Tuesday, September 15, 2009

From the sea level to the top of Sicily


A 3 Star BCU Sea Kayak British fellow and his Irish girlfriend had come to Sicily for having some adventure and fun in the outdoor. Andy and Aoife are very well trained and I easily teach them some sea kayaking tricks like the wet exit and the T rescue, just in case of capsizing. The very warm water helps a lot and encourage in playing with the boat down under...

We start to paddle along the coast north of Catania, towards the protected area of Lachea Island and the stacks of Acitrezza, where we meet Gianfranco that happily join to our paddling. The weather is nice, a bit windy, but when Aoife ask for a refreshing swim I suggest that we can wait for a shower. I’ve never experienced such a strong rain in a kayak! Was barely possible to see but very easy to drink a lot of water.


The rain last few minutes, after which the sun soon return, finding us protected under the porch of a Bar... in time for lunch.

The day 2 is dedicated to the volcano Etna. We leave from Catania at 6 in the morning and we start to climb at 7. Aoife is very fast and any drop of sweat will be on her for all the 6 hours walking, covering a distance of about 10 km and an ascent of about 1.540 meters. Andrea, who joined us at the last minute, stops at 2.800 meters. Me and Andy run after Aoife, reaching the rim of the NE crater, at 3.300 meters above sea level.

The three hours walking down is mainly done into a thick fog, without the help of any compass, useless into the metal rich lava terrains.

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