Jetsettersblog

Big Five Tours & Expeditions is offering new packages for the Galapagos that make use of new luxury hotels in the islands, which have made it possible to offer land-based programs to the islands.

New Big Five packages feature Galapagos Safari Camp, which has eight luxury safari tents on a hill on a farm in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island.

The site is rich in birdlife with finches, warblers, mockingbirds, Galapagos doves, egrets and owls as well as tortoises.

All tents are spacious and have balconies with views of the area and the ocean. Each tent has a private bathroom, with hot shower as well as a fireplace, dining room and an infinity pool with views of the ocean.

The eight-day Galapagos Safari Camp Discovery program offers an in-depth exploration of Santa Cruz Island that includes local villages such as Bellavista and takes in some of the biggest hills of the island — Media Luna, Puntudo and Cerro Crocker. Garrapatero, one of the most exotic beaches in the islands, has a landscape of black lava, pioneer cacti, white sand and a turquoise sea. Blue-footed boobies are found there, pelicans fish in the bay, crabs scuttle into their burrows and marine iguanas stroll along the beach. Tortuga Bay has a white sandy beach and a nearby mangrove lagoon suitable for swimming and snorkeling.

In the town of Puerto Ayora, Chi Spa offers relaxing spa treatments. The island is home to the Charles Darwin Foundation, with its tortoise breeding center.

Big Five also offers a new eight-day Galapagos Safari Camp Diving program with an emphasis on scuba diving at various island sites such as North Seymour, which is home to a large colony of garden eels as well as sea turtles, sea lions, fur seals, eagle rays, yellow-tailed grunts, big-eyed jack, and frequently white tip reef sharks and hammerheads.

Beagle Island south of Santiago Island is good for beginner and intermediate divers, and includes a wall covered with black coral and sea fans that drops to more than 60 meters.

The waters off Gordon Islands have a tuff cone formation that is a world famous dive site about one hour from the base. This site is for intermediates and expert divers because there can be strong currents and surge.

The Galapagos Safari Camp price begins at $2,750 per person double occupancy land only and includes accommodation, all meals, sightseeing tours and guides.

The scuba package, which starts at $2,790 per person double occupancy land only also includes six dives, complete dive gear, bilingual guides (one guide for every four or five divers), transport to/from dive site and towel service.

For more than 36 years experience, Big Five Tours & Expeditions is a luxury travel company specializing in individualized vacations worldwide; from custom-designed, private vacations to fully-escorted, special-interest groups to destinations that span Africa, South and Central America (including the Galapagos Islands), Asia and The Orient, South Pacific, Antarctica and The Arctic.

For more information, call 800-244-3483, or visit www.galapagos.com