Isabela Island
Many years ago I went up to the summit of Sierra Negra, but I never got to see the volcano; it was overcast, with the mysterious mist responsible for the magical halo of the Galápagos Islands. As I did not see the view, I invented I had seen it, and together with the people I went with, we made up the story of a prince looking for a wonderful land in which to found his new kingdom. A wise witch used a magical mirror to find the right place, and the place was indeed Sierra Negra, at the southern part of the “sea horse” island, Isabela, and inside the immense caldera of large basaltic lava walls that would keep the kingdom protected from any terrible monsters of the outside world. The prince got to the place, fell in love with the 7-mile diameter caldera of Sierra Negra, and founded a nation populated by tortoises, hawks and human beings.
Thanks to the Islander itinerary, I have now been up on Sierra Negra once again, but this time I got to see its huge inside, which is the second largest caldera in the world. Not only that, but also the outer north-eastern flanks of the volcano, where one finds a parasitic cone that erupted in 1979 and the landscape green and lush at the rim of the volcano, which becomes barren and scarcely populated by gigantic candelabra cacti and a few endemic daisies. This is a wonderful land; this is Galápagos, and its soul is within the depths of its volcanoes.
Galápagos is also the turquoise of the long bay of Puerto Villamil, and the flamingos of its wetlands, and the Galápagos penguins of Isabela rocks. Galápagos is in the smiles of the several kids we have on board the Islander as they bodysurf the waves, walk barefoot on coralline sand and discover the endless wonders of nature through their Galápagos Lindblad experience.
Many years ago I went up to the summit of Sierra Negra, but I never got to see the volcano; it was overcast, with the mysterious mist responsible for the magical halo of the Galápagos Islands. As I did not see the view, I invented I had seen it, and together with the people I went with, we made up the story of a prince looking for a wonderful land in which to found his new kingdom. A wise witch used a magical mirror to find the right place, and the place was indeed Sierra Negra, at the southern part of the “sea horse” island, Isabela, and inside the immense caldera of large basaltic lava walls that would keep the kingdom protected from any terrible monsters of the outside world. The prince got to the place, fell in love with the 7-mile diameter caldera of Sierra Negra, and founded a nation populated by tortoises, hawks and human beings.
Thanks to the Islander itinerary, I have now been up on Sierra Negra once again, but this time I got to see its huge inside, which is the second largest caldera in the world. Not only that, but also the outer north-eastern flanks of the volcano, where one finds a parasitic cone that erupted in 1979 and the landscape green and lush at the rim of the volcano, which becomes barren and scarcely populated by gigantic candelabra cacti and a few endemic daisies. This is a wonderful land; this is Galápagos, and its soul is within the depths of its volcanoes.
Galápagos is also the turquoise of the long bay of Puerto Villamil, and the flamingos of its wetlands, and the Galápagos penguins of Isabela rocks. Galápagos is in the smiles of the several kids we have on board the Islander as they bodysurf the waves, walk barefoot on coralline sand and discover the endless wonders of nature through their Galápagos Lindblad experience.
