Mount Yasur

Driving up the flank of the volcano to a small armada of parked pickups.

The moonscape.

As we drove past, hisses were heard and hot steam and gas shot out of the embankment at our vehicle. The driver quickened the pace lest the paint get damaged from the noxious gas.

The path to the crater rim.

Yes, you can send a postcard from the volcano.

The route to the top. I quickly abandoned the tourist route and walked along side where the guides walked. It was much easier going.

An assembled host of tourists had come to watch the eruption.

An ash cloud rising up from the caldera.

Douglas Versus the Volcano.

An ash plume soars skyward.

An ash plume escapes the volcano.

Another plume of ash rises to blanket the land beyond with fine volcanic love.

The people in helmets were highly prepared and never left their perch. Some of us were slightly more adventurous and decided to go into the crater for a closer look.

Magma shooting up from the caldera.

Mount Yasur showing its stuff during daylight hours.

Before most blasts of ash or fountains of lava, the volcano would start roaring like a jet engine.

We walked a ways along the crater rim to where we could look directly into the caldera. The guides and guards didn’t seem to mind. But they didn’t follow us either.

Dusk approaches the island of Tanna and Mount Yasur.

More rumblings in the night.

It was rather difficult to capture the true awe-inspiring beauty and raw power of Mount Yasur with my puny camera. The magma was flying well over 1000 feet up from the crater rim. Chunks of the lava hit the opposite side of the crater and often were propelled down the flank of the mountain. We were glad that the wind was to our backs to keep molten rock the size of school buses from hitting us.

I could have stood at the volcano’s edge watching the eruption all night but eventually and with great reluctance we headed back to the truck and rode on to the bungalows for dinner and a night of sleeping to the gentle sounds of the wind and the waves. If I ever go back to Tanna, I want to stay for at least a week to really enjoy the island and have more opportunities to witness the volcano’s might and destructive capacity. Hopefully I get the chance to make it back.

At the airport in Tanna I found the vehicle that was supposed to transport me to the Sunrise Bungalows on the other side of the island. It turned out to be a pickup truck with a covered canopy and some bench seats in the back.

Down the road we went headed for the other side of the island. This was the best road that I encountered the entire time I was on Tanna. Everything else was a bit less civilized.

Lots of people were walking along the sides of the road.

Bumping along in the back of the pickup.

The main village on Tanna.

Buying fuel for the trip over the mountains.

Shortly before we were going to head up the road toward the other side of the island, the truck developed a funny noise. Rather than risk being broken down halfway to the hotel and without mobile phone coverage on most of the island, we stopped and waited for a different truck to come. I should also point out that just before the fuel station I was changed into a different truck with other tourists who were also heading to the Sunrise Bungalows.