TAVURVUR

This volcano, which continues to poison the city with its ashes of ash, is accessed from the village of Matupit, 20 minutes in 4 x 4 of Rabaul.

This fishing village has the "chance" of not being under the wind of the volcano and has therefore not been completely ravaged by the ashes. But it suffers from drinking water problems and, above all, all gardens were destroyed by the eruption of 1994 or are now buried under ashes. Since that fateful date, the volcano has erupted steadily, without causing any further damage. According to the vulcanologist R.B. Stothers, it would be the Tavurvur who would have caused the volcanic winter of 536 BC, a sudden episode of sudden glaciation unexplained by historians. It could have been caused by a particularly violent eruption, polluting the atmosphere of a cloud of ash and cooling the climate. The possibility that the Tavurvur is responsible for it has never been ruled out. But the debate remains open.

Today, the only sources of income for the inhabitants, many of whom are relocated further in the province, are the fishing, the collection of gestures at the foot of the volcano and the visit of the same volcano by tourists. That's why they pay 40 kinas for the canoe needed to cross the small bay separating the village from the volcano, and the guide. It is possible, but very dangerous because of gas, to climb the top of the crater. It's more like a walk around and its first foothills. The very impressive walk can be complemented by the observation of the megapoid egg researchers and the nearby hot springs. they allow to cook eggs previously picked directly from the ground.