Adventures on Etna

Yesterday I signed up to go on a group tour of Mount Etna and it was great! The green land Rover picked us (me and my new Russian friend Margarita) up at the hostile at 930 and we made our way out of the city through the morning traffic (which is really really shitty here). There were 7 people on the tour not including our guide; a couple from Paris, a mother father and college age daughter from Germany, margarita and myself. I sat in the very pack of the jeep with the french couple and let me tell you're it was a bumpy ride. I am very very very glad I took that dramamine. After about 20 min of highway driving we pulled off and started to make our way up the winding roads on the north east side of the mountain. We took a pee and coffee break at a little town about half way up and talked a little it about the history of the volcano.

The roads surrounding and leading up to the volcano are all surrounded by lava fields. After about 10 min we jumped back in the car and continued our trek up. Eventually we pulled off the winding road on to a very small, very bumpy logging road where, after a while, we parked and hiked up a short but steep distance to a small rock outcropping overlooking the lava fields.

 This was super cool. There are 2 major valleys surrounding the volcano and before they were valleys they were volcanos (like many many thousands of years ago). Eventually they collapsed in on themselves and created 2 craters over 1000 meters deep. These 2 valleys now catch most of the lava flow from Etna saving the towns below like Catania, Taormina, and many others. Apparently many tourist and hikers not familiar with hiking volcanos try to cross these lava fields and end up either badly injured or dead. The lava on the fields has not been worn down by wind, rain, or earth to the soft sand or brittle lava stones, its still sharp as glass. In the past, houses, churches, and other buildings once stood in this area and were surrounded and covered by lava flow, creating a hollow space, making it very easy for hikers to fall through.

 After looking at the fields from the outcropping we jumped back into the jeep and made our way up higher to another point on Etna. We hiked up to a place on the side of the volcano where in the 60's a huge crack was formed and 6 giant hills were formed.

 We climbed up the lava hills, very slippery because of the black sand, and walked across the 6 hills. Inside one of the 6 a new mouth was forming and we could see inside another where a hole had formed to expel carbon monoxide from the volcano (it is no longer active).

After we hiked back to the jeep and drove about 10 min down the mountain to another part where we could go inside a lava flow cave. Usually these caves take thousands of years to make but some are formed in a matter of weeks depending on the eruption and the topography of the area. The one we went in was formed very quickly, in about a month and had been there for a long time. Before refrigerators people of the surrounding towns would look for holes and caves on the side of Etna and fill them with snow so they could store food  and sell the snow to the coastal towns in the summer. As you can see the cave was very cool and had been dug out on one end and used to store food.

After the cave we jumped back in the jeep ready for lunch! We drove the winding roads around the mountain to the Gambino winery (Etna is very good for growing grapes and nuts until about 1000/1500 meters. There is no vegetation after 2000/2500 meters). At the winery we tasted 2 reds and 2 whites and ate cheese, olives, salami, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes and bread. The food and wine were fantastic and unlimited!

After lunch we drove to a town carved out of the side of the mountain, very picturesque.

We stopped at a great place where a river had cut through a lava flow, very beautiful.

 We then began the long way back to Catania. As it turns our our guide is a bee keeper as well as a tour guide and he offered us a free honey tasting at the organic bee place that he works at. The honey was delicious and has won international honey competitions.

After our little detour (not included in the tour) we went back to Catania. Margarita and I were dropped off in the city center so we could grab dinner (it was around 8 by time we got back to the city). I got the marinated seafood, sooooo good, and the pasta.

We made our way back to the hostel around 10 and went to bed!