13. '... they walked away from the Mountain that had returned them, the frightening Mount Etna.'

Janette Frawley
22 hours ago
3 min read

Yesterday's sea day was a chance to relax and to gather my strength for today because I am going mountain climbing this morning.

We sail into Giardini Naxos, Sicily this morning and anchor not too far from the shore. We will be getting a tender in again this morning. Thank goodness there is no sign of the two humungous ships that we came across two days ago in Kotor. Mount Etna dominates the landscape and there is a cloud over the peak. Along the coastline are lines of buildings from left to right and up the slopes of the mountains that form the backbone of Sicily.

We have an early start this morning and we make our way to the lounge to wait for our tour to be called. Eventually we are called and we huddle into a tender as we make our way to the shore.

It is about 35C already, so the heat is not abating.

We board a bus and begin the hour-long journey through Taormina to our destination, which is Mt Etna. The narrow winding road takes us along narrow streets, the width of the streets are slightly wider than the bus. Only one line of traffic can fit down these streets, and if I could open a window, I would be able to touch the houses as we pass. That is how much space there is between bus and building. We leave the town, stop briefly to pay a road toll, then begin the ascent towards Mt Etna. We see the extent of the lava flows over the centuries, including the earliest eruptions, which have now provided this area with fertile soil on which crops are grown. Between sea level and 500 metres, prickly pear, oranges, and vineyards dominate the landscape. Between 500 metres and 1500 metres, deciduous forests, pistachios and more varieties of grapes are grown. Between 1500 metres and 2,000 metres, we see pine and birch forests forests that prefer the cool mountain temperatures. Above 2,000 metres, only alpine and volcanic plants can survive. I see broom, which is an introduced weed in Australia, ragwort, lichens, mosses, and plants that can only survive the extremely cold, wind, and volcanic gas. As we climb further, the landscape changes to a moon-surface-like terrain. Black rocks that are tinged with red, gold, and other colours dominate the landscape.

We stop on top of one of the hills near the summit for a break and photo stop. The temperature has plummeted to about 25C, which is more comfortable than when we left this morning. The black lava looks fresh, and I do not ask how long it takes for the vegetation to start growing after an eruption. I should have.

I am surprised that although we are unlikely to see animals during the day, there is an abundance of fauna that lives on the volcano; foxes, wildcats, rabbits, hares, and bats live in the lava tubes and caves.

There are four craters here at Mt Etna, and although some people are given the opportunity to climb the highest of the craters, nobody takes up the offer. We set off to climb a medium-sized crater. The ground below our feet is finely-ground sand interspersed with red scoria and rocks that contain iron. As we reach the top, I can look down over a deep crater. Although I have no desire to walk down there (as I would have to walk back up), many people do. Down one side of the crater plenty of plants have taken hold of the steep black sides.

To be perfectly honest, today's excursion to Mt Etna has exceeded my expectations. Today, I was reminded of Rick Wakeman's Journey to the Centre of Earth where mythical explorers entered a volcano in Iceland and exited at Mt Etna. It may have been fiction, but standing on the brink of a crater surrounded by black lava is quite an exciting experience. I think I like rocks better than old towns - well I do today.