An Island In A Lake In A Volcano On An Island In A Lake In A Volcano On An Island‏

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Back in the Philippines, we had a late night flight to Palau so decided to spend the day exploring. Keith had seen an entry in the "1000 Places To See.." book that had intrigued him. Taal volcano is described as 'a lake within a volcano, within a lake, on the island of Luzon.' Even better, being only 90 minutes from Manila, we had time to get there, have lunch and get back again in time for a spot of pre-flight binge drinking in the Club Lounge.

Taal is even smaller than Bromo and, to prove that size isn't everything, is also active. Side vents regularly puff out superheated steam and it has the dubious honour of being in the top 10 most dangerous volcanoes in the Philippines. Over the past century, Taal has erupted nine times. The last major eruption killed over 1,300 people. Despite the government banning habitation on the island, hundreds of poor families have decided to make it their home. Every day they risk their lives to earn a meagre living by fishing in the lake or farming crops in the rich volcanic soil.

Taal's crater is filled with water, hence the lake within a volcano, and is situated on an island in the middle of another lake which fills the caldera of a massive, now collapsed, volcano. There is also a little island in the middle of the Taal crater lake, so the scene can actually be properly described as 'an island in a lake, in a volcano on an island, in a lake in a volcano on an island!'

With the little time we had, we were able to go to the viewpoint on the caldera's rim, but not take a boat to the middle to climb the inner crater to see its small lake.

By the way in the photos don't be fooled by the taller cone, as we originally were. Taal is just to the left of the shot; smaller, flatter and with a glimpse of silver that is the sunlight reflecting off its crater lake. It was a little hazy on the day we were there, but the view was still spectacular.