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Lake Toba in North Sumatra is the world’s biggest caldera lake. The lake partly fills the massive hole left following the eruption of one of the earth’s six active super-volcanoes, some 74,000 years ago. After the caldera filled with water, magma began to push the lake floor up into a resurgent dome, creating Samosir Island, the Heart of Toba.

“…when Toba blew up some 74,000 years ago it dwarfed even Yellowstone, ejecting 2,800 cubic kilometers of material."  Imagine a tract of land 14 kilometers by 14 kilometers square, and 14 kilometers tall, blown out by a volcano.  "Ash buried areas of central India, nearly 5,000 km away, up to six meters deep.

It was the equivalent of more than 18 Mount Tamboras, or 2,800 Mount St Helens erupting together in one place.”

“Before we reached the village, we were reduced to bending double. Only by crouching down could we squeeze along the vague tunnel through the tangle of dense overgrown foliage: grasses, bracken, shrubs, and creepers, more than twice my height. Doubled over like this was a poor posture for good all-around vision. I could no longer effectively watch out for snakes.”

“…There are two types of cobra in Sumatra, the king cobra, Ophiophagus Hannah, and the Sumatran spitting cobra, Naja sumatran. Both can be deadly.”