Volcano Party Rock+

Welcome to the most dangerous volcano in recent history. 

Volcano

Mount Nyiragongo, Africa's most active volcano. In 1977, its eruption killed 2000+ people and again in 2002, it erupted once more to devastate the city of Goma; this lead to a refugee crisis. It is 11,385 feet (3,470 meters) high, with a main crater containing a liquid lava pool - 1.3 miles wide and 820 feet deep. That's about the height of the Empire State Building.

Hiking is fun.

Mount Nyiragongo is the ultimate symbol of death in Goma, the lakeside city it shadows and has overrun several times. Yet it's also a symbol of rebirth and resilience for a nation slowly emerging from war. In March 2010, park rangers cleared Rwandan militias from its slopes and reopened the summit for the first time in a year and a half.

Our security and guide.

The climb to to the top of the volcano takes about 5 hours. Our group includes 7 people: 2 Canadians, 2 French, 1 Belgian, 1 Brit and 1 Texan. The other visitors include a French-Belgian family of 3 and a group of 3 Americans who crossed the border from Rwanda (Tennessee, South Carolina, New York). Plus our 2 AK-47-equipped guides and about 7 porters, hired to carry our belongings.

The plan: climb the volcano, have bbq, play poker, descend. To do this, we bring 2 kg of meat, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, 3 types of bread, Camembert cheese, and of course, alcohol (gin, whiskey, amarula, beer, and 3 bottles of wine). Cost: $200 for permit + $5 for sleeping bag + $24 porter + $10 transport.

The ascent

Everyone's favorite part of the climb: danger.

The crater which first spread in '02.

After picking everyone up, we arrive at Kibati, the bottom of the volcano, around 10:30 am. The Belgian family, father, mother, and 12-year old daughter, arrived around 9:45, raring to go. The group of Americans arrive around 11 am and we start the climb. For about an hour, it's relatively flat. We take a break. Then it gets tough as the path consists of dried lava rocks. Slippage becomes a major issue. For about another hour of climbing up loose molten rocks, we make it to the next stop point.

This area used to be a famous hotel but was wiped out, now the remnants of 3 logs. As we grab a snack, thunder in the background. No problem, let's move on. We pass one of the enclaves where the fissure occurred to the forested area. Then the fun begins: rain. Not just any rain, but pellets of solid hail strike us as the climb gets increasingly steeper. Now, slippage is a real issue. People fall left and right as any misstep can be disaster.

Giving the Dallas Mavs some volcano love.

At this point, the altitude starts to get to us, huffing and puffing with more breaks taken. After carefully maneuvering our way through the trees, we arrive at the bottom of the 3rd part of the volcano. Tap into our rock climbing mode and we make our way up, dodging dried lava and dust particles from the person in front. Then.. finally, we have arrived to the top of the volcano!

"Made it!"

Wind cuts across our body as the high altitude drops to It is absolutely breathtaking. Overlooking from the edge of the cliff, you're treated to a true natural light show. A stream of red races through the bottom right, branching off into little pieces. Then it gets engulfed by dark gray pieces and instantly, another stream of fire begins in the upper left. It hisses gas each time a ray of lava pours over another area. Spectacular!

Volcano in the evening.

Steam fizzling from the immense heat.

One side is about 200 meters followed by crater ledges to another 300 meters while the other side is 500 meters of pure freefalling death into the lava lake itself. There is a cross to symbolize the death of a Chinese tourist who was standing on the rim, snapping photographs as the lake of lava smoked and bubbled hundreds of yards below her. Straining for an angle, out on the edge, her camera dropped and she reached out to try and catch it, only to drop 1650 feet down the inside of the crater. Apparently still alive, she lay a distance from the lava but a first rescue attempt, using a United Nations helicopter, had to be aborted. When a rescue team of climbers finally reached her, she had died, leaving only bones and ashes.

A simple warning.

The cabines were recently built in 2010 and costs quite a lot to drag all the supplies up from the bottom, especially dangerous during a time when the rebel groups were so prevalent. There are 8 total cabines with 2 beds each. It's just enough to stave off the ferocious wind. Darkness sets in and the wind only increases. It's now 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 Celsius), wind wind gusts around 15-20 mph.

It's dinnertime!

Our group tries to start a fire, with coals, shaved candle wax and a lighter. It starts - party time! But only lasts for a few minutes. Eventually, we give into our pride and ask the guide to help us. He brings over additional coals and a bottle of gas - voila, fire! We roast the food, make sandwiches and toast to a great feat. The 3 Americans come over and we make friends as their pot of soup heats up. For dessert is banana bread and fruit salad. Delicious! Afterwards, we pull out our Congolese Francs (they call them 'fecal francs' FYI) and play a game of Texas Hold 'Em with Bon Jovi, Cee Green, and Justin Timberlake in the background.

Evening view.

Night view.

Pure amazing.

More professional pictures by the Boston Globe.

Snuggled in sleeping bags, we close our eyes and doze off.. around 5:30 the next morning some of us wake up to catch the sunrise. Alas, that is not in the cards as it is too cloudy. Eventually we make our way down, which take about 3-3 1/2 hours, but careful trekking is important, particularly due to the steepness. This time around, there is no rain and we make it back to our waiting rides, completely exhausted. We've just completed a once-in-a-lifetime adventure!

In other news..


Since the last post, these things have been checked off my list:

• Play basketball - our expat team even won a game against the incredibly fit, yet poor shooting, all fast break Congolese university students
• Sprain ankle - soccer injury; better now
• Got license and approved to drive a vehicle (no passport though)
• Booking trip to India, December 2-13
• Scandal

For our fairs, we use vouchers instead of cash to prevent stealing. However, despite the security marks within the voucher printing, there are still risks, including counterfeiting. To note, the vouchers themselves change color each month and are printed on special paper, but if you were a vendor in the middle of the afternoon and busy handling transactions, it's unlikely you'd be able to tell. Sequence of events:

1. 4th day of 5th fair day: a vendor runs over, yelling,"This is not real. Someone cheated me!"
2. On the way back to the IDP camp, the president ("Mama President" as we call her) spots a person with vouchers and asks,"Why didn't you use all your vouchers?" She then inspects and finds 3 pages of counterfeit vouchers, printed on normal, faded blue (July color) paper.
1. Turns out this woman was working in cahoots with another IDP who came on the 2nd day of our fairs. She used 2 vouchers pages and saved one to take home (size 3 non-vulnerable household, which means 3 voucher pages; vulnerable households, those that have arrived in the camps within 3 months, receive 2 voucher pages for each member - i.e. size 3 vulnerable receives 6). We'll call her the "Brains."
3. Idiot was then taken to the back of the van and interrogated by our staff as well as WFP, which happened to be visiting at the time. She gave them a false identity, false address and other false information which took the interrogators to every corner of the city for about 3 hours.
4. Eventually, the head local authority man returned from a trip to Mweso and said that it was too late (5 pm) and the officials were gone. Idiot would be kept in prison overnight until the commander returned the next morning.
5. I, as well as my other staff and the 2 WFP reps, went into the commander's office, to give our witness accounts. After further questioning of Idiot, we found Brains, who confessed to the deed. It was decided that each woman would pay $5 as punishment. This money, however, was just the fee for the questioning - goes directly to police station. Once the investigation was done, an actual punishment would be determined.

What a great experience having to deal with filing charges in an "official Congolese" manner. In fact, I had to "gift" the commander phone credit to be able to call me since he had just run out. I made sure to watch him scratch the code and input it.. Ah, the Congolese justice system.

For whatever reason, this Indian UN soldier wanted a pic w/me.

See you later kiddos living in milk-cheese-village!

TRIVIA!
This post's trivia:

1. What are the 5 oldest countries in the world?
2. What are the 5 youngest countries in the world?
3. As of 2000, there are 5 oceans. Which are they and where is the 4th largest located?
4. What word in the English language rhymes with "orange?"
5. What is 111,111,111 x 111,111,111?

Last post's trivia:

1. According to the CIA, how many households in Kenya have electricity? According to the CIA World Fact Book, only a quarter of households in Kenya have electricity (about 10 million of the 40 million population).
2. What are the "big three" credit rating agencies? Standard & Poor's (S&P), Moody's, and Fitch Group. 
3. Which continent has the most countries? How many are there? Africa with 54. List is: #1 Africa (54) > #2 Asia (44) > #3 Europe (46) > #4 North America (23) > #5 Oceania (14) > #6 South America (12)
4. Which club team has won back-to-back CAF Champions League (equivalent to the European Champions League for Africa) titles? What country does it represent? TP Mazembe of Lumbumbashi, DRC. 
5. Which Argentinean revolutionary met with the former president of the DRC, Laurent Kabila? Che Guevera!
6. BONUS: Who sings "I'm double fistin' now, under a strobe light..It's lookin' like a movie but it's feelin' so tight..?" Baby Bash with Pitbull.