After an eventful birthday (not at all hungover), my sweet tush was out the door by 7:00 am…I’m a champ, I know I need a cup of coffee right the eff meow. It was a pleasant surprise to see a handsome man in the kitchen, asking what I would like for breakfast, in Spanish – mind you I understood none of that. I assumed that was what he was asking because I stood there like an ass asking for coffee, por favor? After a bit of miscommunication, breakfast was ready. Scrambled eggs, toast, fruit and coffee. Did I mention all of this was free? Thank you, Casa Rosada! The bread was to die for and the view…my oh my. I did not want to leave.
View from our second-floor balcony – Casa Rosada
Coffee with a view
Sierra Negra was an hour drive and about a three-hour hike to the summit. My birthday luck continued with the foggy and misty weather. The trail was muddy but having my hiking boots was a plus. About an hour into the hike, we reached the crater – which of course, was hidden by fog. The volcano is believed to be 535,000 years, and it has a 2nd largest crater in the world. We got to see it…not! SO LUCKY! We decided to rest for a bit and have some snacks before moving on. As we got up to leave, the fog lifted a little, and we were able to get a sneak peek of the crater – 30 seconds later, it disappeared under the fog..again. The weather was extremely temperamental as we continued our hike through the lush jungle. It went from cold-ish-misty-rain to warm-and-super-humid to cold-windy.
The start of our hike…view didn’t change much.
Jurassic Park, anyone?
Out of the lush-ness
Felt like another planet
Lava-land
Guys, we’re not in Kansas anymore.
Alas, we reached our final spot of the hike. The view was incredible. It felt like we were on Mars. Lunch was included in the tour package – it was disgusting…so bring your own food. After a good hike, it was time to turn around. Goodbye, sunny-windy-weather, hello rain. Once out of lava formed land, we were back in the misty-rainy-jungle. It rained the entire hike back and boy it was cold. This was a good day tour, tiring but beautiful. It was hard to believe – day two on Isabela had come to an end. It’s a beautiful Island, and I wish I had more time to explore.
9
