The sunny morning weather suddenly turned gloomy. The wind was blowing hard. The waves hit the hull hard. “BYARRRRRRRKKKKK,” the pounding of the waves could not be contained by our wooden boat and suddenly the water entered the boat, soaking us all.
The journey is still an hour to the island of Anak Krakatau, and I am still adrift in the middle of the Sunda Strait, praying and occasionally voiding the contents of an empty stomach.
Ideally, the trip from Sebesi Island to Anak Krakatau is only about two hours. But the reality will never be ideal, nature always has surprises waiting for you.
When he arrived at the shoreline of the island of Krakatoa, the sun did not seem to show the bridge of his nose. A blackish gray sky greeted us who had a bit of trouble getting off the boat because of the rather large waves on the shore.
However, the crest of Anak Krakatoa standing proudly above reminded me that the waves this morning were nothing compared to the ocean waves when Krakatoa erupted 130 years ago.
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The hanging cloud accompanied me to reach the child of Krakatoa. The track is sandy, but definitely not as difficult as mahameru.
Will not make the head touch the knee. I even ran a bit so I could get a photo free of photobomb narcissistic tourists.
I can not imagine what happened when Krakatoa erupted. The power of the explosion was 13,000 times greater than that of Little Boy, the bomb that paralyzed the city of Hiroshima.
The explosion was so loud that people in Africa, 4635 km from the Sunda Strait, could even hear it. An earthquake occurred causing sea waves to be 40 meters, even in Hawaii there was a Tsunami. The death toll is estimated at 36,000.
The world was in darkness for two days. Krakatoa turned the world into a blanket of volcanic dust.
I really can’t imagine it. This is the most violent mountain in human history after Tambora. The eruption of Mount Tambora on Sumbawa was indeed more powerful than Krakatoa.
Tambora made a year of darkness and the victims of 92,000 lives. There is something more powerful, Mount Toba in ancient times. Which is much more powerful than the tambora though. But it happened long before there were many humans. (corrected by mas Fadli in comment)
Truly humans like us are just like a grain of dust, unable to resist His will.
I moved until I got to the last ridge before the peak of Krakatoa. This short hike can only get here. Peaks are strictly forbidden to climb.
Volcanic smoke that keeps coming out from the top of Krakatoa makes me not want to set foot there.
Krakatau is actually a nature reserve, it should not be visited except for research purposes. However, the nature reserve allows tourists to enter, but must be accompanied by a local ranger.
The rangers are very strict in terms of preserving the nature reserve, he does not hesitate to scold visitors who leave trash.
After being satisfied with taking pictures with the background of the children of Krakatoa, we hopping islands around the Krakatoa islands. I was quite surprised because the coral reefs here are quite healthy.
However, with so many tourists arriving recently and their irresponsible behavior, I don’t know how the reef will look in the next few years.
“In 2000, IPB children came here to plant coral reefs. Many residents scoffed, why not plant a banana tree which is clearly thriving in South Lampung? It’s only felt now when many tourists are interested in coming here,” said one of our crew members.
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In the late afternoon, we returned to the Sebesi Island inn. Accompanied by the sunset and the sea water has begun to be friendly. In the distance you can see the cub of Krakatoa which continues to grow 20 feet per year. Not knowing when he will imitate in his mother’s footsteps.
We must remain vigilant.
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Underwater photos around Krakatoa. Thanks for bro Endang take underwater photos.
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