So today we were up early, because today we are going to see a volcano! Mount Etna to be exact. The paperwork said something about being able to see the Silvesti Crater and it was down as the recommended tour.
We were docked In Catania, where Mount Etna dominates the skyline. The air was clear, and we watched as the mountain belched steam into the sky. All very exciting.
It was a long bus ride, taking us from sea level up the side of the volcano to a height of 2000m. This is nowhere near the top because you need the cable car and a 4 wheel drive to take you the next 700m. As the coach climbed, our surroundings changed. The busy city and urban streets disappeared, replaced with the black splintered rocks and boulders of lava flows. There were so many of them! Everywhere you looked you could see another, and be able to follow its route down the mountain.
We learned about the various eruptions from our guide. The most recent happened in 1983 and 2002, and the lava flows that we could see were from those eruptions. Apparently, it takes 100 years for the vegetation to grow back and cover it up.
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| A house buried in the lava flow from 1983 |
We did get to see a small crater left by a previous eruption, but was slightly disappointing not to be able to get closer to the summit, and most of the passengers eyed the cable cars longingly, Sadly there was no time. The views were awesome though.
Then it was a long bus ride back to the port. I'm glad we took the tour, now we can say we've been on Mount Etna, I even have a few rock samples to prove it. But, if I get the chance to visit another volcano, we may do things differently.
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