Isabela Island
Today we spent visiting the southern end of Isabela Island. The weather was great; we had a very nice, sunny day. In high spirits the first guests to disembark this morning were those who went to explore Sierra Negra volcano. This one has one of the largest active calderas in the world, and is 4.3 miles width and 6.3 miles long. The final goal of the hike up the volcano was to reach an area called Volcan Chico where there are active fumaroles and recent lava flows from an eruption in1979. No vegetation has as yet begun to grow on the lava flows here, and the formations and craters are magnificent.
For those who chose to spend the day in the low lands, we climbed into pickup truck taxis and sat on wooden benches. We drove about 3 miles along the beach and coast to visit the famous “Wall of the Tears” which was constructed by the prisoners of the penal colony on Isabela. The wall was begun in 1945. It is 240 feet long and 21 feet high, and it was entirely built using heavy pieces of lava collected from the surrounding area.
The area around the “Wall of the Tears” has a great variety of plants endemic and native to the islands. We particularly enjoyed tens of curious and friendly broad billed flycatchers. From the top of a small volcanic cone, we had a most beautiful view of the lower slopes of Sierra Negra, the bay and the town.
We stopped to visit a lava tunnel that it is disappears into the sea, and the very colorful cemetery on the edge of town. Our final stop of the morning was the Tortoise Rearing Center where we observed the many different subspecies of tortoises from the island of Isabela. Here eggs are incubated and the young tortoises are raised until they are large enough to be repatriated to the region from which they came.
The afternoon there were several options: some of us took a trail through Aa lava to see white-tipped sharks at the “Tintoreras” (local name for these sharks). Here we watched two huge male marine iguanas in a ferocious territorial battle. Some guests swam from the beach and others enjoyed a beer at one of the local restaurants. The volcano hikers descended from their excursion, hot and dusty but pleased for having made the long walk and seen the spectacular formations of Volcan Chico. We all returned to the ship, wondering what we could possibly do tomorrow to top what we had done today!
Today we spent visiting the southern end of Isabela Island. The weather was great; we had a very nice, sunny day. In high spirits the first guests to disembark this morning were those who went to explore Sierra Negra volcano. This one has one of the largest active calderas in the world, and is 4.3 miles width and 6.3 miles long. The final goal of the hike up the volcano was to reach an area called Volcan Chico where there are active fumaroles and recent lava flows from an eruption in1979. No vegetation has as yet begun to grow on the lava flows here, and the formations and craters are magnificent.
For those who chose to spend the day in the low lands, we climbed into pickup truck taxis and sat on wooden benches. We drove about 3 miles along the beach and coast to visit the famous “Wall of the Tears” which was constructed by the prisoners of the penal colony on Isabela. The wall was begun in 1945. It is 240 feet long and 21 feet high, and it was entirely built using heavy pieces of lava collected from the surrounding area.
The area around the “Wall of the Tears” has a great variety of plants endemic and native to the islands. We particularly enjoyed tens of curious and friendly broad billed flycatchers. From the top of a small volcanic cone, we had a most beautiful view of the lower slopes of Sierra Negra, the bay and the town.
We stopped to visit a lava tunnel that it is disappears into the sea, and the very colorful cemetery on the edge of town. Our final stop of the morning was the Tortoise Rearing Center where we observed the many different subspecies of tortoises from the island of Isabela. Here eggs are incubated and the young tortoises are raised until they are large enough to be repatriated to the region from which they came.
The afternoon there were several options: some of us took a trail through Aa lava to see white-tipped sharks at the “Tintoreras” (local name for these sharks). Here we watched two huge male marine iguanas in a ferocious territorial battle. Some guests swam from the beach and others enjoyed a beer at one of the local restaurants. The volcano hikers descended from their excursion, hot and dusty but pleased for having made the long walk and seen the spectacular formations of Volcan Chico. We all returned to the ship, wondering what we could possibly do tomorrow to top what we had done today!
