We accumulate a lot of points in our luck counter during this stay: good weather all the time, whales observed almost every day, beautiful landscapes, a great dedicated guide, and, as if was not enough, as an unforeseen option to the program, the volcano triggers an eruption!
An eruption on this volcano, it is not so rare (one or two per year on average) but this one is the fourth of the year. To be observable by the average tourist, many conditions still need to be met: to last enough to give us the time to climb (the previous one lasted only one day), to be visible from an accessible point in safety (the front- last could be heard from the trail, but not observed), the weather must be good enough (we remember our hike to the volcano two weeks ago when we could hardly see the summit and returned in the rain).
The eruption began Saturday, September 15, 2018 around 4 am, it is maintained regularly since. It is easily visible from the peak of Bert, a small summit on the edge of the enclos (caldera). The main lava flow descends quietly in the enclos, which is not likely to be dangerous for inhabited areas. And in addition the weather yesterday was perfect with a trade wind that blew quite a lot all day, brought dry air and swept all cloud formation of the mountains.
In short, ideal and unexpected conditions for us. We joined our young people at the end of their work and climbed up there without much harm (1h30 of road then 1h30 of walking). There was a lot of people, but a place for everyone. A perfect starry sky, fumes that move away from the good side, a nice little cone already well formed, impressive projections and a flow of lava (estimated at 3 to 5 M3 / s) which begins to form a beautiful incandescent flow.
A new challenge for photography! Unable to compete with local photographers who are specially equipped and have permissions to get closer much closer than the public, you can see their work on their sites (I’ll add some links, but look on google …). I focused on what I could do: try to make this contrast between the fire of the lava and the starry sky, insert the silhouette of the volcano that dominates this landscape. And, as always, you have to turn around from time to time, then you see the moon in the middle of a starry sky in front of shrubs red with the light of the volcano.
I have kept a dozen pictures of my first sorts, many are quite similar but small differences make that we love more one or the other … I leave you judges.
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