ColorBee Photography Tours
Private charter, more time ashore
The whole yacht is ours — just 15 of us — and it runs to a photographer’s schedule: landings at sunrise and dusk when wildlife is most active, and extra time on the best islands.
Charter a luxury yacht (launched 2018) around the islands to shoot blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas and giant tortoises, then head deep into the Amazon and Mindo cloud forest for hummingbirds, toucans and hundreds of parrots at a clay lick.
The whole yacht is ours — just 15 of us — and it runs to a photographer’s schedule: landings at sunrise and dusk when wildlife is most active, and extra time on the best islands.
In June the water is clear and comfortably warm. Snorkel with sea lion pups, turtles and schools of fish — an action camera is all you need to shoot underwater.
Mindo’s cloud forest hosts over half the world’s hummingbird species; in the Amazon we explore by canoe, shooting parrots, monkeys and, after dark, caimans.
Fly from Melbourne via Santiago and Lima, landing in Ecuador’s capital, Quito, in the early hours. Your guide meets you and transfers you to the hotel to rest; free time in the city once you’re up.
At Mindo the Chocó lowlands meet the tropical Andes, and more than 350 hummingbird species — over half the world’s total — live here. We stay at a renowned birding lodge, photograph 10–12 hummingbird species up close at the feeders at dawn, then hike the cloud forest with a guide. On the afternoon of Day 3, visit the Mindo butterfly garden, with thousands of butterflies including the dazzling blue morpho, before checking in to a five-star airport hotel in Quito.
Don’t missWith luck, you might spot an olingo or even a kinkajou at the lodge.
At dawn, a 30-minute flight over the Andes to Coca, two hours downriver by motorised canoe, then a paddle canoe to the rainforest lodge. Over the next few days: climb a 120-foot canopy tower for birds and monkeys, search Garzacocha Lake for giant otters, watch hundreds of parrots at the clay lick at dawn, and visit the Pilchi indigenous community. After dark, head out by canoe with torches to find caimans, bats and owls. On Day 7, boat back to Coca and fly to Quito, with an optional afternoon visit to the museum of Guayasamín, the “Picasso of South America”.
Don’t missOn clear nights, the rainforest sky is full of stars.
Fly to San Cristóbal, meet our guide and board our private boat. In the afternoon, visit the giant tortoise breeding centre to see Galápagos giant tortoises of all ages, and shoot land birds and cactus scrub. One of the archipelago’s oldest islands, San Cristóbal is all gentle volcanic hills and dry scrub.
Morning: hike the steep volcanic trail at Punta Pitt, the only place in the islands where blue-footed, red-footed and Nazca boobies nest side by side. Afternoon: the sheltered white sands of Cerro Brujo, then a cruise around spectacular Kicker Rock and a snorkel in its waters, where Galápagos sharks, whitetip reef sharks and schools of eagle rays are often seen.
Morning: hike Punta Suárez and shoot the blowhole, where seawater bursts up through the lava. Almost all the world’s waved albatrosses court and breed here, but the stars are the “Christmas iguanas”, which turn vivid red and green in breeding season. Afternoon: snorkel with large sea lion families at Gardner Bay and its islets.
Morning: Las Bachas beach on northern Santa Cruz, with Pacific green turtle nesting sites and pink flamingos in the saltwater lagoon. Afternoon: climb Bartolomé for the classic Galápagos view over Pinnacle Rock and a lunar volcanic landscape. The rocks are home to the Galápagos penguin, the only penguin found near the equator.
Morning: search the black tide pools and lava grottoes of Puerto Egas for the rare, shy Galápagos fur seal. Afternoon: Rábida, famous for its red beach, where sea lions lounge on volcanic sand and Darwin’s finches and Galápagos hawks hide in the scrub. Underwater visibility is excellent — perfect for snorkelling with rays.
Genovesa is a collapsed volcanic crater flooded by the sea, home to millions of seabirds. Morning: shoot red-footed booby and great frigatebird nests in the mangroves of Darwin Bay. Afternoon: climb Prince Philip’s Steps to the clifftop plateau for swallow-tailed gulls and short-eared owls.
TipThe landing faces the open sea, so expect a bigger swell and a bouncy Zodiac ride. Keep your camera protected from splashes.
Morning: stroll the long sandbar of Mosquera, home to one of the islands’ largest sea lion colonies — newborn pups are a common sight. Afternoon: the Santa Cruz highlands, with hundreds of wild giant tortoises in a Jurassic Park-like Scalesia forest, lava tunnels, and the breeding centre at the Charles Darwin Research Station.
Morning: North Seymour, for close-ups of blue-footed booby courtship dances, male frigatebirds inflating red throat pouches, land iguanas and sea lions. Then transfer to Baltra airport for the flight to Quito; overnight at the JW Marriott Quito or a similar five-star hotel.
Morning: El Panecillo in central Quito, where the Virgin statue on the summit watches over the city. Shoot panoramas north and south, and on a clear day, three snow-capped volcanoes. Free afternoon.
One of the first cities on the World Heritage list, Quito is known as the “Museum of the Andes”. Climb the lookout of the Basílica del Voto Nacional, Latin America’s largest neo-Gothic church, for 360-degree views of the old town, then walk through Independence Square, the Baroque Jesuit church and San Francisco Square.
Fly home from Quito via Lima and Santiago, with full memory cards and memories to match.
Private boat for 15, a rainforest lodge and five-star hotels
A luxury yacht launched in 2018, exclusively for our group: air-conditioned cabins, a viewing deck, an outdoor spa, and three meals a day from the onboard chef.
On a lake deep in the rainforest, with a bamboo-and-timber lounge and bar open to the forest — sit back and listen to the birds and monkeys.
In Mindo, a renowned cloud forest birding lodge; in Quito, a five-star airport hotel and the JW Marriott Quito (or a similar five-star hotel).
The tour starts in Quito, Ecuador’s capital. From Melbourne, fly via Santiago and Lima. Please book your own international flights.
No. Beginners and experienced amateurs are all welcome. Brian (大马猫本) coaches you throughout and reviews your photos every day.
US dollars. You can also pay in RMB at the market exchange rate.
The yacht’s route may change due to season, weather or Galápagos National Park rules.
29 May – 15 Jun 2027 · 15 guests
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