Volcanoes in Perspective

This weekend I took a trip with a large group of coworkers to Anak Krakatau, a powerful reminder of Indonesia's position in the Ring of Fire. We drove about 3 1/2 hours from Jakarta, and then took a boat another 1 1/2 hours to reach the volcanic island.

We arrived and had lunch, followed by snorkeling around Rakata island. It was great until a swarm of tiny jellyfish came our way and spooked us all (some us got little stings!). Then we went to Anak Krakatau, set up our camp, and spent some time swimming and enjoying the black sand beach. That evening we hiked up to the first level of Anak Krakatau (wow, it was intense!) and I captured this shot from Anak Krakatau looking across the water to Rakata.

To really put this in perspective, here's the run-down on this location. In 1883 there was a violent eruption from Krakatau, that was felt or heard thousands of miles away, triggered deadly tsunamis, and essentially blew up the island of Krakatau. Today, Rakata island is all that remains - the other two volcano cones are gone! Then, in the 1920s Anak Krakatau emerged from the ocean (it continues rising about 16 feet a year!) and is very active (threat level 3 of 4).