However the main reason for the visit to Tanna was to see the volcano on Mount Yasur. It is said that Yasur is the most accessible active volcano in the world and we just had to discover it for ourselves. Sally has a keen interest in volcanos and has been looking forward to this island the whole trip.
Having sailed towards Tanna at night we could see the loom of the volcano. Peering into the distance all of a sudden the sky would alight with an orange glow. A most spectacular sight and as we sailed nearer, we could even see the magma erupting and hitting the surrounding crater.
Having only US dollars on us (by us I mean Ninita, Orkestern and Hydroquest) we had to take a leap of faith that the guy we met in the street wearing a few tatty clothes, offering us a trip to the volcano would take our money (for the trip) and convert it to Vatu (the local currency) and make good on his offer to take us up the mountain. I have to scold myself for my cynicism as true to his word he was waiting for us in a fancy looking pick up truck at 4pm.
The trip up to the crater was almost as memorable as the crater itself. For the sake of imagery, consider being placed in a large washing machine set to spin cycle with the addition of car tyre added to the fray to "spice things up". The bruises sustained from the interesting road conditions will live with me for many a month, banged around as we all clung to our little space on the back of the truck. Luckily we brought warm clothes as who would have thought that the tropics could get so chilly.
As we exited the dense forest growth we were greeted with a luna landscape leading up to the crater top. The eight of us were filled with a form of nervous, excited energy. Suddenly from above us came a deep rumble and the earth belched a bunch of ash and molten rocks into the sky. This only heightened the excitement. We scampered up the crater and were greeted with the most amazing sight. It was as if hell had an entrance, we were staring right at it.
It looked like an enormous ant lion's nest. Steep sloping sides lead to 3 pits (or vents) all smouldering away with similar intensity. After watching a while each vent seemed to take on its own personality. The furtherest away was all cough and splutter. The smallest vent liked to throw molten rocks into the largest one. The largest one was full of roar and large explosions. Standing at the top of the crater a large concussion wave hit us, our ears popping, the bass of the blast reverberating in our bodies, the earth beneath us shuddered and split seconds later the roar of the eruption. Molten rock flying in all directions (mainly up though and not towards us…thankfully). Our first reaction to the blast wave was to step (read run) backwards. This is a no no (according to our guide). The trick is to stop, watch the sky and…side step if anything looks like it is coming your way. Sure, great advice, side step 50kg blocks of glowing rock!
We started to move to another vantage point and there on our path was a very large cow pat. It looked quite fresh too. Upon closer inspection this half a metre in diameter black splat revealed itself to be a lava pat. Our guide turned it over and underneath we could feel the residual heat. He estimated that the molten rock had fallen on our path no more than 12 hours earlier…an interesting thought to ponder.
To get to the second vantage point, one had to walk up an arete, one side dropped off into the luna landscape and the other dropped off into the bubbling, belching crater. Not a place to be if you are scared of heights or have small hyperactive children. No handrails, no viewing platform, nothing to stop you from sliding down into the abyss. It was certainly exciting to retrace our footsteps down the mountain in the pitch black with only a flashlight to guide us and the occasional big rock to assure us we were still on the ridge.
Video and pictures just do not do this experience justice. For anyone wanting an interesting bucket list item, this would come highly recommended.
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