David+K

James Webber and his crew from the Captain Cooke's were the first explorers to visit the Island of Cracatoa (also spelled as Krakatoa) located at 6° 9' south and 105° 15' east in the Straits of Sunda between the islands of Java and Sumatra, and off the coast of Indonesia. Currently this island would be uninhabited. It wouldn't even be in existence. James Webber explored the Island of Cracatoa in the 1780's. About 103 years later on August 27, 1883 a volcano erupted on the Island of Cracatoa that wiped out the whole island.

// "Suddenly it became pitch black. The last thing I saw was the ash" -From A. Scarth, 1999 //

As I was traveling on a cruise to the Indonesian Islands, I passed the Island of Cracatoa. Ashes were strewn all over the land from the eruption and it is a terrible place to be on a windy day. There were very few crops growing here, and all the water that was accumulated from rain in ponds and lakes was contaminated by the ashes making the island uninhabitable. Few birds and other airbourne animals scavenged the vast island searching for food. In the distance we could vaguely see the volcano that had erupted and caused such a great disaster. The weather at the time was pretty hot. Not too hot. Just hot. The Island of Cracatoa was actually in a very healthy state compared to the other island notions neighboring but now, after the eruption, I do not recommend living on this island. As we moved on, I noticed that some other islands, whose names I don't recall, had been affected by the eruption too. I could not help but to feel bad for the people on these islands for they have to live with foot high ashes and bad air pollution.