Climbing Mount Etna and feeling the heat in Sicily!

We are currently parked up at campsite Paradiso del Mare (N36° 56’18” E15° 10’39”) and making the most of the lovely shade it has to offer, as we are suffering from the heat! 

Luckily it is only 50 metres to the sea for us to enjoy a nice dip, even at 8pm at night!

On the beach at 8pm, as the sun was going down.  Still 31°C  but enjoying the cool breeze from the sea.

We have been experiencing temperatures as high as 38°C and only dropping to 29°C at night, making it hard to sleep.  I know we shouldn’t complain but we would love to see some rain and a bit of cool weather – well, just for a day or two maybe.  Don't think there is any chance of that though, looking at the 7-day forecast!

Sicily forecast for the next 7 days.

Before coming here we had stopped one night at La Timpa campsite at Acireale.  The campsite was built high up on a rock and you had to get a lift (that was built in to the rock) down to the sea.

It's a long way down to that Sea!

The campsite had been recommended to us from a Brit couple we had met in Morocco and told us the pizza at the campsite restaurant is delicious, so we had to try them!  We think it is the best pizza we had ever had.

P
Enjoying pizza at Campsite La Timpa

The Previous night was spent on Mount Etna (N37.69926 E15.00042), yes I know that sounds crazy, who stops the night on an active volcano?... us!  We were parked up at 1920 meters up the volcano, next to the 1983 crater alongside a Dutch couple we had met at the previous campsite.

Parked up for the night on Mount Etna - not a bad view from our windows looking up to the top of the volcano!

We made sure we noted all exits from the car park should the volcano start smoking!  The 1983 crater is full of rubbish – unfortunately, this is becoming a typical site in Italy, rubbish everywhere!

The 1983 Mount Etna Crater - now full of rubbish

Mount Etna is Europe’s largest active volcano, 3350 metres high, with a surface area of approximately 1,200kms, and is one of the most active in the world.  We couldn’t come to Sicily and not visit it, although we knew it was going to be an expensive trip, €126 to be precise - 2 ½ days worth of our weekly budget!

You can walk so far up it but it’s a long winding trudge up through the lava so we decided to take the cable car - €30 each and that just takes you to an altitude of 2,500 metres.  From here you can only walk so far without a guide, so we figured if we were going to climb Mount Etna we needed to get as close as we could to this giant beast.  So, we paid another €66 to get an 4x4 bus ride and guide to take you as close as you can to the volcano that safety regulations allow, about 2,900 metres.

Going up Mount Etna Cable Car

As far as you can go on the 4x4 Mount Etna bus!

You then walk with the guide around some of the highest craters.

Mel surveying the size of the craters from 2001.  Being up here did feel a bit surreal at times, the size of the craters are immense and we tried to imagine what it must of been like for the people below when it erupted, or should I say when it erupts again, which must be a scary thought for those living in the towns around it.

Mel wanting a souvenir from the volcano!

The very dusty road snaking up Mount Etna.

The lava strewn road snaking up Mount Etna

We got to touch some of the lava which was still hot from the 2001 eruption, apparently it goes that deep into the ground and takes 20 years to cool down!

The 2001 eruption (southern slope) destroyed the cable car and skiing facilities and the road leading up to the crater all the way down to the car park that we were currently parked up in (Rifugio Sapienze). Yes, some crazy people do ski between December and February on Mount Etna!

These chair lifts look very old, not sure I would go up on them!

The last time Mount Etna erupted was mid-February this year, erupting rock and ash 650 feet into the air and injured 10 people from a BBC film crew - we started to wonder how safe we were being this close but the guide assured us that the activity within the volcano is closely monitored.  As another puff of smoke comes from the volcano!

A 'puff' of smoke coming out of Mount Etna

After not a bad night’s sleep on Mount Etna, (due to fairly high winds and worrying about it erupting!) we decided to climb a couple of more craters caused by the eruptions of 2001.

It's hard work walking up this lava - Mel compared it to a Welsh coal mining area from the 1960s

It's a long way down this crater!

Crater Silvestri

Sitting on the beach today we have seen a lot of water carrying planes fly over; apparently there are a few forest fires on the island, due to the heat.  Hopefully, they get them under control and the heat on the island dies down! Tomorrow we are off to Siracusa (on the scooter), the birth place of that great thinker, Archimedes.

Sally x