Sicily & The Aeolian Islands: Vulcano

Our second walk was a day trip to Vulcano, which is a short boat ride South of Lipari. As you might guess from the name, it's a small island that consists of little more than a vulcano and a small port. Our walk went straight from the port to the foot of the volcano, then quite steeply up to the top (at slightly over 900'). There was a sulphurous smell as we approached the top. The reason became clear when we got there - big yellow-tinged clouds emerging from the earth. It was easy to dislodge a chunk of sulphur from the ground. Breathing at the top was actually quite uncomfortable. Headwater's instructions suggested that it was possible to walk around the rim of the crater. The walking would not have been too challenging. However, it was hard enough to breath out of the sulphurous clouds, and we would have to have braved the worst of them, so we declined that opportunity. We did watch a young (and foolhardy) couple make the circuit.

It started to rain as we desecnded, so we had a longish tasty lunch by the port. Alex decided he would try the natural thermal pool. We offered moral support i.e. we watched with our raincoats on. The pool looked to me like it had been used to mix cement. Our instructions told us to be careful on the black sand on beach - it gets hot enough to burn feet. Not today though, especially wearing hiking boots. Instead, there were hundreds of colourful stranded jellyfish. We took an early boat back, and had another nice dinner - indoors this time. By this time, a large holiday group from The Ramblers was at the hotel. They all talked loudly and incessantly - the noise wasn't helped  by the echoey surroundings.

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