Today was another early morning – we left the guesthouse at 06:30 to start the hike up the volcano, making full use of the cooler hours of the day.

The hike started fairly flat, leaving the village and then on to the slopes of Mount Doom – and from here it was up and up and more steeply up … gaining a good 1100m in elevation … hard work with great views all around. We made it to the crater rim at around 10:30 – now getting a view of the inside of the inner caldera including a whiff of sulfur. For the more adventurous ones there was the option to get to the actual peak of the volcano – at 2829m above sea level the highest point of the Cabo Verde archipelago. Getting there involved a bit of a climb – but the great views from the top made the effort worthwhile.

The hike down was a much quicker affair, we left the summit around 11:00, made our way back to the crater rim and started the descent – until we eventually hit an ash field. From here it was a simple downhill run with the volcanic ash absorbing any shocks. We lost a good 700m in elevation in about 20 minutes, making this the quickest descend by foot ever (well, for me). We made it back to town for a late lunch – and a well-deserved shower to remove that coating of sun screen and volcanic ash.

Before dinner we also had an introduction to the local winegrowing culture – incl. a tasting of the local caldera wines (which are widely available across the islands).