It's as if I have shrunken in size to a toy sized person and am traveling through a large intestine! It's round and dark and slippery here. It's amazing!

Having survived the speedboat ride (that tipped to one side) from Isabela Island back to the island of Santa Cruiz in Galapagos (see last entry), I planned to maximize my final days on this island before heading back to the Ecuadorian mainland .

Now, it's the usual research and planning stage that involves putting all the information I have gleaned from other travelers, read from guidebooks, and found on the internet into one cohesive tour plan.

One must-do for me is to hike to Tortuga Bay .It's just a ten minute walk from the town of Puerto Ayora. Then I need to take a 30 minute walk along a trail that meanders through a cactus tree forest. It's a beautiful trail and soon I reach the beach where I walk another 15 minutes on the stunning ocean beach. This shoreline stretches across the southern coast of Santa Cruz, eventually merging into the sparkling Pacific Ocean.

This is a perfectly preserved beach where swimming and other water activities are forbidden. It's preserved for the wildlife that lives here. There are hordes of marine iquanas, gigantic, colorful crabs, birds and huge tortoises moving around . 

Along the beach there are small hills of sand and volcanic rock, roped off. There are marine turtle eggs that have been layed there and it is off-limits.

When I reach the little bay I see it is surrounded by mangroves and there are many iguanas moving around and sunning themselves. The water here in the secluded bay is calm and crystal clear. Swimming is allowed here in this area.

Someone calls my name. It is a guy from Iowa in the U.S. I met him on the boat trip in Isabela Island. We talk for awhile. He is a very interesting university student on a month vacation from the U.S.

On one of my remaining days in Puerto Ayora, I took a water taxi across the port for 60 cents to an amazing gorge filled with water that was crystal clear like all the other water I have seen here in the Galapagos Islands. It is called Las Grietas .

To get there, once I left the water taxi, I walked along a trail through the rocks and across streams among the cactus trees. You can jump off the cliff or snorkel if you want to. I just spent time exploring and looking at the beautiful gorge.

 I cannot leave the island without seeing the great Lava Tubes, about 4 miles north of Puerto Ayora. On my final day on the island I hired a taxi and set out to find these huge tubes.

The huge underground lava tubes perforate Santa Cruz Island in several areas. Some of them are over a half mile long! 

I find the tubes in the hills outside Puerto Ayora. They are on private property, though, so I stop and talk with the owner. 

She has giant tortoise shells on display. I climb under one to get the feel of how large it is. I tried to lift it . Is is extremely heavy. The tortoise must be very strong to carry this. 

I get permission to walk through the forest to the tunnel entrance. The tunnels are huge and very dark. I brought my headlight and good hiking shoes for this trip.

What the lava tubes are:
   When the volcanoes erupted, the huge flows of lava ran across the island. But, the outer layer (skin) of the lava hardened during the flow. When the flow of lava stopped, the hot molten lava inside the flow kept moving. It emptied out of the hardened skin and the result was the tunnels.

For over a mile I walked on the slippery lava floor with the huge rounded walls of lava surrounding me. It was dark and quiet until I caught up with a small group of people. The sound reverberated through the tunnel and I waited for them to leave before continuing my hike. I enjoyed the quiet of this dark space.

The lava tunnels were a highlight of my trip to the Galapagos Island. I was now ready to leave the islands for the next adventure! 

NEXT: Living Through My First Earthquake!