Half-day Tour to Sierra Negra

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.

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.

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.