11th April Sierra Negra Volcano

11th April - Sierra negra & a hang over promise…

Seira negra is 1,500 metres above sea level. Today, after breakfast, in blazing sun shine, we walked up to the top.

There are 5 active volcano's on this, Isabella Idland, the largest island of the Galapagos. Sierra Negra is a shield volcano, so has very liquid lava and a flat top & is a "calderas" or cauldron. So named because of the shape, which is distinctly different from a volcanic crater, which is caused by a volcano with violent eruptions, so has a much smaller, cone type centre. The last eruption was in 2018 & 2015 before that.

This particular caldera is 10 km wide, with lava tunnels underneath, so the ground is firm, but unstable. The black rock that can be seen is newer, where the lava has flowed more recently. The rock itself is very light, and has little density, due to the amount of gases escaping during the eruption, leaving it looking like a batch of cinder toffee. The trade winds that flow across Isabella come from south to east, so the town at the foot of the volcano is not disrupted too much by eruptions, although the people living there have been evacuated. Even the gases escaping are blown away from the town, so cause little disruption.

In 2022 another Galapagos volcano erupted January to march, but on a different island. This is the only volcano tourists are allowed to visit, as the others are not safe or have too difficult terrain. In fact, the entire Galapagos Islands are the result of volcanic activity under the sea. Many of the peaks that can been seen on the island, are actually sites where gases have forced their way up from the earth over millions of years. 

The walk itself was difficult - although it would not be for anyone in good health. It was much greener than I expected- I had an image of black, desolate rock for miles, but actually the surrounding area is very green, with lush vegatation, flowers and even cattle grazing. The flora and fauna are very different in the Highlands to the low lands of the island, and plants are more succulent and the tree species are not as tall as in the lowlands. There was even cattle grazing as we walked up to the top.

 There were plenty of other groups around exploring the area too. We met a young couple on route, who took group photos for us, as it is always so hard to get photos of everyone together. We bumped into them a number of times and found out that the girl Laura has been working in Ecuador for 3 months and is from just outside of Rehill, Surrey, where I have family, and was at my cousin's wedding just last year. She met her friend, Simon, who was with her, whilst traveling. There

Wasn't much wildlife to be seen today, apart from birds, insects & an abundance of butterflies. We did spot a pair of nesting birds,witch birds, the female is light brown, whereas the male is bright red. Daniella was quite excited, as they can be quite rare. On our return, we were whisked back to the group hotel and give an afternoon of free time. Of course, we had to move hotels again, but this room was much bigger than the last, so although tired & a bit grouchy with it, we packed up, moved and unpacked again, and headed off to the beach. Bernie's room is next door to ours & she couldn't believe we were in, as yesterday the room was completely empty of any furniture, had no glass in the windows and was like a building site. I had to get them back in as the light in the bathroom had not been fitted, so the wires were hanging from the ceiling in front of the shower head. They fixed it quickly, then Graeme had to turn the water on at the stop cock. The glass in windows of the bedroom was clearly the wrong size and in 2 sections with a bit of a gap between! We decided to just pull the curtains and keep well clear of all windows & just use the air con to keep cool.

The beach was lovely, but not at the standard of Tortuga. We were also disappointed to see some litter on the sand- beer bottle caps and soft drinks lids. I just don't understand people who drop litter. Lazy, selfish & with no thought for the damage they are doing. 

The water was lovely & refreshing. We couldn't find the rest of the group, so stopped for a beer & people watched for a while. We knew the name of the restaurant we were eating at tonight, so looked for that, The Beach- right on the sand. We walked a bit further and got a table in a little beach bar to watch the sun set over cocktails. There were pelican on the rocks and catching fish in the surf. We were then joined by the young couple we met earlier today and stayed with them, chatting & laughing until we had to leave for dinner. They are really good people & enjoying life traveling & picking up work where they can. It is inspiring. Dinner was lovely & the rest of our group had spent the afternoon at a different beach, swimming with sea lions! We moved on to another beach bar & had a few more cocktails, before some of us ran into the sea and marvelled at the stars and the milky way. Because we are so close to the equator, the sky shows a full range of the stars, that are in different positions to what we see at home. It was a fabulous end to another lovely day.

Night night,

Caroline