Yesterday we decided to test out legs out after 6 weeks living on board and signed up for a guided walk around the summit of Sierra Negra, one of 4 active volcanic on Isabela.
Galapagos is a very young part of the world, the islands sit close to the edge of tectonic plates which are moving apart. The islands themselves are heading towards south America at about 6cm each year. Eventually they will all disappear beneath Equador. (But not in our life time). Isabela is currently sitting above a volcanic hot spot, the other islands having drifted over it a few million years ago and as such is still getting bigger, there have been 5 significant eruptions in the last 50 years. Our geologist guide was quick to point out that they were friendly eruptions, as the tectonic plates are moving apart it means little and often in the volcanic world. If they were in compression it means not often but watch out when it happens.
We took a taxi to the end of the road up the volcano, at about 1000m altitude and then set to climb the last 200m or so and walk round some of the crater rim. We would not be waking it all as the crater is some 10km across and the path all around over 40 km.
We walked upwards enjoying the cool of a 6.30 am start and the altitude, it was probably only 25 degrees and felt blissful. Once reaching the edge of the caldarer we finally grasped just how big it was. The crater stretched off into the distance, the far rim visible but indistinct in the early morning mist. The floor of the crater a couple of 100m below made up of black lava and looking like you imagen the surface of the moon. The crater is so big that the last eruption only took place in part of it so we were able to compare 50 year old lava with that some hundreds of years old which incredibly already has a light green tint of vegetation, amazing that anything can grow there.
We walked on around the rim towards the site of the most recent eruptions, only a vent on the side of the cone but as recent as 2018.
As we descended into the lava field our guide described lava tsunami, lava waves and gushing fountains of magma, i was struggling to visualise some of his descriptions but understood the lava tunnels. What was obvious was his absolute delight in his subject. We walked along over the Martian landscape at one point we were encouraged to put our hands into a small hole which felt like reaching into an oven.
An interesting way they have of dating the lava is using the candelabra cactus 🌵, it is the first plant to collinise a new lava field and then grows at 3mm per year, with or without water, so a 1m cactus is 300 years old, some of the bigger ones are 8m tall so getting on for 2500 years old.
Its hard to describe how raw the landscape is, crunching lava underfoot, sulphurous smells , gaping pits lined with strange coloured deposits and on closer inspection the jewel like colours in the lava gravel, the colour depending on the mineral deposits within. The most amazing thing was we were walking over land less than 10 years old, the newest part of the world. Jules Vern's journey to the centre of the earth could have been written here.
We retraced our steps wondering just how the birds and lizards we saw could survive, the birds can fly away but the lava lizards just must be tough.
We made it back to our starting point happy our legs still had 16km in them just in time for a delicious lunch at a farm come campsite on our way back down the mountain. Back to the anchorage for a swim and a cold beer watching the sunset.
Tim