Ecuador & Galapagos: Andes to the Islands

Before the islands, Ecuador opens with the high Andes, mist-wrapped cloud forests alive with hummingbirds and orchids in Mindo, and the snow-capped cone of Cotopaxi, one of the highest active volcanoes on Earth, a lung-stretching overture to the adventure ahead.

On Santa Cruz and Isabela, the wildlife has simply never learned to fear people, giant tortoises amble across the trail, penguins stand at the equator, and marine iguanas bask on lava like tiny dinosaurs, all within arm's reach.

This trip is genuinely two adventures joined: the high volcanic Andes then the remote Pacific archipelago, with a liveaboard week connecting them, a combination that makes for a richer journey than any single destination could offer.