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Free & BrEasy - Storms on Seas of Larva



The big news is that Roger obtained his Padi Open Water certificate in double quick time. Thanks to Shay at Wreck Dive on Santa Cristobel for his excellent instruction and well done Roger for pots of studying. Life at Puerto Baquerizo Moreno was wonderful with a great sea front and harbour, restaurants and walks (or runs if your prefer) round the peninsula, but it was time to go. On the last day (Thursday 20th February) we spent time taking in the information in the Visitors Centre. There was plenty of detail on the geology, flora and fauna, ending up with the impact of humans on the Galapagos. Sad to say we were reminded of man's willingness to exploit the wildlife reserves with tortoise oil being used to keep the street lamps burning at one time! Also man's cruelty to each other was displayed with the use of the Galapagos as penal colonies, rule by autocrats and failed experiments of setting up Utopian societies. Man's ingenuity however was more impressive with Darwin's scientific insights into the evolution of species which is arguably the greatest single influence on the way our species views itself in relation to life on the planet.

Regretfully we pulled up anchor and headed west into the setting sun for the overnight sail to Puerto Villamil, Isabella, the largest of the islands in the Galapagos. On the way Roger caught an enormous yellow finned tuna which after a 2 hour battle yielded enough food for 15 meals! Puerto Villamil at first appears much smaller and underdeveloped compared with Puerto Moreno. The pier is a 20 minute dusty walk from the town and everything is covered with sand due to the nearby beaches. It has the appearance of a "one tortoise town" but there are plenty restaurants and accommodation. There is a modern church which incorporates images and carvings of tortoises, iguanas, blue footed boobies to give a real Galapagos theme.

After a day adjusting to the slower pace of life (during which Roger changed oil + filters in both engines!) we headed for the Volcano tour. Isabella boasts 7 volcanoes and is one of the youngest of the Galapagos Islands. We were picked up by an open sided bus which was really seats and a roof bolted to a flat bed lorry and were driven at high speed to start of a 16km trek to the volcano. Only just out of town larva fields were obvious testimonies to previous eruptions but the land gradually became more fertile with some horticulture and livestock, and even the odd large tree. After about 40 minutes on the bus we started walking a path lined by green shrubs which wound slowly up Volcano Siera Negra with a few large trees which were called Soap Berry trees due to their utility for washing! After about an hour we were suddenly at the rim of an impressive caldera 10km across. This had been created as a result of a massive collapse of the roof of a molten mantel some 3km below the surface and was the second largest in the world to the Ngorongoro crater in North Tanzania which Annabelle and Roger know well! We then walked to the Volcano Chico which erupted as recently as 2005. Abruptly the green landscape was replaced by a larva rivers, cones, craters, tunnels and slabs which took no imagination to envisage the area 9 years ago as a wild sea of molten rock. Definitely a good place to film Mordor from Lord of the Rings! Occasionally we came across small vents still producing hot vapours!

The walk back to the bus retraced our steps and we were were blessed with good company - one guy was actually born in North Borneo (now Malaysia) where Michael 2 also came from. All this time we have had no contact with Michael 1 so we assume he is enjoying his family on Santa Cruz!

On the way back to the boat we sauntered through walk ways and beaches, idly watching the iguanas, sea lions, pelicans, frigate birds, which bask nonchalantly in the sun, just as we were doing. Who is watching who? We had caught sight of a Galapagos penguin earlier, swimming by the pier. They are much smaller than we expected and there are fears that their numbers are dangerously low and threatened with extinction - only 1500 left.


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