Mt Yasur, Vanuatu | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Mt Yasur, Vanuatu | Previous Challenge Entry
By Robyn Harbour
08/07/15
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There it was again, a deep rumble coming from inside the large mountain, then whoosh, a humungos plume of smoke and ash came billowing out the crater on top of the mountain. We were at the base of Mt Yasur the world’s most accessible volcano situated on Tanna Island, Vanuatu.

Mt Yasur had been on our bucket list for ages, an expensive tourist option as it involved a 300km flight from Vila. My husband had been invited to speak at a pastors’ retreat at Ipai, a small village in the mountains on central Tanna. One of the pastors arranged for his son Jack to take us to the volcano, we only had to pay for the fuel and entrance fee. We were staying at a guest house at Lenakel, black man town, so named because only ni-Vanuatu could set up a business there, they were very prosperous without the competition of Chinese storekeepers.

Saturday afternoon Jack’s Toyota slowly climbed up the mountain road, large potholes that had been left by recent rains were carefully skirted. The road passed through small villages, the houses mostly made of split bamboo, the roof covered with thatch made from the leaves of the natangora palm. Churches were mostly made with concrete blocks, an iron roof and large tanks collected drinking water for the village. Small children lined the road as we passed. Some villages were very neat with colorful gardens, others untidy, a sign that the men spent too much time drinking kava which dulled the brain.

We passed family food gardens along the way, the ni-Vanuatu are subsistence farmers growing most of their own food. Tanna coffee is world famous and we saw many plantations as we descended into the valley. In one place where the road was very steep the municipal had placed concrete corrugations to stop erosion and give trucks a better grip.

Eventually we reached the lava plains where lava from larger eruptions had solidified it looked like a moonscape. We walked to the base of the volcano, slivers of glass speckled the grey ash. The continual rumbling of the volcano was un-nerving, it never stopped.

Back in the truck we made our way around to the other side of the mountain and up the track that led to the crater. As we drove onto the mountain steam rose from long vents along the side of the road, I could not help but feel a little frightened knowing that these vents were open all the way down into the lava inside the mountain and wondered how safe the road really was.

Our guide told us that the volcano was first seen by Captain Cook in 1774. He called it ‘The Lighthouse of the Pacific.’ According to local history it has been continuously active for the past 800 years. The John Frum cargo cult, practiced in the villages at the base of the volcano, believe that John Frum’s spirit lives inside the volcano.’

Jack parked the truck and we all climbed the last two hundred meters to the rim of the crater. Inside the crater was another smaller crater that glowed red with bubbling lava. Every minute or so there was a deep rumble, then a load roar as glowing red lava spewed high into the air full of large rocks which then fell down inside the crater with a loud bang. Rocks from larger eruptions were scattered on the rim where we stood. Our guide told us to be careful, if the wind changed and a rock came toward us, we were to step out of the way. People had been hurt running away in panic by falling over existing rocks.

I was fascinated and yet very fearful and would not go as close to the edge as the other tourists. After about an hour our guide said the volcano was getting too active and it was time to leave.

While we had been on the mountain it had been raining, by the time we reached the river we had forded earlier it was a raging torrent and rising quickly. Jack put his foot down hard on the accelerator and drove through the water. The dirt road was now very slippery and half way up the mountain our truck slipped off the road and into an embankment. If it had slipped the other way it would have cost us our lives as the drop into the jungle growth was steep.

This was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.

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