Volcan Sierra Negra and Volcan Chicos

What a fabulous day we had yesterday. We made a trip up to see the volcanoes on the south end of San Isabela, Volcans Sierra Negra and Chicos. It was a hike of about 16 kilometers round trip. We were together with the crews of Enchantment (another Island Packet), True Blue, and My Muse.

The hike takes you through the highlands where there is an abundance of plant life. The wild guava trees that grow here are heavy with brown, grey and red mosses, the small finches and flycatchers and mockingbirds are flitting about and the wild flowers and ferns decorate the sides of the trails. It was almost like walking through someone's garden.

We soon reached the rim of Sierra Negra, an absolutely awesome sight. This volcano last erupted in 2005 raising the bed of the crater by 10 meters. The crater is 10 kilometers by 9 kilometers giving a circumference of about 30 kilometers and because of the size of the crater and the type of gases and minerals in the volcano it was not an explosive eruption nor did the lava flow over the sides of the volcano. In fact, many town people came up in the evening to have a look at the fiery molten lava and snap some pictures. The lava rocks are still hot in the crater and when it rains, steam can be seen rising. So needless to say, we could not walk down to the surface.

We continued on to the Volcan Chicos. This is a huge lava field where we saw lava tunnels and many small vents which still emit a lot of heat. The last activity was in 1979 and here the colors of the rocks show evidence of sulphur (giving yellow color to the lava) and iron (giving the red color to the lava).

Walking through this lava field was like walking on another planet. The rocks were incredibly light and on close inspection some had all the colors of the rainbow on them. Our guide explained the geology behind these volcanoes and the islands in general. Scientists are still discovering things about our planet, sometimes changing assumptions and theories made in the past. In particular there is new evidence that there had been a group of islands between the Galapagos and the mainland that have sunken into the ocean. This may better explain how the turtles and other non-sea faring animals came to be on Galapagos, It was believed they arrived on rafts of vegetation from the mainland, which is a incredible distance. Another set of islands would have greatly reduced the distance they would have traveled.