Mount Yasur

New island, new luck.
Well… it didn’t exactly start out lucky.

After flying from Santo to Port Vila on June 5th, I was supposed to continue on to Tanna—a quick 35-minute flight. But an hour later, we landed… right back in Port Vila. Due to strong crosswinds (about 30 knots) in Tanna, the pilot wasn’t able to land safely. So, we gained altitude and flew away. We weren’t informed until about 10 minutes before landing that we were turning back.

The flight was rescheduled to today, and this time—I actually made it to Tanna.

At the airport, all I saw were 4WDs. Fair enough. My next clue came when my driver told me it would take two hours to get to my bungalow. Two hours? For 36 kilometers?

After completing about a third of the journey—on a road so good it could put the streets of Santo, Port Vila, and even Bali to shame—the road just… stopped. That was clue number three.

From that point on, it was pure, untamed nature: rugged, rocky, uneven terrain with steep inclines, deep cracks, little rivers, and massive puddles. Jeremy Clarkson would’ve turned quite pale at the thought of driving these roads—at least I think so. What do I know? I’m just a self-taught expert in conquering New Zealand’s gravel tracks.

When I finally arrived at the bungalow, I was greeted by a breathtaking panoramic view of Mt. Yasur, the star of the day: an active volcano with visible magma and lava. From my terrace, I could hear it rumbling every few minutes.

(Full disclosure: the accommodation is probably the worst I’ve ever had. I’m not exactly thrilled to sleep in that bed…)

In the late afternoon, we began our volcano tour. What. A. Drive.
In a group of about 20 people, we were taken almost all the way to the summit—just a 10-minute walk from the furthest safe access point to the crater. At first, everyone was chatting and taking pictures. But the further we walked, the harder it became to breathe. Incredibly hard. The sulphuric acid in the air burned our lungs and eyes. There was a lot of coughing. Plus, it was insanely windy up there!

People were just starting to consider turning back when suddenly—BOOOOM!
The volcano let out a deafening roar. A deep rumble. Beautiful… but also a bit terrifying. Lava shot out from one of the two visible magma chambers. One lucky duck caught it on camera.

It happened two more times.

Sadly, I was still fiddling with the settings on my camera and action cam. I never got a decent shot—just blurry ones. Honestly, I’m pretty frustrated about that. But even so, the volcano excursion was an absolute dream come true. And despite its ruggedness, Tanna might just be my favorite place so far. There’s something about the raw, wild nature that makes me feel at home.

(Not the accommodation, though. 😅)

The soil across the island is black—volcanic. The mountains, the volcano itself, the beaches (which I glimpsed from the plane), and the lush forests… This is what I want nature to be.Leia mais