Go Etna Tours 4wd picked us up at our B&B just before 9am
and we made our way NW to meet up with three other 4wds. The 20 odd on the tour came from all over Europe and we're a happy bunch. We clambered over old lava beds, crawled down a lava tube and climbed way up a cinder cone for a great view of the steaming volcano. What looked like white snow from a distance was revealed to have lots of ash on it - no doubt from the recent eruption. Our guide told us that the ash from Etna closes the Catania airport a number of times each year. It might account for the very grubby buildings in the town too.
We had a brilliant three course, typically Sicilian lunch accompanied by local light luncheon red wine. Shared with a lovely couple from Germany (a vet and a doctor) and their son Duncan and another lovely couple from Devon and their son Louis.
Our afternoon excursion was through the the mountains and hillside villages NE of Mt Etna and ended up at an amazing slot canyon (chasm). It is believed to have been caused by a fracture/weakness across an ancient basaltic lava flow. There was a fast flowing young river running through it carrying silt that gave it a milky colour. The wisteria is in full bloom here at the moment and is just stunning.
We meandered back to Catania along an interesting myriad of back roads, stopping at one point to 'borrow' some oranges from a tree.
Our laugh of the day was when a wizened up old man, driving a clapped out little car went past with the radio blaring pop music - we reckoned he was either deaf or couldn't work out how to turn it off. We were on a tiny road in the middle of nowhere at the time and it really was so funny.