In 1849 the British naval ship, HMS Maeander, captained by Henry Keppel sailed from Singapore to Batavia (Jakarta) then to Australia, New Zealand and across to the Pacific coast of the United States.
Pulau Kumba is located in the Flores Sea of Eastern Indonesia and lies north of the island of Lembata. The island must be sitting over a hot spot in the earth’s mantle as it seems to have been actively erupting over many years. While sailing the Indonesian archipelago HMS Maeander encountered what they called Comba Island and Oswald Brierly produced this dramatic painting.
The sailing ship Vega stopped at Pulau Kumba in 2015 and its captain Shane Granger took this beautiful photograph of the island, its still active volcano and an unusual smoke ring.
We visited there with the Ombak Putih in 2016 but the eruption was not quite as spectacular.
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Wow! I’ve never heard of this island. I haven’t read about it in the local Jakarta press. Were you there recently Ian?
Hello Randy. We were there with the Ombak Putih in 2016 and hoping to see it erupting. I think this was the year after you did the same voyage through the Eastern islands.
Thanks, Ian. Very interesting. Another volcano that is more active than usual (and closer to home) is the volcano in the island of Anak Krakatau. Mt. Merapi is also active again. We live in interesting times.
Hello Rachmat. As you know there is always a volcano erupting somewhere in Indonesia. You live in an interesting place
Thanks,Ian – it is always special to receive an email with “news” from Indonesia and our beloved islands. Please keep it up!
Thanks for all the nesw and then some about Indonesia! Wished I was there. Love, Soia
Thanks Sia. I hope you are well and it is good to hear from you.
Wow so many volcanoes in Indonesia, even one I never heard before. That 2015 smoke ring photo looks so pretty…. pretty ominous🙃
According to Google there are 147 volcanoes in Indonesia. But I don’t know if they included Pulau Kumba!