1/5/2020
Today was our hike to Sierra Negra, a volcano that is still active on the islands. The world’s second largest caldera is found here and it is the largest volcano on Isabela. We made our way up to Sierra Negra by bus and saw a lot of locals with cattle and growing cocoa. As we made our way up the highlands, you could feel the drop in temperature. Once at the parking area, we began our foggy hike up to the caldera. Guava trees were very commonplace along the path and it turns out that this tree is an introduced and invasive species. Its seeds are spread by birds so it can easily take over and displace native vegetation. The ferns that we saw a lot of are nonnative but not invasive or dangerous to the ecosystem. In fact, they are pioneer plants. Once at the caldera we stopped to just admire the incredible size of it. The area where it last erupted could be seen from where we stood, and we were told that it is still hot from the eruption. It was difficult to process that this volcano was still active and has the potential to unexpectedly erupt, since volcanic eruptions cannot be predicted. Someone recognized that Tait and I were inadvertently matching (much to Tait's dismay), but each of us refused to change and this went on to occur a few more times throughout the trip. |