Isabela is renowned for being of substantial geological interest. She provides brilliant examples of the geologic events which occurred to form the Galapagos islands, including uplifts at Urbina Bay and the Bolivar Channel; and tuff cones at Tagus Cove. The Sierra Negra volcano has a cone second only in circumference to the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. It last erupted famously in 2005 whilst the BBC were filming the mini series Galapagos. Aqua-Firma can take you trekking around the perimeter of the main crater and across areas still hot just beneath the surface lava where it last erupted.

Isabela was formed approximately one million years ago with the merger of six shield volcanoes: Alcedo, Cerro Azul, Darwin, Ecuador, Sierra Negra and Wolf, in which all, with the exception of Ecuador, are still active. Ecuador and Wolf lie directly on the Equator, with Wolf being not only the youngest of the islands' volcanoes, but also the highest point in the Galapagos archipelago.

The landing site at Tagus Cove leads to up a wooden stairway to a nature trail to reach Darwin Lake. This is a perfectly formed circular salt water crater. The trail then leads to a promontory, formed by spatter cones providing a spectacular vantage point to observe both Darwin and Wolf volcanoes.

 Photographs kindly provided by Ralph Pannell

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