We awoke for another early morning start, as today was Erica's last day, she was being dropped off to catch a boat back to Santa Cruz island. We had to do the Sierra,Negra volcano before she caught her boat at 2pm. We got the dinghy to Puerto Villiami, which is where I originally thought we were going to stay when I was looking at doing Galápagos independently. We then had to take a bus to get to Sierra Negra, which Sol had organised, it was to take about an hour and a half to get there. 

Sierra Negra Volcano

We travelled through the highlands to get to the Sierra Negra volcano . That morning it was raining and really misty, Sol said we'd be lucky to see the views from the volcano, as on a day like this, you'd be unlikely to see anything. Sierra Negra Volcano is one of the most impressive examples of a volcano in the archipelago. Its caldera measures 10 km across from north to south and 9 km from east to west, and is considered to be the second largest caldera in the world. We didn't have time to walk around the whole crater, so we were to just take a hike up to the rim of the crater, hoping that we'd have some of the views to admire once we got to the top. Once the driver dropped us off, we started walking up the path that leads to the volcano. It was still raining, but it was actually quite refreshing, as once we started walking uphill, I became really hot. The group separated whilst going up, I was at the back of the group with Lesley one of the American ladies, who was finding it difficult, and my asthma was making it harder for me to breathe, so I took it easy too. There wasn't any interesting scenery while doing the trek, so we just wanted to get to the top to see the crater . After about 45 minutes or so of trekking, we finally reached the top of the caldera. The mist was still there, but after standing there for a few minutes, it cleared slightly so we could see the rim of the volcano. It wasn't clear enough to see the whole 4 mile wide crater, but all the same, it was pretty impressive. I tried to take a picture but it was just too misty for any good pictures. There were also another group who were there before us and they were sitting on the bench looking at the views, I kind of wished we were the only ones there, but bad luck for us! After being at the top for around 5 minutes, it was time to come back down. Sol took great pleasure in hurrying the group along due to our short time scale. So off we go, back down the volcano to get back to the minibus that was waiting for us at the bottom. The rain stopped and it started to get quite sunny. Perhaps if we'd stayed at the top for longer, the mist would have completely cleared so we could see the whole thing. We got back to the van and had our sandwiches and bananas that we had made as a packed lunch on the boat, as today we were not heading back to the boat until this evening. On the way back down we saw a large tortoise by the side if the road, so we were allowed to stop and take a look at it and get some photos of it. Although when some of the ladies got too close for comfort, it would hide inside it's shell and run away from us (well as much as a tortoise can run)! We thought we'd better leave it alone after this and got back in the bus to go to our next destination; the wall of tears .

The wall of Tears- El muro de las lagrimas

The wall of tears was built by a group of penal colony prisoners between the years 1945-59, who were forced to build the wall to keep themselves busy, and as a form of punishment. The prisoners built the whole wall stone by stone, in isolation. The wall is 65 feet (25) metres high and during it's construction, it took the lives of thousands. Apparently locals hear cries coming from the wall. The history of the village of Puerto Villamil on Isabela Island is linked to a past of exile and isolation. Puerto Villamil was previously a United States military outpost, as support for the base on the island of Baltra during the Second World War. In 1946, the Ecuadorian government regained control of the facilities and set up a prison for the confinement of dangerous inmates. The penal colony kept the prisoners working on constructing a wall with blocks of volcanic lava. The great wall collapsed repeatedly and the prisoners were forced to build it again and again . This work resulted in suffering and sometimes death for the convicts, leading the locals to call it "the place where the weak died and the strong cried." The prison closed in 1959 and is now a tourist attraction. When I heard that we were going to the wall of tears, I had no idea what it was, until we came here and heard the tragic story of how it was built. We started walking towards the wall and when I first saw it, I thought it was just a small cone shaped wall of lava rocks, which didn't look that impressive at first sight. However, when walking around the corner, the wall carried on for what seemed like forever. Then I realised how impressive it actually was, considering the sadness surrounding how it was built. The prisoners had to walk long distances, cut out large volcanic rocks and then carry them back to the site of what was intended to be their prison. It must have been hard work, as they had to cut the volcanic rocks into brick shapes and carry them. Those things must have easily weighted a ton, and they also had to carry them up high to build up the wall . If any of those bricks fell whilst men were working nearby, this would have caused a fatal injury. We carried on walking around the base of the wall and there were some steps next to the wall, so those who were able to walk the steps did, but the older ladies stayed at the bottom. Once you got to the top of the wall, there was an incredible viewpoint and you could even walk along the top of the wall, which John did. I just took the pictures. The other guys walked higher up around another path, while I just stood there thinking about what life must have been like for those poor prisoners. While I was waiting for them to come back down, I saw a cute little lava lizard which was orange and grey. I think when they are in mating season, their underside turns orange. At this point, I didn't have my camera, only John's phone, so got a picture if it on that. I got to the bottom where the older ladies were waiting with Sol and then when the guys came back, it was time to leave the wall of tears. It's hard to think that on such a beautiful, tranquil island, that all of this torture could have taken place years ago . I'll never forget it, and I'm glad we were taken here so it could be brought to our attention. 

We got the bus back to the main puerto Villiami so that Erica could catch her ferry back to Santa Cruz which she was able to do in time. It was all done so hastily and she had to go back to the boat to collect her stuff, so we didn't get to say goodbye to her properly, which was a shame. Once she left, we had some free time to wander around the small sleepy town. It's described as that, and when we started walking around, you could see why! There wasn't much going on round here, but it was good to walk around without our guide for a while. Ben and Michelle were also leaving this evening, but had to find accommodation around here, so they went off to look for somewhere to stay, while Mark, John and myself took a walk to the beach and then to get something to eat. There were about 5 shops and not much to do in the area at all, so it didn't take long to look around the place. Although we walked past the local church, which instead of biblical pictures, they were pictures of animals of the Galápagos, pretty cool for a church if you ask me! I got an ice-cream and we carried walking further up the road when we came to some local festival, where some children were singing and dancing so we stayed here for a while watching it . There were some excellent paintings of the Galápagos Islands, so we took a look at those, and there was a stall selling handicrafts but that was about it. Ben and Michelle met us back at the festival thing and took a look at the paintings also. In the meantime, there was a man in drag who came out at the festival screeching at the top of his voice, it wasn't pleasant at all, but it was funny to watch tho. Both myself and Michelle literally had to cover our ears it was that awful to listen to! That was our cue to leave so we went back to the boat. Ben and Michelle found somewhere to stay on the island, as they will be leaving the ship tonight after dinner. 

Once back on the boat, we had our briefing for the next day and then soon after, we had dinner. Ben and Michelle had to get a lift back to the dock so they could check in to the hostel they booked, as they are getting a ferry tomorrow to Santa Cruz and then another one to San Cristobel, where they hope to meet us in a few days after the cruise ends. We all said our farewells and they left the ship. There was a feeling of sadness on the boat that night, as we are 3 men down, and we felt like we'd lost some of our crew. When everyone said goodbye, most of the others all went to bed. John, Mark and myself all stayed downstairs and tried to finish off the rum and amaretto that we'd bought earlier in the week. As it's John's birthday tomorrow, we should try and save some for then if we won't be too sea sick. After a few beverages, we all went to bed ready for John's big day in the morning