At the Intersection of Work and Life - Welcome to the Blog and Website of Christine Amour-Levar
  • Home
  • About
  • HER Planet Earth
  • Women On A Mission
  • Consultancy
  • Talks
  • Press
  • Articles
  • Book
  • Contact
Picture

Christine Amour-Levar

​Explorer by Nature, Pioneer & Changemaker by Choice

Mount Pinatubo

1/11/2014

 
This article was first published in Urban Nomads website.
Picture
When Mount Pinatubo erupted in June 1991, it spewed out more than five cubic kilometres of magma and sent an ash cloud 35 kilometres into the air. It was the second largest eruption of the 20th century, exceeded only by the 1912 eruption of Mount Novarupta in Alaska. Today, if you drive out two hours from Manila to the historic town of Capas in the Tarlac Province of the Philippines, you can follow a 25-kilometre trail to the stunning crater of this 1,486-metre-high volcano.

Four-wheel-drive vehicles take you across approximately 16 kilometres of the terrain, through a deserted valley flanked by huge lahar mountains, formed by the tremendous volume of mud and ash deposited after the eruption.
​
After a somewhat jerky and dusty hour-long ride, I am dropped off at the beginning of the path where I begin my hike. Two hours later, as I arrive at the Crater Lake, the ridges of the volcano level down, and the panorama opens up before me. Steep mountain walls on all sides encapsulate the vivid blue-green lake, which is 2.5 kilometres in diameter, and about 800 metres deep – incidentally making it the deepest lake in the country.
Standing on the very edge of the crater, the landscape, which unfolds below, appears to belong to a new world – stunning, unexpected, and unspoilt. The lake, hidden away in the middle of the volcano like a glittering gem, instantly conjures for me the pristine scenery of the biblical Garden of Eden, so poetically depicted in Milton’s Paradise Lost.

It’s windy suddenly, almost chilly, and as if hearing me shiver, the noon sun comes out beyond the clouds, bathing the entire crater in a vibrant, warm glow. The water too, deepens in hue, altering in colour, to become even more luminous. Faced with so much raw beauty, all the distractions and noises fade away, and I lose all sense of time and space in this magnificent, immaculate setting…
    Picture

    Christine 
    ​Amour-Levar

    Purpose-Driven Leader | Human Rights & Sustainability Advisor | Climate Investor | Founder of 2 Award-Winning NGOs | Best-Selling Author | TEDx Speaker | Wife & Mother of Four 

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Organisations
    HER Planet Earth - Founder & CEO ​
    Women On A Mission - Co-Founder
    CAL Consultancy - Founder
    We Can Be Heroes - Founder


    ​Board & Advisory Roles
    Investible VC - Board Director
    ZeroWaste SG​ - Vice-Chair of the Board

    Top Tier Impact - ESG Investor Relations Advisor
    Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) - Board Advisor
    Accelerating Asia VC Fund - Gender Advisory Committee
    Women for Women International - ​Global Advisor to the Board
    NINEby9 - Board Advisor 
    Bixie - Advisor
    Cartier - Mentor CWI
    Crust Group - Advisor
    Market for Good - Advisor


    Memberships
    Women in Sustainability & Environment (WISE)
    KeyNote Women Speakers
    FCA Singapore 
    Filipina Women's Network
    Soho House - Committee

    ​
    Ambassador Roles
    Lightfoot Travel
    1880
    Women4Impact
    Sulubaaï Environmental Foundation


    Books
    Wild Wisdom - Author 
    ​The Smart Girl's Handbook to Being Mummylicious - Author
    DISRUPT 3.0, Filipina Women Rising - Co-Author

    Archives

    October 2021
    March 2020
    February 2020
    August 2019
    January 2019
    March 2018
    December 2017
    September 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    April 2015
    October 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    Categories

    All
    Conservation
    Expedition
    Iceland
    Kenya
    Philippines
    Sailing
    Vietnam

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
  • HER Planet Earth
  • Women On A Mission
  • Consultancy
  • Talks
  • Press
  • Articles
  • Book
  • Contact