I sit up straight in bed, what has just happened? I have been awakened by a huge explosion and the electricity has also gone out. I look out the window and am surprised to see it is raining rocks from an erupting volcano four miles away. What do I do now? I stumble around getting dressed by the light from my cell phone. I am not certain where my clothes are, but somehow I am able to get dressed.
I open the window and see the torches and flashlights of people who are escaping the downpour of rocks from the volcano, they are holding protection over their heads so as not to be injured by the falling rocks. I finally look at the time, it is 1:15 in the morning.
I hear someone yell that we should evacuate the area, but where to go? This is suppose to be in the safe zone. I fall back in to a fitful sleep, I wake about every thirty minutes.
The rocks seem to never end but when I awake at 5 AM, the downpour has stopped.
Now let me tell you the whole story.
It is Wednesday 16 August 2006 I am in Banos Ecuador it appears to be a typical day. The day starts with my going to the Banos Zoo to photograph more of the birds. This will help in documenting who they are. The morning session is over and it is time to go to the local open market to see how the population get their fresh produce.
The stalls have been set up over night, the produce, grain and flour have are ready to be purchased. In the background you hear what appears to be thunder, it is not, the Tungurahua Volcano is very active, it can be heard and seen from the local market. When will it happen and for how long will they have to be away from there homes and business. You can see the Policia National walking through the downtown and manning check points to try and keep people from getting to close to the volcano. My being a photographer who always tries to get the story. I walk towards the volcano from the downtown. Coming upon two men who have just come from the volcano. They point me to the path where they have just come from. It is a donkey path which I follow for about one half mile it turns towards the small river that I must cross on a small footbridge. The wind is blowing to the north and there are several children who are flying kites with their parents. The parents pointed out the path that I need to take to get to a good sighting of the volcano.
I followed this path out of the valley and get to a road which is paved with interlocking paving stones. The climb up this road is 20 degrees incline is slow. This street is in a local neighborhood with beautifully kept homes and property. Children and Adults are out in the street watching what is happening with the volcano. After getting to the end of the paved road the road is dirt and well used. There are grazing fields on both sides of the road. There are cattle sheep and horses in these fields which are strung with barbed wire to keep the animals from wandering too far.
I walk up this portion of the road for another half mile, where I come upon a woman who is sitting on the side of the road watching what is going on. She has a small point and shoot digital camera which she has used to capture some photos. We discuss what the volcano is doing and how long it is going to take for the cloud bank to go away. It is at this time she mentions that this will be a great story to tell her children in Great Britain.
I ask her how many children she has and she replies that she is geography teacher and that she will have great stories to tell them about her adventures in Ecuador. She also mentions that the battery level on her camera is low and that she will be unable to get many more images of the volcano. I ask her what type of battery her camera uses she says that it takes AA batteries. I offer to give her some batteries as I never go anywhere without backups. Just in case "...IT" happens.
We discuss how long we are willing to wait for the clouds to clear the summit of the volcano. While we are waiting for the clouds to move away we are watching and hearing the volcano as it continues to belch massive clouds of steam and ash into the air.
From our vantage point we can see with our naked eye the volcanic bombs being expelled from the bowels’ of the volcano!!
After another hour the cloud bank that has been obscuring the view of the summit dissipates. The view is now both exhilarating and mind numbing at the same time. We can now see each and every explosion as it happens, and within seconds we can feel the vibrations of these outbursts. From our location, we are less than three kilometers from the base of the volcano.
At the same time the people who live in the homes farther up the road, have either walked or driven home. The one car that has driven farther to there home returns with his family and belongings, as they do not trust what the volcano is doing. To them it is better to be safe than sorry. They left about forty-five minutes after they had driven past us.
They understood that the valley where we were could have a volcanic flow come there way.
It is now five thirty, the view has been awe-inspiring, we are now joined by a father and son from Germany who have made the trek to see the erupting volcano. We stand and discuss what we have seen and felt from the volcano for another ten minutes.
As we leave the viewing area it is discussed that we may meet up after dark to see what the night show will be like. This does not happen at this spot. We make our way back down the mountain we all go our separate ways. I am able to get a taxi that takes me back to the San Martin Zoo. Here I find Javier; he has a look of concern on his face. He was unsure of my safety since he had left me in Banos at eleven AM and it was now six forty-five and getting darker by the minute. I explain where I had been photographing the volcano. He is amazed that the police had not stationed anyone there since this is in the danger zone for mud slides, pyroclastic flows and lava from an eruption.
As I say now if I had known than what I know now would I have taken the chance that I took. The answer is Yes!! The only way to get the story is to be in the story but not part of the story.
Javier tells me that he has a vantage point where we can see the volcano and not be in danger. I run to my room and get my tripod and 500mm lens to capture the images of the volcano as it is giving its impression of Dante’s Inferno.
We pile into the car and head to the vantage point, Javier does not exaggerate on view.
The volcano is showing that only a fool would get to close to capture the sights and feelings that go with a natural disaster. We are interrupted by the phone call that dinner is ready we abandon the photo session to go and eat dinner.
I brought the camera and tripod up to the restaurant which has sliding glass windows where I can set up the camera to get photos while we eat. I use the 35-350Canon lens to get some shots horizontally. I chose one of the hills in front of the volcano to show that that the trees and vegetation are an integral part of the photos. These shots highlight what one would could say is natures great fireworks show on earth. The volcano is the great unknown to the peoples of the region in the past. To appease the God’s they sacrificed virgins to the volcano to keep it calm.
After dinner we all pile into the cars to go to areas where we can observe and photograph the volcano. We go up into the hills on the opposite side of the river so that we will not be in danger from the explosions that are coming from the volcano. These shots are looking down the throat of the volcano and this is like looking into the face of the Devil. We go to four different locations and get different looks from each. It is now ten thirty PM and time to get some sleep. Javier suggest that I get up at Five AM and walk up the road to where we stopped for our first set of photos.
After going to bed I quickly fall a sleep only to be awakened by a huge explosion which sounded like a transformer exploding. Then the lights go out, you can hear the rocks and debris from the volcano coming down all around.
I open the window and see people walking fast away from the village on the other side of the river they are holding anything they can get over there heads so as to not be hit by the falling rocks. There is a call for evacuation of the area but this is said to the safe zone we will not get the lava flow nobody said anything about the rocks. Those who are becoming refugees are carrying what they can. To see where they are going they are using torches and flashlights, these are families on the move they are going to friends and family that live near.
The aquarium needs to have electricity or the exhibits will perish, at this time a generator can be heard starting to run to save the fish in the exhibits next door. With everything going on I dress in the dark and wait to find out if we should move to a safer location. The onslaught of rock and debris continues unabated until five AM. I am completely exhausted by this time but I know that this is one story that I cannot miss.
Javier comes by in the morning to find out how I survived the eruption. I soon find out Javier has been up since the volcano started to throw debris into the city. He lives in one of the danger zones and had to move his mother and wife to one of the safe zones.
I have survived unscathed; there are many who were not so lucky. I asked Javier if he knew where the refugees were taken. He said that the refugees were taken to the National Police academy where they had extra barracks that could be used to shelter those who had lost their homes and those who lived in the extreme danger zones.
We approach the commanding Cornel and ask if we can photograph and interview the refugees. He would like the rest of the world to know that they have great needs. Food is in short supply but nobody is starving. He introduced us to the local relief official whoshowed us around the barracks.
For each family they brought what belongings that they could carry, clothes cooking utensils and the clothes on their backs. The parents are still in shock over losing their homes and villages. The children are children still want to play they play with each other not with toys.
There is a communal kitchen where the meals are prepared. The evening meal will consist of rice, boiled potatoes, and other vegetables. As is the spirit of the people of Ecuador the women who all pitch in to prepare the meals for everyone. This will happen for as long as they are refugees and have not been able to find other housing with relatives or friends.
We are shown the supply room which has enough potable water for drinking. The shelves where you should see canned goods is nearly bare, these shelves contain root vegetables which do not need refrigeration. The two refrigerators contain tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage and a few more vegetables.
These people have the will and fortitude to let life go on. These are young families that have a lot to look forward to. We do come upon a woman in her sixty’s who has lost everything. She has no family left and no home and she has no idea how she will be able to put her life back together. She walks out of the shelter and sits on the stoop of the police academy and cries. All that she has are the clothes on her back.
As we leave after thanking those in charge for the chance to see the refugees we head to where the lava and mud have blocked the road.
The road to Ambato is paved and in good repair until the volcano decides to have its way.
To get to where the road has been blocked, we have to talk our way past two military road blocks. The story we use is that I am from the International Press. The only thing that impresses those in charge is my massive 35-350mm Canon lens. When we get permission to proceed, there are a number of other cars that have convinced the authorities that they have legitimate reasons to go to the end of the road.
We reach the mud, ash, rock and lava flow it has completely blocked the road and has flowed over the mountain edge and has gone into the river.
Just seeing this massive flow and how much of an area that it covers is mind numbing.
Where there had been homes, farms and a lush mountain landscape there is smoking smoldering destruction. The slide is approximately twenty feet deep and over a half mile wide at the first of the flows that have covered the road. The people who have talked their way past the check point are looking at the size of the slide and are climbing the pile to get rocks from the volcano. The pile is still very hot and the rocks are also. You can still see the smoke rising from the slide area.
With all the people at the slide area the Civil Defense Official is beside himself. He is trying to keep those who have come to the site safe and control sightseers who should not be there. We can see up the valley that the Electric Power Authority is looking at one of its transmission towers. The flow encased the tower and the height from the ground to the transmission line is less than twelve feet. All the people that should be here are working to get the power restored and to determine how to get the road open.
As we are leaving, the two Civil Defense Officials are telling everyone that does not have a legitimate reason to be there to leave. So as of this moment, I can not get to my scheduled flight from Quito to Miami. This has extended my stay in Bano;meanwhile the people of Banos are left wondering how long this eruption is going to stay.
