Brukkaros Extinct Volcano

After a relaxed tour of the castle, we made our way further south and east along more pink roads.  Not much in the way of fences in this region, although a number of cattle grids.  We encountered crossing the road as we travelled a couple of herds of brown goats with floppy ears, horned cows, ostrich and several hopping mules, hobbled by a cloth which tied their front legs together to prevent them from wandering too far with their young.

In the distance, rising dramatically from the otherwise flat plateau lay Brukkaros, an extinct volcano with a crater 2km in diameter.  We paid the fee for the community campsite and the Landy climbed up the side to a windy plateau about half way up the outside of the crater wall.  From here we hiked a rocky track down into the crater floor.  Looking up to the highest part of the crater wall what did I see?  A flambe cell phone tower!  The views from the volcano were amazing though, you could see the surrounding plains for miles in every direction, the horizon curving right around.

The track wound up the inside of the crater wall another kilometer or so to the ruins of an observatory which, according to the Lonely Planet guidebook was used by scientists from the Smithsonian to study sun spots in the 1930s.  We made it back to set up camp just as it was getting dark and enjoyed a peaceful evening as the only people for miles around.