Lake Lanutavake

Wallis is dotted with crater lakes sitting in old volcanic vents, and Lanutavake is one of the ones you can actually get down to, the banks sloping rather than dropping vertically the way Lalolalo's do. The water is dark and still, ringed by heavy vegetation, and people swim and fish in it. Tracks run in from the road that crosses the middle of the island. Wallis has no rivers at all, so the crater lakes are the only open fresh water on the island. The lake lies in the district of Mu'a, northeast of Fineveke, and Mozambique tilapia were introduced into it in 1966.

The landscape

• The crater - the old volcanic vent the lake fills.
• The sloping banks - ground you can reach the water down.
• The dark water - the still surface under the surrounding growth.
• The vegetation - the heavy cover ringing the lake.

When to go

May to October is the drier season. Tracks are muddy after rain. Mornings are stillest on the water.

Things to know

Tracks in are unmarked and local direction helps. Mosquitoes around the lake are severe. There are no facilities of any kind.

Nearby

Lake Lalolalo is west, and Mata-Utu is northeast.

Key facts