a monster canyon, between thick white active fumaroles (volcanic vents), which reveal some sulphur deposits at their base. We climb up a last steep rim, which leads to a summital crater, known as Crater C, circled by green vegetation of long pointed grasses in tight tufts. There, catching my breath, I marvel at a jewel of nature, a turquoise blue lake, surreal in such desolated scenery. At a distance, on an adjacent rim, other fumaroles are rising towards the sky. “Let’s go over there!”, shouts Jerom merrily, pointing his arm in the right direction. An explosion crater is hiding beyond the razor’s edge, with impressive vertical cliffs. This is Crater B, beyond which lies the latest hot dust clouds (nuée ardente) at 1825m. The thick gloomy plumes of the solfataras (sulphuric steam vents) are rising from those inner cliffs, blown by the breeze coming from the northwest. Luminous sulph ur deposits
A fumarole in Crater D
are conspicuous on the flanks of the pit crater. Situated at the southeast end of the Emperor Range, Mt Balbi stratovolcano would have erupted on January 1 of year 1 BC. It is made of pyroclastic cones and lava domes of andesitic and basaltic/ andesitic nature. Its six distinct craters (A to F) line up on an axis from NW to SE. Crater C is that of the lake. The last eruption known to the locals would have occurred
in the years 1800-1850, without precision. It was responsible for a number of deaths on the island. To the west, the fog of the lowlands is rising up slowly, but surely. It is 10.15am and the turn-around is imperative, before we are wrapped in the mist. Despite a stop at the campsite – where Rula retrieves my backpack – the return to Tokarao proves to be very challenging, a true trial of life. The green hell of the jungle reveals
Their trunks bear the marks of almond- shaped vertical lentils. In another hour and a half, our vision opens up to a vast and austere volcanic panorama, sooty grey. This is Crater D, a field of consolidated ashes forming a solid crust, greatly weathered by the rains. We follow
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VOLUME 34 2023
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