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Visiting an Active Volcano

By “Awake!” correspondent in Zaïre

“WHAT a sight!” That is about all we could say when we first looked down into the throat of this huge crater and saw fire coming from the very bowels of the earth. The acrid smell of sulphur, the roaring as of a great monster and the sheer size of the crater gave us a very real sense of awe. Personally to see this demonstration of natural power​—this is an experience we will long remember.

There are not many places in the world where one can see a live, breathing volcano, and even fewer where a person can have a closeup view of one in a constant state of activity. The Nyiragongo volcano is one of these limited few, located just a few miles north of the town of Goma, on the extreme eastern border of the Republic of Zaïre. Unlike other volcanoes around the world, Nyiragongo never forms a crust or plug over the orifice, so one can see the fire at any time. For this reason, Nyiragongo does not appear to be dangerous like her sister, Nyamulagira, standing next to her, and which blows its top every so often, with spectacular results.

Climbing to the Rim

My wife and I decided that we must have a look at this phenomenon. Taking just a change of clothing and enough food for a couple of days, we went by the tortuous mountain road from our home in Bukavu at the foot of Lake Kivu, to Goma, sixty miles north. There we spent the night with friends and set off the next morning for the foot of Nyiragongo. Here the great adventure was about to begin.

Having paid the fee and gotten our receipt, along with a sizable group of foreign tourists, we hired a local Zaïrese man as a porter, in the best “safari” tradition, and started the walk. Walk? Yes, and as we progressed, the climb got steeper and steeper. The slopes of Nyiragongo are not hot, and before long it began to rain​—not heavily, but steadily—​and it did so for the next three hours.

As we plunged through the jungle undergrowth of the lower slopes, the black volcanic soil was very slippery. From time to time we saw giant earthworms, over a foot (30 cm.) long, and beautiful, delicate wild flowers. Ahead of the party went a local man as a guide, armed with a gun and blank ammunition​—to scare away any marauding elephants.

As we went higher, the path became more rugged​—now we were walking on crinkly volcanic clinker in place of mud—​and here and there we had to negotiate fallen trees and other obstacles. We were very happy to have hired a porter to carry our food and spare clothes. After climbing for about three hours, we came to a wooden hut where we rested for a little while and had something to eat and drink.

Soon after starting out again, we got our first glimpse of the rim of the crater​—still far above us. Now the vegetation was more scrubby and there were fewer trees. It was getting colder, so we got out our sweaters. The porter, despite his load, was still able to keep ahead of us, although we had by now overtaken some of the tourists who started out earlier but who had not hired porters. One elderly person had to turn back, unable to manage the rigorous climb.

At around half past two in the afternoon we reached the place where we would ultimately spend the night​—two round aluminum huts with conical roofs, containing some rough-hewn beds with foam-rubber mattresses. Since everyone was tired and soaked to the skin, we decided to stop and dry out. With more to eat and an end to the rain, we were ready to undertake the last lap of the climb to the crater itself, still a quarter of a mile above. It was a climb over the roughest kind of terrain we had yet seen. Above the huts there was no longer a path to follow, but our guide knew the way to go. Even so, we clambered over jagged volcanic rocks, and more than one person slipped and sat down uncomfortably. We were climbing almost on all fours, at a forty-five-degree angle.

But the weather was kind to us, for all the mist that had earlier covered the slopes was gone, and we had a superb view back down to the plains we had left seven hours earlier. We also had a bird’s-eye view of Shahera, a small extinct volcano that we had skirted on our climb. Far below and to our left we could see the outline of beautiful Lake Kivu and, to our right and slightly higher, we could see the majestic, snowcapped Karisimbi, now extinct, its almost perfect cone peak standing out against the evening sky.

We felt our excitement mounting as we neared the rim of the crater. Then, all of a sudden, there we were! Standing as if on top of the world, we were, in fact, at an elevation of over 11,000 feet (3,470 meters is the official figure). And what a spectacle! Right before us was the wide-open mouth of Nyiragongo​—an immense pit about half a mile across with steep, almost sheer sides reaching far below—​yes, we were standing on the very rim. At our distance we could not feel the fire, but we could certainly see and hear it. Thick clouds of smoke billowed toward the sky, and the strong, pungent smell of sulphur filled our nostrils.

An Awe-inspiring Spectacle

The rim of the crater itself affords an unparalleled viewing stand. There are no barriers, no railings, ropes or anything to hinder the overcurious from tumbling headlong down over a hundred feet to the bottom of the crater. The floor of the crater is flat, with the exception of a platform or “table” in the center​—a concentric circle of dark-gray material that moves up and down as much as forty feet or more. It is in the center of this circle that we could see the molten lava flowing and heaving up from the bowels of the earth.

The guide showed us a ledge just inside the rim from which we could get some fine photos and also receive a little shelter from the icy wind that was now making itself felt. We stepped down gingerly onto this ledge, taking all precautions not to come too close to the edge. Sitting on a wooden plank just inside the rim of a live volcano with some of the other tourists, we found that, as night fell, the fire seemed to have a strange hypnotic effect.

As the outside world got lost in darkness, we were treated to the most awe-inspiring spectacle of our lives. The volcano’s fire seemed to mount in intensity, and the flames leaped and danced before us​—in reality, several hundred feet away from us, but seemingly very close. We could now see the white-hot lava flowing slowly inside the heart of the fire. We could not but think of our Grand Creator, Almighty God Jehovah, and the stupendous power he has at his disposal. Truly a humbling experience.

We had hiked an estimated five miles​—all uphill. Now, at 7:30 p.m., we began to make our way down to the metal huts. In the pitch-black darkness, it was quite hazardous. But both of us agreed that it had been worth the effort. After a good night’s sleep and a quick last look at the crater in the morning, we started down “mulima ya moto” (“mountain of fire”), as the local people call it in Swahili.

Some still make animal sacrifices to Nyiragongo as their god, but we thank Jehovah the true God for a revealing glimpse of this awe-inspiring work of his hands.