Lava Tubes & Sink holes- Highlands Tour Part two.

The highland tour in Santa Cruz consists of three stops- the giant tortoises, lava tubes, and visiting two gigantic sink holes. The giant tortoises are the star of this tour and have their very own blog page, but lava tubes are pretty cool too!

A very tall portion of the lava tube

The lava tubes and sink holes are geographic evidence that the Galápagos Island formed approximately 5 million years ago from a hot spot on the Nazca Plate. The plate continues to move east today crashing into South America. This area of the world is very tectonically active with eruptions every couple years and lots and lots of earthquakes.

Lava tubes form when a “roof” cools over moving magma. The magma continues to flow creating the tube like hollow structure. Eventually the magma flow stops and all the molten lava flows out. A long tube remains. A sink hole is simply an area where the top crust has collapsed.

A tight area of the tube where we had to remove our gear and crawl through on our stomach.

Sherpa laying flat to squeeze through

Most of the lava tube at the Prrmesia Ranch was very easy to navigate. We read that the lava tube at El Chato ranch was longer, so if you are really into lava tubes visit that ranch. We chose Premesia Ranch because it is more organic to tortoise habitat.

The Highland tour also includes a visit to the Twin Sink holes. A nice walk through a rain forest was a bonus.