Eliot Elisofon photographing crater of Mount Nyiragongo, the Virunga Mountains, Congo (Democratic Republic)

The Virunga Mountains are a chain of volcanoes in East Africa, along the northern border of Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda. The mountain range is a branch of the Albertine Rift, a part of the Great Rift Valley. They are located between Lake Edward and Lake Kivu. The mountain range consists of eight major volcanoes. Most of them are dormant, except Mount Nyiragongo (3,462 m) and Mount Nyamuragira (3,063 m) in the Congo. These volcanoes erupted most recently in 2006. Mount Karisimbi (4,507 m) is the highest volcano, followed closely by Mount Mikeno (4,437 m). The oldest mountain is Mount Sabinyo (3,634 m). This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for National Geographic and traveled to Africa from January 19, 1972 to mid April 1972.