Isabela and Fernandina Islands
Sailing through the avenue of volcanoes between Isabela and Fernandina Islands makes you feel that you are living in the past when these island were recently formed. Isabela and Fernandina are the youngest islands in Galápagos, only about 300,000 to 700,000 years old. They are also the most active islands of this archipelago, and the last eruptions here were as recently as 1998 on Isabela Island, and 1995 on Fernandina Island.
I remember the last one very well, and it was one of the most exciting eruptions that I have seen in my life. The first eruption I ever saw was when I was a child, and I remember that many people went to the top of the island of Santa Cruz at night to see the eruption on Isabela Island, about 30 miles away. I didn’t know what was happening until my parents pointed to the horizon, and I saw dozens of red lines coming down from the mountain and moving in different directions. It was at night time and easy to see these lines glowing and forming new branches of red lava farther down the hill.
Today we are in front of these volcanoes and the lava hasn’t changed much. It seems like the eruption just happened yesterday. Also beautiful is seeing the Galápagos penguin resting on this new black lava flow. Isabela Island is formed from the successive eruptions of six different volcanoes, which joined, make the island the biggest of the archipelago. Today we are over the hot spot of Galápagos and I am always waiting and hoping to see the next eruption on this enchanted Island.
Sailing through the avenue of volcanoes between Isabela and Fernandina Islands makes you feel that you are living in the past when these island were recently formed. Isabela and Fernandina are the youngest islands in Galápagos, only about 300,000 to 700,000 years old. They are also the most active islands of this archipelago, and the last eruptions here were as recently as 1998 on Isabela Island, and 1995 on Fernandina Island.
I remember the last one very well, and it was one of the most exciting eruptions that I have seen in my life. The first eruption I ever saw was when I was a child, and I remember that many people went to the top of the island of Santa Cruz at night to see the eruption on Isabela Island, about 30 miles away. I didn’t know what was happening until my parents pointed to the horizon, and I saw dozens of red lines coming down from the mountain and moving in different directions. It was at night time and easy to see these lines glowing and forming new branches of red lava farther down the hill.
Today we are in front of these volcanoes and the lava hasn’t changed much. It seems like the eruption just happened yesterday. Also beautiful is seeing the Galápagos penguin resting on this new black lava flow. Isabela Island is formed from the successive eruptions of six different volcanoes, which joined, make the island the biggest of the archipelago. Today we are over the hot spot of Galápagos and I am always waiting and hoping to see the next eruption on this enchanted Island.
