Virunga

What’s black and white and red all over? A bubbling lava lake releasing clouds of noxious gases from deep within the crater of a 11,300 ft. active volcano! Or, more specifically, Nyiragongo in the Virunga Mountains of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Harder to see the white here, but the point is... VOLCANO!

After traveling to western Kenya in early February to pilot a new Fenix project, I hopped a flight to Nairobi to meet up with Colin and a few friends and begin our journey to the DRC to hike Mount Nyiragongo. You may or may not have heard about these Virunga volcanoes, but let me rant for a second because they are so awesome and so terrifying. 

First, volcanoes in general are so cool! They are basically giant soda bottles, perpetually shaking, until the build up of gases and water vapor causes a massive explosion! How do the gases get there? If you don’t care or already know, move to the next paragraph. If you’re like me and never took Earth Science in high school, prepare to be amazed! For stratovolcanoes like Nyiragongo, there is an oceanic tectonic plate moving under a continental tectonic plate in what’s called a subduction zone. I’m picturing it as a spatula going under a pancake. As the crust of the oceanic “spatula” moves under the continental “pancake”, the minerals on the spatula’s surface get heated and release water, which is oh-so-cleverly termed “dewatering” (and all of the 6th graders give a cheer for this easy-to-remember term in the word bank on their science final. Have fun with lithosphere and asthenosphere kids ;) ). The water rises up into the bottom of the pancake, where the upper mantle sits, and actually lowers the melting point of the mantle. I didn’t know this was a thing, but it is and it’s called flux melting. We always learned water has a high boiling point because of hydrogen bonds and Van der Waals interactions, but in this case it’s a volatile and lowers the melting temperature of rocks composed of silicate materials. So when the mantle melts, it has a lower density and rises up, though the earth’s crust, incorporating silica-rich rock as it goes until it reaches the magma chamber within the volcano. After all that pressure below the earth’s surface, the magma chamber is a nice low-pressure spot to hang out. And just like that lady in yoga who you wish wasn’t quite so relaxed, the magma leans into a “sun salutation” and allows all of its pent up gases to escape. Then, when so much gas has been released that the rocky surface of the volcanic crater can’t hold it in any more, the top of the volcano blows and all hell breaks loose in a volcanic eruption! SCIENCE!

Because it's not science without diagrams

Nyiragongo is a freaky volcano, even among all of the other explosive beasts in the world. Stratovolcanoes like Nyiragongo are steep (my thighs will attest to that) and usually contain magma with a high silica content. The silica is what makes lava viscous and allows us to imagine outrunning potential flows. Nyiragongo is an exception. It has a low silica content, meaning, if it’s coming at you, it’s flowing down its super steep face at 60 mph. Yep. You think getting hit by a car is bad? Think again. 

When Nyiragongo last erupted in 2002, the city of Goma saw lava flows that were 1 mile wide and taller than the tallest person you know (6’ 6” ft). And as if that wasn’t scary enough, there was the possibility of the flows setting off Lake Kivu. Because, yes, Lake Kivu (only 12 miles from Nyiragongo), is a bomb waiting to explode. 

Though you would never know from this picture of a peaceful fishing boat

The US State department has announced that it aims to generate 30,000 Megawatts of new energy across sub-saharan Africa by 2030. If the methane from Lake Kivu were released, it would meet that goal 3 times over in one day. Lake Kivu also contains about 2% of the carbon dioxide that the world produces in a year. If lava reaches and warms the lake, there’s a very real possibility that it would trigger a methane explosion, which would simultaneously cause a release of all carbon dioxide. We would see lake tsunamis and a carbon dioxide cloud that would asphyxiate the 2 million people living on shore. On a normal day, this region is a paradise of lake views and towering volcanic peaks. On a bad day, it would be a living (if you’re lucky) hell.  

So after flying from Nairobi to Kigali (Rwanda), 

Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, nestled in the rolling hills (and power lines! Whaaat?!)

Rwanda countryside. Looks like that chocolate river in Willy Wonka.

taking a 4 hour matatu ride to Goma (DRC), 

Matatu at the matatu stage. Thought we lost Colin,
but thankfully found him before needing to break out the trail of Reeses Pieces.

and then passing 12 miles of houses made from black lava rocks and boys flying down roads on chukudus, 

Chukudu - DRC specific wooden scooter

we arrived at Mount Nyiragongo, ready to take the 6 hour hike up to the summit. The hike was led by a Virunga ranger, who has accepted the formidable responsibility of defending and maintaining Virunga in the face of invading rebels, poachers, and commercial ventures attempting to exploit natural resources. 

The two park rangers who led us to the volcano's summit

As recent as 2008, Virunga was overrun by the rebel group M23. While the Congolese army retreated from both Virunga and Goma, the rangers remained to defend the park. 

Bullet holes in the welcome signs to Virunga National Park

Just think about that. 

I like to think we all have something so important to us that we would die to protect it, whether it’s your mother or son or even your way of life. But there is something so noble and virtuous and sad in saying you would die to keep a stream running peacefully through the brush. You would die to make sure the shores of a lake never see the corruption of a profiteer and the base of a mountain never hears the crack of rebel gunfire. In a country where death has become a way of life, these men have decided that if they die, it will be to deliver Virunga from the violence and turmoil that has torn apart so many lives. Virunga is, in so many ways, the spirit and soul of the Congo. 

We climbed through jungle bush, strolled in fields of yellow flowers, 

Hiking down the Nyiragongo with another volcano in the distance

and then reached the nearly vertical peak leading up to the crater. 

The peak is devoid of all plants at 11,380 ft. and covered in sharp, igneous rock from the last eruption. 

Hiking up some rocks

It was by far the steepest cliff I’ve hiked and, with no trees around, vertigo became a real thing. 

The huts where we stayed on the edge of Mount Nyiragongo. Did I mention it was steep?

Colin near the summit, taking in the view. Note the superb toilet placement in the background.
Talk about a loo with a view.

But I have never seen such incredible views. 

The huts where we camped, looking out over Goma and the border of Rwanda and DRC.

We could see the nearby Nyamuragira volcano. We looked out over Lake Kivu, across the border to Rwanda, and later in the night, Julia pointed out the noticeable line between Rwanda and the DRC when the Congo lost power.

And then we reached the edge of the crater. You are looking out over a 1.5 mile wide pit, with a rocky ridge that seems to span as far as the eye can see. Peering down through the billowing smoke, you see the bubbling and oozing lava glowing hundreds of meters below. Then and now, I cannot find the right words to describe what this felt or looked like, so I’ll leave it to the pictures and hope they inspire you to hike Nyiragongo too.