User blog:007Jamesdean/Volcanic Trip Part 3

Part 3: TANZANIA

Vanzilla 2.0 was flying over Africa.

Lynn Sr.: This is gonna be so cool! I've never been to Africa.

Rita: Me neither dear.

Me: Africa is an amazing place. It's also where mankind started.

Lisa: Correct 2nd big brother. South Africa in the Cradle of Good Hope is where Humanity originated.

Nicole: That's right Lisa. We're going to Tanzania. There are some of the most famous volcanoes in the world.

Jessie K.: That's right sis.

We arrived in Tanzania.

Me: Here we are.

We were on a road by Mount Kilimanjaro - one of the 7 highest mountains in the world and the tallest mountain in Africa.

Nicole: That's Mount Kilimanjaro - the tallest mountain in Africa at 19,130 feet and it's also one of the worlds most ancient volcanoes.

Lincoln: It's so beautiful.

Linka: It sure is. Mount Kilimanjaro is a beautiful volcano. Has it ever erupted?

Nicole: No it has not. It's never had a recorded eruption in mans history.

Lisa: Correct.

Me: It's amazing.

Varie: It sure is.

Sakura: I didn't know it was so tall and beautiful.

Me: It's one of my favorite volcanoes in the world. Mount Kilimanjaro is a beautiful mountain and one of the most amazing volcanoes in the world.

Later we arrived at a volcano called Ol' Doinyo Lengai.

Lincoln: What volcano is this one?

Nicole: This is Ol Doinyo Lengai. It's one of the most unusual volcanoes in the planet.

Lola: Why is it so unusual?

Nicole: You'll find out when we get onto the top.

We all climbed to the top and it was a steep climb. We saw into the crater in the top and it was like a volcano from another world.

Lana: This volcano is really unusual.

Nicole: It's known that way all over the world of Volcanology. Scientists call it a volcano from another planet. It's like more the Moon or the planet Mars.

Me: I've seen that. It's one of the most strangest things on our planet.

Jared: That's what I've read about too dad.

Allenby: It's really strange.

Heidi: That is cool.

We trekked down into the crater and found something much stranger. The lava in the volcano is black.

We saw a pool of lava and it was the strangest thing we had ever encountered.

Nicole: This is one of the strangest things about Lengai. The lava here is black because of its richness in carbonate minerals. It's called Carbonatite Lava.

Lana: This is cool!

Lola: This stuff is lava? But isn't it usually glowing red hot?

Nicole: Yes that's normally the case. But this lava is is much cooler than regular lava in other volcanoes. It's at 950 degrees fahrenheit.

Nicole took out a temperature device and it showed the temperature at 950 degrees.

Nicole: See?

Lola: You're right Nicole.

Nicole: Normally lava burns at 2,200 degrees fahrenheit but this lava is cooler because of its richness in carbonate minerals. It's also the most viscous of any other lava in the world and it's more viscous than water. It's much more runny and fluid than the lava in Etna or Kilauea.

Luna: That is some crazy stuff dudes.

Lori: It literally is. It looks like mud when you look at it in the sunlight.

Lana: It kind of does look like mud. But this is lava.

We followed a river of the lava.

Nicole: This is the coolest part for a volcanologist here at this volcano. We can take samples of this lava with a spoon.

Nicole took out a spoon and scooped up some of the lava and put it in a jar.

We saw the strangest part about the lava.

Me: This is unusual. The lava is turning white here.

Nicole: That's right dad. Carbonatite lava is unstable here and it rapidly weathers when it's on the surface. It turns from black to grayish white in 24 hours. Another strange part is that when the night comes the black lava here glows incandescent red like all common lava.

Brittney: I know a spell that can view the world at night with a viewing window.

Nicole: Good thinking sis. Go for it.

Brittney: (Chants an Incantation) Onomiyanta Ecniteka Desmina!

A viewing window of blue fire appeared and it filtered out all the sunlight and changed the world view to night even though it's still daylight.

Lana: Look at that guys!

Lola: The lava is glowing red!

Laney: That is really amazing. I had no idea that this volcano could be that amazing.

Nicole: It is. Lengai is an enigmatic volcano in the world of volcanology.

Lily: It's an amazing volcano.

Later we arrived at the famous Ngorongoro Caldera.

Lori: This place is literally beautiful.

Nicole: This is the Ngorongoro Caldera. It's the worlds most ancient caldera. It was once the tallest volcano in the world. It collapsed in on itself and became this beautiful crater. This crater is 3 million years old and it's one of the most ancient caldera's in the world.

Shanan: It's also one of the most beautiful nature preserves in the world. It's home to elephants, lions, zebras, wildebeast, and many other animals.

Kion: I remember this crater. It's also next to the edge of the Pridelands.

Beshte: It's a beautiful crater and some of our friends live here.

Fuli: That's right.

Jeri: It's a magnificent wonder in the world.

Bonga: It's BONGA-TASTIC!

Ono: This crater looks like it spans on forever.

Me: It sure does.

Leni: Totes. But what's a caldera?

We facepalm.

Luan: This sure is crater-tastic. (Laughs to rimshot) Get it?

We laugh.

Me: (Laughs) That was funny.

Eddy: (Laughs) Funny.

Vince: (Laughs) Good one Luan.

Later we went to our next destination. Our trip is not just gonna center around the world's volcanoes.

Continues in Part 4