2011 News           (News Archive)

I will post news about Lengai here whenever it becomes available. The most recent news is at the bottom of the page. If you have climbed Lengai or made photos from the air please send me your observations and I will include them here. Your contributions will be much appreciated by those who track the activity and changes in the crater.

The news items below are supplemental to and in some cases a duplication of information published in the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Network Reports.

Photos on these pages are property of the individuals named and should not be used without permission.  Without the generosity of these contributors we would not know what is happening at Lengai.

June 2011: Hans Schabel sent me the following report and several photos, four of which appear below. "On June 22, I took a group of 8 conservation biologists who had just attended a conference in Arusha on the regular climb up the NNW trail through the Pearly Gates (PG). This being winter in Africa, it was nasty cold, worsened by strong, increasingly sulfurous gusts from above that nearly bowled us over. Also, previous traffic had pulverized what only one and a half year before had been a fairly firm surface of hardened ash. Slipping back in this fine scree made the climb very frustrating in places. Higher up, the sandpaper-like, mostly grippy but at times gravely-slippery and steep surface discouraged slips that would surely bloody one's hands. I had instructed everyone to bring gloves and they were uniformly glad they did. We minimized problems with falling rock by staying bunched, or out of the line gravity with those above us

Some shreds of "clouds" in the early light just above the PG turned out to originate from minor fumaroles. The day was fairly clear and thus details of the crater rim and the pit were visible.  The slump on the East crater that I first saw on my previous safari had not expanded significantly but some of the walls of the crater below had obviously slumped into big piles of rubble below. Walking the rim counter clockwise one could hear an ominous whoosh from the crater bottom, which turned out to be coming from two boiling, rolling, lava pools that spilled pitch-black lava into a growing lake flowing East.  The half moon depression separating the North Crater from the mountain peak showed a fresh patch of green in its SSW corner.

Returning from the mountain in mid-morning we increasingly observed plants such as grasses, legumes, composites and finally even a lone acacia, pioneering a return to a greener mountain, at least until the next major eruption, sure to come in due time."

Lava pots at bottom of North Crater, Looking North.  Photo courtesy Hans Schabel.

Close-up of lava lake showing older (grey) and recent flows (black).  Photo courtesy Hans Schabel.

First green patch on top of mountain, near base of peak (Looking South). Photo courtesy Hans Schabel.

Pioneer legume about two thirds down the mountain.  Photo courtesy Hans Schabel.