It’s quite strange to keep lifting your feet and checking the soles of your hiking boots every few moments to make sure they are not melting. But then nothing is normal standing on a volcano.
If we had a stick, we would have poked the lava flowing less than a metre from our feet. It would have burnt instantly. But then we have already been warned to keep away from trees on the lava fields as they could explode without warning. Standing there, without another soul in sight, was one of those moments I knew we had to savour as it would be a lifetime highlight.
(January 2001)
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