Photos: 65-Story Eruption Spurs Explosive New Adventure

On Guard
Photograph by Cai Tjeenk Willink, Virunga National Park
A ranger stands before the 65-story-tall lava plume of Nyamulagira volcano, Africa's most active, which roared back to life last week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Virunga National Park, famed for its rare mountain gorillas, has quickly seized on the display as a way to boost tourism, establishing an overnight tent camp nearby (but not too near), officials announced this week.
(See an interactive cutaway of the Nyamulagira volcano region.)
Sitting up through the night and watching enormous geysers of liquid lava dance in dark skies was "the coolest thing I've ever seen," said Cai Tjeenk Willink, head of development at the park.
Virunga National Park, embattled by a 12-year civil war and persistent political instability, is patrolled by 360 armed park rangers, who guard against wildlife traders as well as militia and rebel groups. Safety has improved dramatically in the past several years, Willink said.
"The main function of the guards is to act as a deterrent," he said. "We always bring armed guards with our visitors. We value the safety of our visitors and invest in supplying this safety."
—Brian Handwerk
Published November 16, 2011
Roaring Campfire
Photograph by Cai Tjeenk Willink, Virunga National Park
Plumes of lava soar from Nyamulagira (also known as Nyamuragira) volcano on November 12, five days after the current eruption had begun.
Volcanologist Dario Tedesco said the lava emerges not from a crater but from a 1,650- to 3,280-foot-long (500- to 1,000-meter-long) crack in the Earth. Nyamulagira's low-silica lava is especially fluid, which is why it's so easily thrown sky-high. Fortunately the lava is not flowing far or fast on the flat surrounding ground, said Tedesco, of the Goma Volcanological Observatory (OVG) in nearby Goma, DRC.
Lava flows are heading north into an uninhabited area of the park and aren't expected to displace or harm any humans—though a family of chimps may have to shift ground, officials say.
(Pictures: See the best guided tours of 2010, including a Virunga gorilla experience.)
Published November 16, 2011
Site Prep
Photograph by Cai Tjeenk Willink, Virunga National Park
On November 12, Virunga National Park staff and scientists examine the Nyamulagira area during the establishment of the now operational tourist tent camp.
Established in 1925, Virunga is Africa's oldest national park and is best known as a stronghold of mountain gorillas, listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. (Read more about the Virunga gorillas.)
But the nearly 3,100-square-mile (8,000-square-kilometer) park, on the DRC's borders with Uganda and Rwanda has a lot more to offer, including the lava lake of the Nyiragongo volcano, which Willink said attracts as many visitors as the gorillas. (See pictures of Virunga mountain gorillas.)
Virunga also has chimpanzees—chimp tourism to begin in January 2012—and "the highest mountain range in Africa, the Rwenzori Mountains, with its glaciers, savannas, lowland forests, and lakes," Willink said. "Not all of this is open to tourism, but hopefully in the future it will be."
Published November 16, 2011
A Good Place to Pitch a Tent?
Photograph by Cai Tjeenk Willink, Virunga National Park
Pictured November 12, the new tourist camp provides "rooms" with a rare view for Virunga visitors.
The temporary setup is to house visitors for as long as the eruption lasts—which could be a matter of days or months. In 1989 a Nyamulagira eruption lasted nine months, but another in January 2010 fizzled out in a few days.
Officials stress that visiting the volcano is reasonably safe.
"The vulcanologists of the OVG have advised us on the safe location of the camp, which is located about 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) south of the eruption," Willink said. "Of course, volcanoes are inevitably unpredictable, so there are never guarantees about safety with an attraction like this."
Published November 16, 2011
Hot Prospect
Photograph by LuAnne Cadd, Virunga National Park
A Virunga ranger watches the November 2011 Nyamulagira eruption from afar. (Also see "New Volcano Pictures: 'Monstrous' Eruption in the Congo.")
The new tent site is reached by a several-hour hike from the town of Rugari. The U.S. $300 fee includes transportation from Goma (about an hour from Rugari), a shared tent, a mat, and a blanket. Volcano-watchers bring their own sleeping bags, rain gear, food, and water.
Visitors to the DRC will also need a tourist visas, but the government has simplified and streamlined the process to make it easier to see Nyamulagira while it's still erupting. Visa applications can be obtained via the park's website, as can information for planning a trip to Virunga.
For information on lodging at the volcano camp, contact the park at tourism@gorilla.cd
Published November 16, 2011
Next: Virunga Among World's Best Trips for 2012 (Pictures)
Photograph by Last Refuge, Robert Harding World Imagery/Corbis
Published November 16, 2011