Other Vanuatu Volcanoes - July 2000 Video PageWe collect in this page videos recorded in Vanuatu islands other than Tanna. All videos were recorded with a digital videocamera, and reduced to a MPEG format for Stromboli On Line. As usual, you can see the videos by clicking on each thumbnail. The filesizes are indicated in the captions. A good soundtrack is available only when it makes sense ;-). | ||
 16 July 2000. Ambrym Island. In Mbwelesu crater, often considered part of a "volcano" called Marum, a lava lake was observed until last year. Now unfortunately the activity is only fumarolic. In the foreground, a mud pond... also inactive :-(. The name "mbwelesu" means "pig" in the local language. The pig is very important in Vanuatu culture. (not much action, but it's only 580 KB :-). |  16 July 2000. Ambrym Island. Not far away from Mbwelesu (the pig) we find another crater, called Niri Mbwelesu, which means "the female of the pig". Here we cannot see the bottom of the pit, and the degassing is more violent. For the sake of completeness, we must inform you that the family also includes a son, Niri Mbwelesu Taten (the son of the female of the pig), which you can admire in Marco's photo page. 500 KB |  17 July 2000. Ambrym Island. After six days spent camping in the Ash Plain, we run down towards Lalinda, and towards a swim! "Only" a short path in the jungle (from 2h30m to 5h depending on the condition of your back ;-). Finally, after all the virtual climbs, in this video you can see a sample of the descent in the jungle. Looks like a videogame!. 2.7 MB |
 21 July 2000. Lopevi Island. Before leaving the island towards Paama, not content with the 4 hours climb of the previous days, we decide to have a look at the aa lava flow that recently entered the sea. Above sea level they were still warm, but what about below sea level: was it pillow lava or not? In the video the HARD answer... By the way, not easy to film your own foot in a small boat! 500 KB |  21 July 2000. Paama Island. With the bottom of the boat almost full of blood ;-), we manage to reach the coast of Paama Island notwithstanding the rough sea. On the coast of Paama we observe the catastrophic effects of the 26 November 1999 earthquake that shook the island and was probably the cause of the draining of the lava lakes of Ambrym. 1.6 MB |  21 July 2000. Paama Island. At the top of the cliffs that surround the island, a flight of black birds fly in circles. But... are we sure they are really birds? It's daytime, it's true, but they are BATS! Locals say they are also good on the grill, but we did not manage to taste them. For this trip, kava was enough :-) 1 MB (no audio) |
| Video R. Carniel | ||