Anak Krakatoa – a trip of our life

Ever since I watched a documentary about Krakatau it became my obsession. I’ve seen every single possible documentary about it. I followed all news about Anak Krakatau and dreamt that one day I will go and see it. When in 2018 Anak Krakatau collapsed I thought it’s the great opportunity to see the crater since it was on sea level now. That’s an opportunity I could not have missed.

The moment we came to South East Asia a trip to the volcano was constantly on my thoughts. This was the only reason we finally went to Jakarta. We found a lot of trip organisers, all offering different activities besides walking on the volcano. We decided we don’t need anything extra. We just want to see Anak and all remainings of Krakatau itself. It cost us 4,800,000 IDR ( over $300) for a full day trip. The price included car pick up from and back to our place, breakfast, speed boat, drinks, fruits, lunch and the guide.

The journey to Anak Krakatoa

Our transport picked us up very early in the morning. We were so excited we couldn’t sleep all night so we slept through the whole drive to a small town near the sea Labuhan.

When we arrived we had a small break for breakfast in a local restaurant that was opened just for us. Or at least it looked like that because there was nobody else but us. After breakfast, we went to the beach where our boat waited for us. There were in total 3 men helping with this trip so we immediately understood the price of it. The boat was very loud so we didn’t speak much but we were offered some fruits and drinks on the way to the volcano.

When we were getting close all three men started to point at its’ direction so obviously, we reached for our cameras and started taking pictures. At this point, we slowed down a bit so the noise of the engine wasn’t that bad and our guide started showing us the remains of Krakatoa and telling stories about it. We knew everything, we just wanted to see it with our own eyes, but we didn’t interrupt him and let him talk. You could tell it’s not just a guide, this man had a passion just like us, but unlike us, he was lucky enough to live close by and observe everything first hand.

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The volcano walk

It was a nice sunny nearly cloudless day. Everything looked amazing on our photos. The sun was also our biggest problem. We forgot to take our hats. There was no shade on the volcano. As we climbed it up the sun got us hard. We had to stop multiple times to take a rest and breath a bit, but it didn’t help much either.

Additionally, the soil we walked on was not compact. It was more like a big pile of ash, very slippery. When we finally reached the top of the hill we saw it. Caldera filled with water, or something that definitely looked like water. There was a small cloud of steam above it. Looked like boiling soup really. Right next to it is was the sea. Bright orange sea! It looked spectacular. Otherworldly. I was happy! Tired, with a burnt red face, but happy. We took some pictures there.

The guide showed us a few pictures and videos of his own, including one with a small eruption during his walk there and we went down to walk a little bit around the beach. We found some burnt trees, but also small saplings that seemed to grow there already.

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At this point, I was ready to go back home with a huge smile on my burnt face. But the trip wasn’t over just yet! We went back on the speed boat and sailed around Anak to see the caldera even closer from the sea. It was a bit surreal to see how water colour change from blue to greenish and reaching that bright orange closer to the volcano.

Volcanic Picnic

After that, we sailed to a remaining of the original Krakatau island for a walk and picnic! Our guide and his two helpers prepared a nice blanket under a tree (shadow at last!), brought some rice with chicken, some more fruits and drinks and left us to enjoy the meal and scenery.

I noticed they were collecting trash from the beach and burning it. Maybe not the best way to discard trash, but I don’t think there’s any better option there. It was nice to see they take care of this island the only way they can. We walked a bit on the beach, collected some pumice, that became my most treasured souvenir, had a meal and relaxed on the blanket. Everything about this trip was perfect.

On our way back Anak said a soft goodbye to us by a small eruption sending a huge cloud of steam into the blue sky. We were so tired at this point, we didn’t even take our cameras out to save the moment but it will stay in our memory forever.

We came back home at around 8 PM and went straight to bed with huge smiles on our faces. It was the trip of my dreams and I am not sure if anything can beat that.