Our final stop on our Galapagos adventure, Los Gemelos (or the Twin Craters) are two giant sink holes formed when empty magma chambers in the ground below collapsed over time due to erosion and tectonic shifts. The craters were essentially the caved-in remains of huge versions of the lava tunnels we had walked through at nearby El Chato. I was glad that we stopped here after El Chato so that I wasn’t aware that the roof collapsing on the lava tunnels was a risk!
The Twin Craters are found on either side of the main road through Santa Cruz. Our driver dropped us off at the side of the road and told us to cross the street to visit that crater first and then cross back and follow the path to the other crater and eventually the parking lot where he would be waiting for us.
Because of the timing – we were literally headed to the airport to start our journey home – the boys weren’t overly enthusiastic about this stop. But it turned out to be short and easy and everyone was pleasantly surprised by it.
At almost a mile wide and 280 meters deep, it’s really difficult to capture the size and depth of the craters in pictures. We were blown away by them. The green trees of the highlands both inside and above the craters stood in stark contrast to the sheer gray and white rock face along the sides. It was truly gorgeous and totally unexpected.
We crossed over to the other side of the street and followed the short trail to the second crater. It seemed even more dramatic and impressive than the first, although it is actually the smaller one. Although smaller around, it seemed deeper and I loved how a few lone trees with tall trunks grew seemingly out of rock and almost reached the rim of the crater. The forest in and around the craters are made up of Scalesia, a genus of 15 plants endemic to the Galapagos that are actually members of the daisy family.
Although there is trail around a section of the larger crater, we just went to the overlooks of the two craters and spent about 15 minutes total at the site. Much like El Chato, I think this would have been better timed around our arrival than our departure but we really enjoyed seeing the craters. It was unique and beautiful and well worth the stop.
