Congolese vulkaan bezorgt toeristen foto van hun leven

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Congolese vulkaan bezorgt toeristen foto van hun leven
Het lijkt wel een scène uit 'The Lord Of The Rings'. In het Congolese nationale park Virunga is een vulkaan aan het uitbarsten. De uitbarsting zou nog maanden kunnen duren en dus is Congo gestart met een speciale trip die toeristen een onvergetelijke herinnering bezorgt.

Enkele proefkonijnen mochten het al meemaken. Personeel van het nationale park trok op een nachtelijke tocht naar de site van de vulkaan. Het tentenkamp ligt in een veilige zone, maar het uitzicht op de vulkaan is indrukwekkend. De nieuwe trip zal mogelijk nog een tijdje op het programma staan, want de uitbarsting kan nog wel even duren. Voorlopig lijkt de activiteit van de vulkaan niet te verminderen.

In 1989 duurde een gelijkaardige uitbarsting liefst negen maanden. Vorig jaar spuwde de vulkaan ook even vuur, maar toen hield hij er al na enkele dagen mee op. Op dit ogenblik is spektakel in elk geval verzekerd. Lava wordt 200 tot 300 meter hoog in de lucht geblazen.

Onze landgenoot Emmanuel de Merode, hoofd van het nationale park Virunga, bracht de eerste nacht in het tentenkamp door. "Het was een buitengewone ervaring", zegt hij. "We hebben een veilige zone gecreëerd voor toeristen, zodat Virunga opnieuw het meest spectaculaire nationale park van Afrika kan worden." Het is bovendien de eerste keer dat Virunga toegang kan bieden tot een vulkaanuitbarsting

Volcano Puts On A Spectacular Show

Nyamuragira volcano erupts

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The erupting Nyamulagira (also known as Nyamuragira) volcano reddens the sky last Sunday in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (See an interactive cutaway of the Nyamulagira volcanic region.)

Nyamulagira, which generally erupts every two years, rumbled to life at 8:06 p.m., spewing lava, smoke, and ash throughout Virunga National Park. The volcano sits within the park, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the city of Goma (map).

The park's communications officer, LuAnne Cadd, first got a phone call about the event from rangers, who'd heard noises like gunshots, she said.

Cadd immediately went outside to take pictures of the nighttime spectacle, which was occurring an estimated 6 to 12 miles (10 to 20 kilometers) west of park headquarters in Rumanbago, she said. (See a park map.)

"What's quite astonishing is how bright it is, how it lights up the sky with a red glow, and the sound. We can hear the dull roar of it, especially at night in our tents," she told National Geographic News via email.

"I'm actually looking at it while I'm talking to you—it's so amazing, just a monstrous fountain" of lava, Cadd said.

"It's mesmerizing and hard to pull your eyes away from it."

Experts say the volcano could continue erupting for weeks and even months, Cadd added.

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Biggest eruption in 100 years
Spectacular fire fountains of lava have burst from the ground under East Africa in what may be Congo's biggest volcanic eruption in 100 years.

The eruption does not seem to pose any immediate threat to inhabited areas, nor to wildlife such as the famous mountain gorillas of Virunga National Park, the park's website said.

Nyamuragira (or Nyamulagira) Volcano burst to life early this month, when "curtains" of lava gushed from a newly formed crack, or fissure, in the highly active volcano.

A volcanologist based nearby, Dr Dario Tedesco, described the eruption as "definitely the best and most spectacular eruption of Nyamulagira that I have ever seen.," having "200-300 meter (about 650-1,000 ft) lava fountains," he said in the park's website blog.

"It is perhaps the (sic) Nyamulagira's biggest eruption of this century," Tedesco said, according to the UK's Guardian website.

The highly active volcano erupts about once every two years, in fluid lava outpourings that can last days, weeks or even months, according to Virunga's site.

The eruption could actually have a positive draw for the park. Cai Tjeenk Willink, the park's business development officer, is hoping that tourists will come to see the eruption while it lasts, along with other spectacular sights on offer, said the Guardian on Monday.

According to the Virunga website, the park has a camp located "at a safe distance, but with the best view in the world!"

Nyamuragira is located in the Rift Valley of eastern Congo, north of Goma.

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The eruption at Nyamuragira volcano (DR Congo) continues with lava fountains 50-150 m high, ejections of incandescent bombs reaching up to 600 m, and the emission of an aa lava flow from the second (eastern) vent.

Nyamulagira Volcano Continues to Erupt