Greg and Stu are up and out the door by 7am. They have almost an hour van ride before arriving at the starting point for the trek up Sierra Negra the oldest volcano on Isabela, which you can only do with a guide. A five hour, 18km hike follows that. They have a guide named Simon who is originally from England, so his English is passable. 😉

I don’t know all of the details but will try to relate what I heard from Stu and Greg. They tell me that it is much much cooler up the volcano than it is down at sea level. No, this does not mean it was easy, but easier than I had imagined.

The first hour of the hike is a fairly gentle uphill slope and the vegetation changes dramatically as they ascend.

After that they reach the crater and are told that it is 10km across and about 100m deep. This makes this the shallowest caldera on Isabela. A massive crater, the second largest on earth I have read.

This volcano is the most active in the Galapagos and had an eruption less than a year ago. June 26, 2018!! Not very long ago.

Here are some amazing photos from the top. I really like the 3rd one that shows the silhouettes of the hikers along the ridge.

The hike done, the guys picked up some beer from the local market to enjoy before heading to the beach for a well earned dip. We found them showered and napped ready for happy hour. 😉