Kamchatka’s UNESCO-listed Valley of the Geysers Open for Business
Mariana Noble
In the spring of 2007, a massive landslide disrupted a key area of the Volcanoes of Kamchatka World Heritage Site in eastern Russia. The Valley of the Geysers, discovered in 1941, is located in a hidden canyon deep in the territory of the Kronotsky Biosphere Preserve on the volcanic Kamchatka Peninsula. Geysers, mud pots, thermal springs and steam vents erupt from the valley floor, and boardwalks thread their way through the heated landscape.
Debris from the landslide formed a natural dam in the river above some of the valley's biggest geysers, and news bulletins at the time reported that the new lake had silenced eight of them.
By September of that year, however, World Wildlife Fund reported that two of the most familiar, including "Bolshoi" (Big) Geyser and "Pervenets" (First-born) Geyser had re-appeared as floodwaters drained.
This June, a report from a Seattle tour operator with partners on the Kamchatka Peninsula asserts that all but one, the “Maly” (Small) Geyser, have resumed their characteristic pulsing. And the Kamchatka agent claims that the newly-created lake “adds zest” to the site.
For information about tours to Kamchatka, or to get a free catalog, contact Charity at MIR Corporation charity@mircorp.com, call 800-424-7289 or click on www.mircorp.com. MIR still has limited space available on its August departure of Kamchatka: Reindeer Herders and the Ring of Fire. With its backbone of active volcanoes, the Kamchatka Peninsula is celebrated for the abundance of its wildlife, the diversity and vitality of its indigenous peoples – and its extraordinary geysers.
