Krakatoa - Sunda Strait, 1992
Krakatoa as seen from the air (Photo courtesy of and copyrighted by Robert Decker).
The only reason I enrolled in my high school geography class (Jakarta International School) was for the scheduled field trip near the end of the semester. Our teacher, Bruce Johnson did an excellent job in maintaining interest in the course material with his refreshingly unique and casual style of instruction. It would end up being perhaps the one take-away from high school that helped inspire basic orientation skills, awareness of one's surroundings and a deeper knowledge of the geology and history of a given area. I can't help but think that these lessons in some way prepared me for the various outings into unfamiliar territory that I would undertake many years later.
Needless to say, the entire class was very excited to discover that this year's field trip would take place on the small volcanic island of Anak Krakatoa, located in the Sunda Straits between the islands of Java and Sumatra (Indonesia). Our mission was to observe, measure and report on the growth of the island (it first emerged from sea in 1927) and eventual colonization by plants and animals. (Photos: SV and others)
Click thumbnails below to enlarge...
)
)
)
)
)
)