Mt. Yasur, Vanuatu

I am six hundred miles east of the Great Barrier Reef in the archipelago of Vanuatu—or, as they say in Vanuatu, the “ni-Vanuatu” archipelago—home to nine active volcanoes. One of these, Mount Yasur on the southern island of Tanna, is said to be the most easily accessible live volcano in the world. Anyone can walk right up and peer down into its fiery belly. A real volcano: fire and brimstone and flying ash. (read more)

Photos © 2005 Usha Alexander