opportunities at sunset.

ITINERARY

Day 6 We are now on the south side of Isabela, where we photograph animals at sunrise on a small island. Around lunchtime we will “climb” to the crater rim of the Sierra Negra Volcano (about an hour’s walk up). This is the only one of the great volcanoes we will visit during our expedition. In the evening we visit the village of Puerto Villamil. We will be offering alternative activities at this location, that will be announced on the boat.

Day 7 We have now moved to Floreana Island and will spend the morning near a nice lagoon inhabited by Flamingos. Later in the day there will be more opportunities for snorkeling with playful Sea Lions. We will also make an effort to see and photograph the extremely rare and endemic Champion Mockingbird (only approx. 100 individuals left in the world).

Day 8 This day will be spent on Santa Cruz Island, with a morning session in a nice forest with Giant Tortoises and forest birds. In the afternoon we will visit the small town Puerto Ayora.

Day 9 In the morning we will visit the rare Waved Albatross that only breed on the island of Espanola. We use the entire morning session here amongst Albatrosses, Boobies and lots of other seabirds. For the evening and at sunset we’ll be on a great white sandy beach where Sea Lions often rest by the hundreds. This is also the place to photograph the endemic bird “Hood Mockingbird”, the only of the four Mockingbirds that Charles Darwin didn’t find on his trip to the islands in 1835.

Day 10 The second last day of the Galapagos, we will be on the island of San Cristobal, in the eastern most part of the archipelago. We start on Punta Pitt, also with possibilities for snorkelling. On this island we have opportunities to photograph Ghost Crabs and the indigenous San Cristobal Mockingbird. This will also be our last snorkelling opportunity of the trip.

Day 11 We end our Galapagos expedition with a sunrise landing on a small but very interesting beach near Baltra. There are plenty of Sea Lions, as well as opportunities to photograph the Lava Gull, Boobies and other seabirds. After the morning session we go ashore at Baltra where we’ll be transferred to the airport. We fly back to Guayaquil and from there to our final destination.

OUR BOAT

Our yacht is spacious and well suited for photography. Most participants will be lodged in shared cabins (2 single cabins available). The beds are made ready and bed linen and towels are provided. Food service will be at a designated time, but we intend to be flexible in this regard if photo opportunities arise which dictate that the food has to wait. The chef generally has a varied and exciting menu.

We also have use of two Zodiacs (dingis) that are very spacious. These boats will be used to get closer to photo subjects or while going ashore.

AVAILABLE CABINS ON EXPEDITION 22.04-02.05 2016:

	Twin cabin, with private WC/shower: USD $9995 (1 spot female)BOOK NOW
	Twin cabin, with private WC/shower: USD $9995 (1 spot)BOOK NOW
	Twin cabin, with private WC/shower: USD $9995 (1 spot male)BOOK NOW

Request prices in NOK or EURO

INCLUDED IN THE PRICE

Transfer between the airport and hotel
Accommodations at hotel in Guayaquil, including buffet breakfast
Airfare to Galapagos, Ecuador (USD $500+).
11 days (10 nights) on the expedition ship, including accommodations, all meals and non-alcoholic beverages
Transfer between the airport and the ship in Baltra (Galapagos)
Snorkeling gear
Two naturalist guides + one WildPhoto photo guide

NOT INCLUDED IN THE PRICE

International flight to Guayaquil
Insurance – baggage, evacuation, cancellation etc
Alcohol and souvenirs purchased
Galapagos National park entry fee (USD $100)
Gratuities to the crew of the yacht and Naturalist Guide aboard

Booking

You register to this trip by submitting a deposit payment (USD $1500) and sending in a signed booking form (ENG / NOR) to our EMAIL. On the backside (page #2) of the booking form you will find the terms and conditions which pertain to this expedition. You will also find more information about payments, insurance etc. on the booking form. Let us know if you have any questions.