Saying goodbye to the dream….it is now a reality
It is pretty much my last day today here is Galapagos- mind
you tomorrow I will go to another island take a couple of boat trips and
hopefully a plane and I will end up back in Quito maybe even in the Hilton!
However I currently have no flight or accommodation information…..so we shall
see!!!
The sheer size of the crater is just unbelieveable and I do
not know what I was expecting but it was not what I saw. Arguably it is just a
massive field of lava rocks but I mean massive and still active. If the whole
thing went boom – no chance. Isabela is made up of 4 volcanoes that still
rumble on she slowly edges SE away from the hot spot.
On the way to volcano chico we also saw a baby Galapagos
crane, this is an endangered species endemic to the island and clearly wasn’t
going to make it not only hadn’t already been abandoned but it also got picked
up. Not the only dead or dying animal have seen this trip!
Chico Volcano is actually 11 little ones together and here
you can see lave tunnels, ah ah lava (so named in Hawaii because if you walk
across it barefoot ‘ah ah it hurts) and phoy phoy lava (probably not spelt
right) that is much smoother and almost forms in rope like bands though I
struggled to find many examples. You could also see where the lave had
collapsed into a cavernous hole and feel the warm gases coming up at you. 
This volcano(es) erupted in 1959, ( though guide also said
35 years ago….and my maths is pretty good!), and you can clearly see the line
between old lava and new lava. What you can also clearly see is lack of
vegetation and the change in the scenery as we went closer to the volcanoes. By
the time you get to the lava land as I call it the first thing that will grow
is a cactus pretty much. They are special cacti called the candelabra cactus
and they grow at 1 cm a year – So the old lava field is probably from 450-500
years ago (see picture) and I tried to find a cactus that was around 30-50cm in the new lava but no joy. If
these cacti get too much water they die- basically they fill themselves up and fall
over!
I forget where I have blogged up to let alone what actual
day it is! It actually already tomorrow and I have bone my boat rides and not
my flight and still not told you about 2 days ago! Confused- yes? So am I!!!
But yesterday(now two
days ago) I saw some amazing ‘Vulkunology’ (do you like what I have done there-
if you haven’t read the last blog or are not a trekky that will be lost on
you). But I did a 16km hike to the World’s largest active volcano crater at 10
KM in diameter, and the second largest crater in the world – beaten by
Kilamanjaro
It last erupted in 2005 and gave the locals quite the
fright! Our guide actually got to come up and see and the photos he has are
very impressive. You can still see where it erupted. Apparently if there is
another eruption, which is likely but no show on the day we were there (shame-
though not sure I would have been able hop away quick enough!), the crater
floor is likely to collapse as underneath it are loads of lava tunnels. If it
collapses it could drop as far as 300 M which is quite a lot when it is only
about 1400 M high!
The sheer size of the crater is just unbelieveable and I do
not know what I was expecting but it was not what I saw. Arguably it is just a
massive field of lava rocks but I mean massive and still active. If the whole
thing went boom – no chance. Isabela is made up of 4 volcanoes that still
rumble on she slowly edges SE away from the hot spot.
The fact that as you
walk the edge to the other volcanos you smell sulphur and feel the warm gases
escaping the ground gives you a real feel for the danger that lies below. In
this particular place it is only 2 KM below unlike the usual 15 KM or up to 40
KM under continents if my university memory serves me correctly (which it
probably doesn’t!)
On the way to volcano chico we also saw a baby Galapagos
crane, this is an endangered species endemic to the island and clearly wasn’t
going to make it not only hadn’t already been abandoned but it also got picked
up. Not the only dead or dying animal have seen this trip!
Chico Volcano is actually 11 little ones together and here
you can see lave tunnels, ah ah lava (so named in Hawaii because if you walk
across it barefoot ‘ah ah it hurts) and phoy phoy lava (probably not spelt
right) that is much smoother and almost forms in rope like bands though I
struggled to find many examples. You could also see where the lave had
collapsed into a cavernous hole and feel the warm gases coming up at you. 
This volcano(es) erupted in 1959, ( though guide also said
35 years ago….and my maths is pretty good!), and you can clearly see the line
between old lava and new lava. What you can also clearly see is lack of
vegetation and the change in the scenery as we went closer to the volcanoes. By
the time you get to the lava land as I call it the first thing that will grow
is a cactus pretty much. They are special cacti called the candelabra cactus
and they grow at 1 cm a year – So the old lava field is probably from 450-500
years ago (see picture) and I tried to find a cactus that was around 30-50cm in the new lava but no joy. If
these cacti get too much water they die- basically they fill themselves up and fall
over!
On the trudge back I only had to wince twice and breathe
deeply as my knee went while chatting away to one of the dutch girls I had
befriended (whose name I couldn’t say but her friend was called Marlene- one
out of two isn’t bad!) She was fairly typical of the dutch people I have met
and in fac of most people travelling mainly by themselves. They have strong
opinions and our big characters it is hard to compete almost in simple
conversation. But it is lovely to have.
Having made it back to my accommodation I chilled in the
hammock and went for a swim and tried to calm down the sunburn I seem to have
acquired, ahead of my tunnel snorkelling the next day.
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