Amazing Mother Nature
Travelling is learning – Kenyan proverb
We’re due to fly to Bali tomorrow. However, the mighty volcano, Mount Agung may have other plans for us. It started to erupt a few days ago. It is emitting ash and according to the Indonesian alert system, is currently at a level 4, AWAS/red status, that’s the last stage before a full-scale eruption. Over 1,000 tremors have been detected each day and over 100,000 people have been evacuated from surrounding areas.
Indonesia has 76 active volcanoes including Krakatoa, Tambora and Merapi; that’s more than any other country and part of an area referred to as ‘the Pacific Ring of Fire’. We first saw Mount Agung over a year ago on a trip to East Bali. The gigantic Mount Agung, or Gunung Agung, is the taller of Bali’s two volcanoes. Agung last erupted over 50 years ago. It’s the island’s most sacred volcano where the Pura Besakih temple can be found. Some local people say the volcano is angry.
A few days ago Mount Agung entered what’s called a magmatic eruption phase, which apparently means that magma is close to the surface. Experts are watching the activity and monitoring seismographs but they tell us that volcanoes are notoriously hard to predict.
There are fears of an imminent eruption. But I’ve listened to seismic activity experts being interviewed all week and they freely admit that they “just don’t know”. We’re following updates from the airlines. The airport has been closed. Flights have been cancelled.
All of this because of a volcano!
Mother nature asserts herself every now and again, which might just keep our egos in check! And it’s humbling to feel dwarfed by nature. It’s a bit like the moment you come up close against a bull elephant. It happened to us in Samburu national park in Kenya. We had never been that close to an elephant in the wild. We knew that it was time to move when the bull moved to nudge the land cruiser! It’s immense, wrinkly body towered over us and it was exhilarating.
In that moment you feel so utterly insignificant. It’s been termed ‘The psychology of awe’; this idea of looking on and feeling total amazement at something much bigger than yourself. We learn so much when we travel. The ‘psychology of awe’ is just one of many lessons.
When some people travel, they pay extra to feel like VIPs, with fancy seats and champagne; it’s easy to be seduced by that right? But in reality, it means nothing. It’s simply a transaction entered into, which effectively says “if I pay more, will you be nicer to me”? It’s all tosh and we know it!
In truth, none of us are very important on this earth. Few of us are born as VIPs or royalty. If we are lucky, we are very important to some people. We’d like to think that we are in control of things in this world, but we’re probably not in control of very much. A volcano on the verge of an eruption can remind us of that.
It’s mildly inconvenient if our travel plans get changed but it’s also been quite sensational watching from afar, seeing spectacular images of this volcano’s theatrical gurgling and its immense plumes of dark ash filling the sky.
People in nearby villages have performed prayer rituals in the wake of Mount Agung’s eruption. They anxiously watch and they wait. For all the local people evacuated, I wish them safety and hope that their families and livestock will be fine, whatever happens.
We might still go to Bali tomorrow. We want to. But it’s not up to us. It depends on a volcano, a cloud of ash and the direction of the wind. Mother nature is calling the shots.
Image and text © Maggie M / Mother City Time