I don’t think I really need to describe Santorini to anyone who knows the Greek islands. We're all familiar with the whitewashed towns perched on the sheer clifftop. When people ask for a “photograph of Greece” they will, in all probability, be offered a photo of Santorini. Nearly all of the cruise ships that sail the Greek islands call there, although none but the smallest ferries can use the quay. The larger ships must always anchor, and land their passengers by tender.

Thira, the island’s main town also known as Thera or Fira, is indeed a charming place, with stunning views out to sea -- and, if you stay long enough, a sunset to kill for. Since I’d already toured Thira (and ridden a donkey to ascend the cliff to town from the harbor), I decided to be a bit clever on my most recent cruise of the Aegean Sea, and sample another one of Santorini’s attractions: the outlying volcanic island of Nea Kameni. And, if you think it sounds like “New Chimney,” well, that’s more or less what it is.

I was hoping only a handful of like-minded souls would join us, and we’d have the place almost to ourselves. But, we filled two kaikis, and there were another two cruise ships in the harbor. If you’re not on a cruise, or you want to go independent, just about every boatman in the harbour is offering trips to “see the volcano.”

Volcanic eruptions create islands, craters

Around 1450 B.C. Santorini erupted, to cause the biggest bang in recorded history, and to wipe out a civilization -- although just how depends on which television archaeologist you believe. This eruption left the world’s biggest caldera, or crater, and all that remains of the walls are the main island, and that of neighboring Thirassia. Eight more eruptions have occurred since then. The fourth, which happened around the beginning of the eighteenth century, caused the island of Nea Kamini to appear. Subsequent eruptions, the latest in 1950, caused the island to grow in size, and eventually engulf the nearby island of Mikri Kamini, which made its first appearance in the sixteenth century. That’s only yesterday, when you think of the millions of years normally talked about in geological circles!

Today, Nea Kamini is an uninhabited pile, devoid of all vegetation, and looking more like a slag-heap than anything else. But, nevertheless, it’s an interesting slag-heap. Nobody lives there. “Who would want to?” asked one visitor.

Certainly, there are a lot of uninhabited islands in Greece. But, the islanders often ferry their sheep or goats out to them, to be left to graze. And, in times past, the shepherd or goatherd would stay with his flock, lodging in a temporary shelter.

But, there’s not a drop of greenery anywhere on Nea Kamini. If you like the life of a hermit, you can get by without electricity or a telephone, I thought, and there are frequent boats that ferry to and from the main island … but you can’t manage without fresh water. There isn’t a drop on the island, apart from what was in the bottles we’d been exhorted to bring.

Getting to Nea Kamini

Our cruise ship stopped briefly to let us take a tender to Athinios, before sailing on to its anchorage off Thira; there, we transferred to a kaiki, a wooden fishing boat.

There are two small harbors on Nea Kamini, where the kaikis tie up. These boats, plus a rack holding explanatory leaflets in most languages, aerials for monitoring the volcano and rope to ensure the visitors don’t fall into the many craters, are about the only man-made things you will see.

Close up, the landscape looked even more barren than it did from the boat. Stephanos, our guide, explained to ground rules. Keep to the path at all times, he said. That was easy enough … broad paths seemed to run everywhere. Don’t leave any litter; if you brought it, take it away. I had a sudden vision of the volcano erupting, and spraying out a fountain of plastic water-bottles, drink cans and candy wrappers!

Finally, he warned grimly, if you want to use the toilet, go before you leave the kaiki. There are no facilities on the island. A line immediately formed outside the restroom!

Touring Nea Kamini

The first stop was at the oldest crater on the island, which, not too long ago, was a separate island, Mikra Kamini, until the 1920’s, when it was completely engulfed by lava from a new crater, christened “Daphne.” Not a place of great beauty, apart from the view across the caldera, with its imposing cliff wall, with the whitewashed Thira looking like snow on a mountain, perched on top of it. The crater Daphne also gave us a view of the neighboring islands of Palea Kamini and, beyond it, the little islet of Aspronissi.

But, meanwhile, the poor guide was trying to condense nearly 4,000 years of history into the few minutes allowed to him. Actually, it worked out rather well. As he gave his presentation in English, the French-speakers drifted around and took photographs, and when he switched to French, we changed places.

And, all the time, we were glancing eastwards, towards a massive double crater called “George,” after George I, the then King of Greece, where some of the rocks gave off a slight vapor. The guide said it was steam, and quite normal, and it did that all the time. If the crater started emitting smoke, it was time to worry … and I resolved that, if it did so, the nearest person to our boat would be the second person into it. But, secretly, I was rather pleased, for, so far, we had seen little evidence of present volcanic activity.

Of course, we had to walk around “George,” and, on the eastern side, we saw some fumaroles: holes giving off steam and smelling slightly of bad eggs. Sulphur dioxide, I remembered from long ago chemistry lessons. Evidence enough, I think, that Nea Kamini isn’t extinct; it’s merely dormant.

The last eruption of the volcano on Nea Kamini was in 1950. It was only a slight one by world standards, and did little besides altering the shape of the island once more. However, another one could happen any time, but, we were told, there was no immediate danger of that happening. It was being monitored very closely, and would give plenty of warning.

“And, if that happens,” said our guide, “we have a very good tour of the vineyards on the main island we can do instead!”