Making the best of a mistake

 So today we decided to take a bus tour to Sete Cidades -- that area at the north west of this island where there are two volcanic lakes -- one green and one blue.  We were waiting at the bus stop at 10:40 and no bus came.  It turned out that I had messed up with where to catch the bus and we missed the one we wanted.  So it was check out to see what else there was to do today, it being a nice day.

I called the cave tour people and got in for 2:30.  I cycled up there and arrived at 2.  This time, yes, they had my reservation.  I waited till 2:30 and the tour began with an American family of 4 children and 2 British tourists.  Despite the others on the tour, it was marvelous!  For the past two years I have wanted to do the long tour where one actually crawls around in the lava tubes, but two years ago there were never enough people who signed up for a long tour, and right now, with the pandemic, they are not doing any long tours.  That will have to wait till the next time.  Today's adventure was a taste leaving me wanting more.  

I have never been in a lava tube before.  The other caves that I have visited have been limestone caves where the stalactites and stalagmites grow with time due to mineral deposits.  In the lava tube, there are no mineral deposits, so the formations do not change over time.  Parts of the walls are 'glazed' due to hot lava melting the existing rock creating a smooth shiny surface.  Where the lava cooled more slowly, the rock is the familiar black basalt that one finds all over the island.  In some spots, there are vent holes to the upper lava tube where the pressure below was too great.  

On the surface, there is no evidence of the extensive tunnel system underground.  Cows graze over it, but the farms in that area are forbidden to use heavy machinery so as not to further damage the tunnels which experienced cracking when the highway was built.  

The young man who led our tour was knowledgeable and, I was told, does the long tour.  Let's hope that after the pandemic, that will start again and I can join!