Bartolome and Santiago Islands
Our last full day in the Galápagos dawned beautifully, the soft light illuminating the myriad rust-coloured cones and minor lava flows that abound in this area. Santiago is the fourth largest island in the archipelago and was obviously a tremendously active volcano, as just one look at the stark, otherworldly scenery before us makes very clear. The main structure of this majestic volcano is dotted with hundreds of minor, parasitic cones that feed off the main magma chamber – cinder cones, spatter cones and, where lavas exiting the vent made contact with water, tuff cones. The islet of Bartholomew, just to the east of Santiago, is in fact made up by the fusion of several tuff cones to which it owes its strange formations, including the famous pinnacle rock. Tuff is a very soft, easily eroded stone, as the contact of cold water and hot lava caused phreato-magmatic explosions that pulverized the lava, this ash then settling layer upon layer and becoming cemented with time. In many ways it looks a little similar to sandstone, though of different origin, and its malleability allows it to be carved into all sort of fascinating shapes.
We were determined to squeeze as much enjoyment as we possibly could out of this, our last day in this piece of distinctly odd-looking paradise. To this end we visited two islands, made at least two hikes, and had two snorkelling opportunities and even rode once more in the glass-bottom boat!
We enjoyed the orange-sand of the beach on Bartholomew, and admired the black beaches, deposits of volcanic ash, of our afternoon’s visitor site, James Bay on Santiago Island. The afternoon walk along the coastline led us through a fascinating mixture of black basalt and tuff eroded into strange shapes over the years by swirling waves. We thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful geology of the area today, but even more so because of its role as backdrop to the complex, fascinating life forms of the remote Galápagos Archipelago.
Our last full day in the Galápagos dawned beautifully, the soft light illuminating the myriad rust-coloured cones and minor lava flows that abound in this area. Santiago is the fourth largest island in the archipelago and was obviously a tremendously active volcano, as just one look at the stark, otherworldly scenery before us makes very clear. The main structure of this majestic volcano is dotted with hundreds of minor, parasitic cones that feed off the main magma chamber – cinder cones, spatter cones and, where lavas exiting the vent made contact with water, tuff cones. The islet of Bartholomew, just to the east of Santiago, is in fact made up by the fusion of several tuff cones to which it owes its strange formations, including the famous pinnacle rock. Tuff is a very soft, easily eroded stone, as the contact of cold water and hot lava caused phreato-magmatic explosions that pulverized the lava, this ash then settling layer upon layer and becoming cemented with time. In many ways it looks a little similar to sandstone, though of different origin, and its malleability allows it to be carved into all sort of fascinating shapes.
We were determined to squeeze as much enjoyment as we possibly could out of this, our last day in this piece of distinctly odd-looking paradise. To this end we visited two islands, made at least two hikes, and had two snorkelling opportunities and even rode once more in the glass-bottom boat!
We enjoyed the orange-sand of the beach on Bartholomew, and admired the black beaches, deposits of volcanic ash, of our afternoon’s visitor site, James Bay on Santiago Island. The afternoon walk along the coastline led us through a fascinating mixture of black basalt and tuff eroded into strange shapes over the years by swirling waves. We thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful geology of the area today, but even more so because of its role as backdrop to the complex, fascinating life forms of the remote Galápagos Archipelago.
