Active Taal Volcano [My World Tuesday]

One of the 22 26 active volcanoes in the Philippines, Taal Volcano was showing signs of volcanic activity last month and alert was raised to level 2 in  early June.  Tourists and members of the media were banned from this picturesque island in a crater lake  about  65 kilometers south of Manila as scientists predicted an eruption was highly possible.  12 towns and cities near Taal Volcano were placed under impending state of calamity due to the volcano's restiveness and residents voluntarily evacuated.  As of last week, the number of volcanic quakes has been decreasing, residents have returned to their homes and volcanologists may lower alert level status soon.  I hope Taal Volcano is just having some hiccups and would be quiet again soon.

Volcano Island is called "pulo" by locals and it contains a lake about 2 km across, called Crater Lake.  Within Crater Lake is another small volcanic island called Vulcan Point.  Vulcan Point is often referred to as the world's largest volcanic island within a lake on an island within a lake on an island, namely, Vulcan Point within Crater Lake, on Taal Island within Lake Taal, on the island of Luzon.

view of Lake Taal and Taal Island from the Tagaytay Ridge

Posted for http://www.showyourworld.blogspot.com

Picnic Grove [Friday - Finding Beauty]

I dug into my archives looking for "beauty" and look what I found! An afternoon in September at Tagaytay Picnic Grove, overlooking the Lake Taal and Taal Volcano. What could be more beautiful than seeing parents and their children flying kites and spending time together?

This picnic grove is a place to play and take it easy, where nature gives strength to body and soul.

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.

~Charles R. Swindoll

My first post for Friday Finding Beauty hosted by Claudia at Dipity Road

To see a volcano [TWTW]

 

To see Taal Volcano from a different perspective, I walked this path from the highway to the ridge.  About 300 meters from the highway, this path leads to a residential area at the edge of Tagaytay ridge.  Residents have this view from their windows---Lake Taal and Taal Volcano.

Posted for This way Thurs-way  

Lake Taal and Taal Volcano - Watery Wednesday

We had a long weekend to commemorate the National Heroes Day on August 31st. Sally and I wanted to go to Puerto Galera for the weekend but it rained so we cancelled our plans. On Sunday afternoon, I drove to the Mall of Asia to meet my sister and cousins for dinner. Tita Azela, my aunt and Zhallyn, my sister, went to the movies with Jan and Zyke, while Sally, Franzia and myself, watched Lisa Macuja. Late Sunday night while eating bibingka (rice cake) and spicy kebab, we suddenly made up our minds to take a road trip. Pangasinan and Subic were our options but we ended up driving to Tagaytay after midnight.

From the Tagaytay ridge and Picnic Grove, I took these photos of Lake Taal and Volcano on Monday afternoon. Lake Taal is a freshwater lake located in a caldera formed by very large eruptions between 500,000 and 100,000 years ago. The active Taal Volcano, a part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is the one responsible for the lake's sulfuric content, lies on an island in the center of the lake. The island is called Volcano Island, or "pulo" by the locals. Inside Volcano Island is another lake, about 2 kilometers across, called Crater Lake. Within the Crater Lake is another small volcanic island called Vulcan Point. Vulcan Point is often referred to as the world's largest volcanic island within a lake on an island within a lake on an island. Now I know you're confused!

Visualize these---Vulcan Point within Crater Lake, on Volcano Island within Lake Taal, on the island of Luzon. See? :P

Many believe that Lake Taal is also a crater of a volcano, thus making Taal Volcano "a volcano inside the volcano".

view of Lake Taal and Taal Volcano from Picnic Grove

Posted for Watery Wednesday

Sky Watch Friday: a cloudy day in Tagaytay

overcast sky at Taal Lake

view from the Palace in the Sky

Taal Lake is a freshwater lake in Batangas. Within the lake is an island with an active volcano, called Taal Volcano. Volcano Island contains a lake about 2 kilometers across, called Crater Lake. Within Crater Lake is another small volcanic island, called Vulcan Point. Vulcan Point is the world’s largest island within a lake on an island within a lake on an island.

On a clear day, Taal Volcano is best viewed from Tagaytay City ridge, the highest point in Cavite at 640 meters above sea level. The People’s Park in the Sky, formerly known as the Palace in the Sky, stands on the highest point of Tagaytay City. It was built for the official state visit of the former US President Ronald Reagan, but Reagan cancelled his trip due to political unrest during that time. It’s an unfinished 4-storey structure that offers the most spectacular view of Tall Lake and Volcano, Laguna de Bay and Manila Bay. The palace was crumbling the last time I was there---it’s hard to imagine the affluence it enjoyed during the heyday of the Marcoses.

For more Sky Watch Friday photos, please visit Wiggers World.