Galápagos Islands: Family Volunteer Vacation
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Overview
Highlights
- Get up close to giant tortoises while volunteering at a conservation sanctuary
- Snorkel alongside penguins, reef sharks and sea lions
- Kayak in search of the famed blue-footed booby
- View creatures in their natural surroundings on uninhabited islands
- Experience the Galapagos’ unique biodiversity up close
What's this trip about?
Details
Travel Themes
Destinations
Attractions
Activities
Trip includes
- 9 nights double occupancy lodging in standard level lodging
- Most meals throughout the trip (24 total)
- English-speaking local guides that are there to support, guideand inform you throughout the trip
- Admissions and entrance fees to national parks, historicsites and other scheduled events throughout the trip
- All land and water transportation during the trip.
- $50,000 emergency medical evacuation insurance
- Trip literature
- Turnkey customer support from preparing for your trip to arrivalback home
Popular Trips
Itinerary
Meals: Dinner
Touching down in Quito, you’ll be met at the airport by your Discover Corps guide, who will accompany you to our hotel for a welcome dinner with your fellow travelers. Have a restful night for the adventures ahead.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Today we’ll explore Quito, walking the pretty cobblestoned streets of its UNESCO-listed colonial center. A cable car ride to a nearby mountain summit will afford us a bird’s-eye view of the city and the surrounding volcanic peaks, before dinner at a chic restaurant. (B,L,D)
Meals: Lunch and Dinner
Our Galápagos adventure begins in earnest now, with an early morning flight from Quito to Baltra, before we take a bus and then boat to Isabela Island. After checking into our hotel, we’ll have the evening free to explore the town Puerto Villamil, the third largest human settlement in the archipelago.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
One of the most spectacular sites for snorkeling off the coast of Isabela is Los Tuneles (or the Tunnels), tangled formations of hardened lava next to the mangroves. These unique formations of tunnels and bridges create one of the most astonishing locations for viewing sea turtles, rays, white-tipped sharks, and a variety of seabirds
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
We’ll spend this morning kayaking along the coast of Las Tintoreras on Isabela Island, stopping to snorkel along the way in the El Elestero wetlands for those interested. After a picnic lunch, we’ll enjoy a beach sid mangrove walk, viewing a whole ecosystem of animals that are not normally visible.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Today we’ll visit a tortoise sanctuary on the island of Santa Cruz. Here we’ll explore more otherworldly lava tunnels, before helping out with odd jobs at the sanctuary. In particular, we will be removing invasive plant specie...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
This morning we’ll visit the Charles Darwin Research Station to learn about the conservation projects across the archipelago, before an hourlong trek to the white sands of Tortuga Bay. Here you can go swimming or follow the le...
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
Today we’ll venture out to the tiny, uninhabited island of North Seymour, home to one of the largest populations of blue-footed boobies and majestic, red-throated frigate birds. Witness the frigate birds swoop down and cheekily swipe...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Today we’ll snorkel the waters around the small island of Daphne, a scientists colony, before continuing to Pinzon, home to some of the best snorkeling in the archipelago. Jump in from the boat to see sea lions, a kaleidoscope of reef fish and, if you're lucky, penguins. Tonight well share a farewell dinner in Santa Cruz. (B,L,D)
Meals: Breakfast
Whether or not you’ve chosen the trip extension, we’ll return to the airport in Baltra for a flight back to Quito today. From there we’ll either say our goodbyes before your flight home, or you’ll stay an extra night in Quito with us for our Amazon Basin post-trip extension (next page).
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Dates & Availability
Check Current Availability, prices, specials with Discover Corps.
The total tour cost includes the tour price (regular or promotional) and the compulsory local payment. The promotional price is subject to change. Check directly with the operator for the latest price offer. The tour operator requires you to pay only the tour price to purchase your travel. The compulsory local payment will be paid when you join the trip. All prices are based on double, twin or triple share occupancy. Solo passengers will be accommodated in a double, twin or triple room according to availability with a passenger(s) of the same gender. Single supplement only needs to be paid if the passenger does not want to share and requests their own room. Discounts can only be applied at the time of booking and cannot be added at a later date, regardless of any changes made to the original booking.
Prices may vary due to local taxes and trip seasonality. Click "Request Info" to inquire directly with the tour operator for the final trip price.
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Tour Operator
Discover Corps is a volunteer travel company that is pioneering a new way to explore life and culture around the world in a way that rejuvenates the human spirit.
Our vision is of a world where people value our shared humanity and promote global citizenship while celebrating our many unique cultures.
Our mission is to give travelers a deeper understanding of life in communities around the world while helping to improve the lives of the people we visit.
We accomplish this by operating enjoyable and safe, enjoyable volunteer vacation programs that provide real connections between travelers and the communities. We specialize in trips for adults and families.
Our Trips and Projects
Discover Corps volunteer projects are driven by the local communities — not by us. We respond to requests where our travelers can make a meaningful contribution in a short amount of time. In order to maximize your time, our local staff plan everything in advance and provide you with the support you need while you’re there. From building classrooms and improving water systems to creating eco-friendly homes, we partner with local communities to help them achieve their development goals.
While our trips only last a week or two, we strive for a long-term impact by partnering with organizations that have ongoing relationships with the communities where we volunteer. This allows each of our volunteer groups to become a link in the chain of our partner’s ongoing work.
We are a certified B Corporation, which means we have passed a rigorous independent audit of our social, environmental, and legal practices. B Corporations (or Benefit Corporations) are recognized by the State of California as providing a social good.
Discover Corps operates trips for the National Peace Corps Association as well as other non-profit organizations and universities.
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Logistics
What's excluded
- International airfare
- One breakfast and one dinner
- Alcoholic beverages
- $600 supplement fee - round trip airfare, tax, and entrance
- Fee to the islands
- Tips for Discover Corps guide and driver
- Laundry, phone, and Internet services
Accommodation
8 Breakfasts, 7 Lunches and 9 Dinners
Optional Extension: Amazon Basin
Day 11: Fly to El Coca and Explore the Napo River By Boat
Meals: Dinner
After spending an extra night in Quito, wake up for a short flight, which takes us from Quito to Puerto Francisco de Orellana, or ‘El Coca’. Your next two hours will be spent on a motorized canoe heading down the Napo River, with the Amazon rainforest creating an unforgettable backdrop. At dusk, hike along Matapalo Trail and marvel at 400-year-old mahogany trees and strangler figs.
Day 12: Choose From a Range of Hiking Trails Through the Countryside
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
A short early-morning hike will take us to an observation tower, where we’ll spot colorful tropical birds soaring above the Amazon. This afternoon we’ll either hike the Tucaneta Trail to learn about medicinal plants, or walk to the Mandi Cocha lagoon, spotting birds and giant otters. After sundown, we’ll hop into a canoe to enjoy an Amazonian sunset and spot nocturnal wildlife.
Day 13: Visit the Famous Clay Licks and Meet a Kichua Woman
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Today we’ll take to the river again, this time to witness hundreds of parrots and parakeets feeding on clay licks. Back on dry land, we’ll meet a Kichua woman who will share stories about life in the Amazon rainforest. After lunch, we’ll visit a beautiful lagoon to spot squirrel monkeys, capuchin monkeys and, if we’re lucky, howler monkeys and pigmy marmosets.
Day 14: Return Home
Meals: Breakfast
Your Amazon adventure comes to an end today, and we’ll take a motorized canoe upstream back to Coca for your journey home.
Accommodation Details:
Extension Lodging
We’ll stay in a distinctive Amazon lodge designed to give you the ultimate feeling of being in touch with nature. Made from all-natural materials, the lodge is comfortable, clean, and safe. Created with designs traditional to the local Amazon cultures, it assures a well-built room which nevertheless gives the feeling of being immersed in the jungle.
Pricing Details for Optional Extension:
- Adult $1,595
- Child $1,495
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Have a group of 6 or more? We can operate a trip for your group. Whether it's a family reunion, corporate group, alumni association or a professional or student organization, we'll make it easy and turnkey for your group to have an incredible experience.
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