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THE TOUR
Since many eruptions of Bromo volcano have been short-lived
in the past, we had feared that it may never be possible to
reach indonesia in time to experience the volcano in action.
However, the eruption starting on 26. Nov. 2010 was still
going quite strong by early March 2011, so we decided to
give it a try. In the end, Martin was joined by Marc and
Richard.After the arduous 2-day trip to the Tengger Caldera,
in which Bromo is located, we arrived to see the volcano in
a relatively low phase of activity, with mild degassing and
occasional weak ash emissions. This didn’t bode well and the
afternoon cloud common to the rainy season added to the
tristess. The first night was clear and we stayed up till
early in the morning observing the weak activity. Due to
this and the long flight, nobody was very fit in the morning
and th alarm-clocks were initially ignored. When Martin
finally headed outside he came running back to tell us that
a powerful eruption was in progress. After taking numerous
shots of the eruption from near the hotel, we jumped onto
the back of a couple of mopeds and sped up the hill towards
the lower viewpoint. Luckily the eruption was still in
progress when we arrived.
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Spirits were up now that we knew that Bromo was still
capable of significant activity. By late morning, activity
had subsided and rain had arrived. In the evening we headed
down to the temple near the base of Bromo to spend a night
there observing the activity. This largely involved ash
emissions, rather than the strombolian activity we were
hoping to document at night. During the length of the visit,
Bromo was alternating between strombolian and ash-rich
eruption phases, often lasting hours at a time. Due to the
wind direction, we suffered from ash-fall for most of the
night and could only make the odd image .
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The next day, we had heavy rain in the late morning and
pondered over which position to take up the next night.
Finally, we decided to ascend to the rim of the crater at
the higher south-east side, rather than near the staircase
where we had observed numerous bomb impacts. This decision
was vindicated by the fact that no fresh impact craters
could be seen when we reached this side of the rim. Arriving
just before dusk we were greeted by the extremely load
eruption noises. These were so strong that we spent much of
the night which bits of paper handkerchief in our ears and
additionally with our hands covering them. It was also
rather cold as we hadnt planned to stay all night and had
thus not brought sleeping bags along. The eruptions were
however so impressive from this close that nobody wanted to
leave and the weather was OK, although several thunderstorms
could be seen passing nearby. Numerous strombolian eruptions
and some ash venting could be observed.
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In the morning we observed a smallish ash eruption before
heading rapidly down the east flank. This proved more
complicated than expected. Whilst the upper flank was
quickly negotiated, the labyrinth of erosion ridges at the
base of the cone necessitated the use of some climbing
skills. The landscape was entirely coated in ash and remains
of dead vegetation could be seen in places. Finally, we
emerged near the track and were met by some of the
ever-present moped drivers who picked us up and took us back
to the Lava View Hotel on the caldera rim for breakfast.
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The weather was poor during the afternoon and early evening,
so the planned climb of Batok cone, overlooking Bromo, was
delayed. Finally Martin headed off and about an hour later
Richard and Marc. Ash-fall was again heavy near the temple
and on Batok, and “Indonesian Belly” took its toll on Marc
who had to return to the hotel. Whilst Martin had changed
his plan to climb Batok due to the ash-fall (and had headed
round the back of it and up the heavily eroded flank of
Segarawedi Kidul), Richard tried to ascend but lost the path
on the ash-covered flank and them waited for daylight to
complete the ascent. Due to the incescant heavy ash-fall the
camera equipment had to remain packed away and no photos
were possible during the night. Ashing activity was reduced
at dawn and Richard climbed the summit with Martin following
about an hour later after returning from his excursion up S.
Kidul. Activity was however now low and light conditions
were poor due to clouds. Nevertheless, it was possible to
make videos of a couple of powerful shockwaves produced by
the volcano.
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During the descent from Batok, Martin and Richard couldn’t
help feeling that the volcano was building up to another
strong eruptive phase, since these often followed periods of
relative inactivity. However, breakfast was calling and it
was also time to pack before leaving at midday. After
another moped ride to the hotel and after settling to
breakfast, the predicted big eruption commenced and over an
hour of intense ash venting could be observed before the
volcano became completely obscured by clouds .
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The rainy season weather had restricted observations
somewhat, yet the experience of visiting Bromo during an
eruption was nevertheless fantastic. Also, as far as we were
aware we had made the first documentation of activity from
the crater rim during the present eruptive phase.
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March 2011
