A few hours drive north of the town of Mto wa Mbu, near the border to Kenya, lies Lake Natron. Away from the safari- and therefore main tourist trail, this was supposed to be a relatively cheap adventure (compared to the safaris). Pictures on Google showed a red colored salt lake, thousands of flamingos, and…
Category: Volcanoes
Ambrym: Mighty Marum & Big Benbow One volcano, two lava lakes. Ambrym, Vanuatu
A few months ago, on a Maya pyramid in the middle of the Guatemalan jungle, we met Sam Cossman, a young guy from the States who had done a crazy thing: Dressed in a special suit he descended into the crater of one of the world’s most active volcanoes, Mt Marum on the island of…
Ibu Volcano: The Ultimate Camping Experience Halmahera, North Maluku, Indonesia
Yet Another Active Volcano on Halmahera Because Dukono was great and because on Halmahera island there’s another one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes, we absolutely wanted to go to Mount Ibu. Plus, we were told that there we’d be even closer to the action (is that even possible?!). Our guide for this tour was Alex Djangu, a native…
Dukono Volcano: Playing With Fire Halmahera, North Maluku, Indonesia
Force of Nature It’s dark. You walk up the steep crater, on loose ash. The ground shakes with every thunder from the active volcano underneath you. The closer you get to the smoking crater, the louder the thunder and the faster your heartbeat. You’re scared. You know this is crazy and you should better turn back,…
Honduras & El Salvador: Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover Lago Yojoa, San Pedro Sula (Honduras), and Santa Ana (El Salvador)
How can there be so much violence in a country where people are so nice and friendly? I asked myself this question many times in both Honduras and El Salvador. Both countries have a very bad reputation because of their high crime and murder rates and therefore a huge image problem. Are these really the…
León: Smoking Mountains Nicaragua
The Lonely Planet says, “Many people fall in love with Granada, but most of them leave their heart in León”, and I agree with the travel guide. Granada Granada is lovely, the old colonial buildings have been beautifully restored, there are lots of art galleries, handicrafts shops, and stylish restaurants. The central plaza is green…
Isla de Ometepe: Two Volcanoes and a Lake Nicaragua
Our first destination in Nicaragua was going to be the island of Ometepe, an island with two volcano in the enormous Lake of Nicaragua. Getting to Nicaragua We left Monteverde on the 4.20 am bus to Puntarenas and got off at the Panamericana in La Irma. 4.20 am was obviously way too early after our…