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Al Wahba Crater
It's some 2km across with 260m cliff faces down to the crater's bottom. The base of the crater is flat, and in wet seasons covered in water. In the summer, however, it turns into a huge saltpan as much as a kilometer wide |
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The crater is situated in an area where there was intense volcanic activity in the past. The surrounding "sandy" plain is in fact a bed of volcanic ash. To the north-west is a mound with a vertical face on the edge of the crater, which was an earlier volcano, split in half when the crater was formed. In this cliff face can be seen lava-filled dykes.
A terrace of palm trees and green grass grows on the northern face of the crater. It's a refreshing contrast with the surrounding dark colored rock. This is also the best place to make a reasonably easy descent to the bottom.
Although locals speculate that the crater is the result of an enormous meteorite, the crater is actually an extinct volcano. Geologists theorize that boiling magma from a rising volcano hit a body of groundwater, the result was a massive explosion which ended up with this big hole in the ground. On one side of the crater lies an ash cone which is all that is left of the volcano.
Camping is permitted, and climbing the crater is a rewarding, if difficult experience. It takes about two and a half hours to hike around the top, and about 40 minutes to walk to the bottom. It's advisable to start your trek early, while the shadows are still long in the bowl of the crater. Carry a good supply of water - it's a thirsty walk.
This fertile terrace is fed by springs seeping out of the cliff face. The water, which has run through the porous volcanic layers, meets the pre-Cambrian solid basement rock at this level and here finds an outlet in the crater walls. When you are walking back up again allow yourself the time and luxury of lying in the long, wet grass at the feet of the palm trees; but watch out for snakes.
On the higher ledges around the top of the crater there are good places to camp with a spectacular view. Or if you prefer, there are some perfect secluded places among the hollows and bays of the "young lava", which has run in shallow ripples over the ground to the north and east of the crater.
The crater is under the protection of the NCWCD who are interested that the area is respected. No amenities have been provided for visitors, and you are asked to take away all the rubbish you bring in with you. |
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