Day 404 – Isabela
Today we woke up early and had a self made breakfast at Punta Arena Hostel. We poured some boiling water into a mug which instantly cracked in half.
Volcano Sierra Negra
At 7am, we went outside to wait for our pickup for the Volcano Sierra Negra tour. Grey skies welcomed us. A modified flat bed truck with rows of seats on the back (called a Chiva in Colombia) was the pick up vehicle. The pick up time was 7.10am and it arrived at 7.13am with 1 other tourist on board. We went around the small town to pick up more tourists. A lot of them were on the same ferry from Santa Cruz Island as us.
We had purchased our tickets the day before from the tour agency ISDEFUEGO. The tour cost $35 USD ($52.38 AUD) per person.
Before we left town, the guide was saying how important it was to take water. We had 1.6L between us, but we purchased another 2L bottle from a grocery store. Then we got onto the truck and left town, venturing up north.
We arrived at the start of the trail at 8.10am. After an introduction to the site from the guide, we started our walk to Volcano Sierra Negra and Volcano Chico. The trail is 8km long in one direction. As we started walking, it was really foggy so we could not see too far.
The walk to Volcano Sierra Negra was slightly uphill. At the volcano we saw a rainbow, but not much more. It was still really foggy. The guide told us that we will return to the volcano later.
Sierra Negra had the 2nd largest crater in the world.
We continued walking to Volcano Chico. As we walked away from Sierra Negra, the guide continued to explain about the terrain. We saw thermal shafts (where hot air was blowing out), cacti and layers of dried lava. It was interesting to see that a section of land that was covered with volcanic rocks. The guide told us that these rocks are very sharp, and therefore kept the land wildlife separate on the island. The giant tortoises on the south and north of the island, have evolved differently due to the separation which is cool.
The trail ends at Volcano Chico. It’s a small volcano surrounded by yellow and red rocks. Various minerals provide this colouring. It was nice to sit here. However, there was a super strong wind battering us.
Afterwards we returned back to a fog covered Sierra Negra. Occasionally the wind would blow away the clouds for a few seconds. The crater was really large. Our guide showed us pictures of the last time the volcano erupted. He said that due to the size of the crater, the explosions are not violent and most of the lava pools inside the crater.
We then walked back to the vehicle and drove back to town.
Concha de Perla
After lunch at our guest house, we decided to head towards the Isabela pier for a few trails. The first was Concha de Perla, which is just a short board walk trail. The trail was cool, because the sea lions were sleeping blocking the trail. We used the board walk’s rail to climb over the sleeping lions.
At the end of the board walk, we saw several more sea lions chilling on the deck. We decided against swimming in the super cold water.
The Isabela Pier
We walked back down the broad way towards the pier. Then I saw the best site of the day. A pair of penguins swam right past us in the water. It was so unexpected! They were only there for less than a minute before swimming away.
We waited for a while, hoping they would come back. They never did. So we proceeded to the small beach front near the pier. It’s a popular spot for sea lions to sunbathe.
Afterwards, we walked back into town and then along the beach front towards our guest house. The beach is nice and we could see a surfer in the water. The best part was a sea lion was also imitating the surfer and catching waves. It was funny to watch.
Centro de Crianza Trail
The town is super small, so we walked back to the Wall of Tears turn off and along the board walk back up towards the Giant Tortoise Breeding Centre that we visited yesterday (Day 403). Along the trail we saw a handful of birds.
Then along the way back we saw a solitary flamingo in the wetland, next to our guest house. The wildlife is so diverse and incredible. I’m super glad we visited the Galapagos!
