I scrawled a signature with my left hand to confirm I was in peak physical condition for the guided ascent. Despite the warmth I wore a jumper to cover the plaster in case it caused concern. One of the Aeolian Islands, north of Sicily, Stromboli consists of its 924m volcano with 2 small villages clinging to its slopes. Constantly active, its last major eruption was in 2007, flattening 2 houses and spewing large rocks over the island.
The afternoon climb through lush vegetation was easy enough. After scrunching through a larva field we donned helmets and warm clothes before going up the windswept ridge to reach the summit. There we had the drama of not only a beautiful sunset lighting up a layer of cloud below us, but 170m down in a crater was a pool of glowing magma spitting out molten rock. Our walk was timed for sunset so that the red hot rock became increasingly visible amidst the swirl of smoke emanating from many places around the crater.
Our descent down a steep slope of soft volcanic ash was therefore in darkness. Our guide suggested we slid using our heels as if we were skiing. He didn't realise that if I did that I was likely to end up with another broken arm...
Stromboli slideshow
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