Aeolian Islands, Sicily
After travelling across the Atlantic and narrowly avoiding having our travel plans disrupted by a volcanic eruption in Iceland, we reached the largest and most important island in the Mediterranean: Sicily. The bustling, chaotic port of Palermo was our gateway to an adventure through the most spectacular islands of this ancient sea, and at the conclusion of our day exploring the city we boarded the National Geographic Explorer to begin our voyage both through the modern-day Mediterranean and thousands of years back in time.
The geographical location of Sicily has always made it an incredibly important strategic point, and as such it as been fought over since the dawn of civilization, being dominated by rulers as diverse as the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans and the Spanish. Our presentation series this voyage started off with a talk by Historian and Archaeologist Robyn Woodward about the early Greek history of Sicily, in preparation for the awe-inspiring archaeological sites, museums and remains that we are to encounter over the next few days.
We awoke to an exciting morning update by our Expedition Leader, Tom O’Brien, inviting us out on deck to view strangely-named volcanic cones rising out of the flat calm sea on our starboard side: Alicudi and Filicudi. We had reached the Aeolian Islands, of mythical fame, home to gods and goddesses of ancient Greece. The strong winds that give the archipelago its name have carved sheer cliffs and strange rocky formations in the flanks of these volcanoes, and the fiery nature of the area is far from extinct, with visible eruptions and fumerole activity to this day.
We dropped anchor off the island of Lipari, the largest of the group, and took Zodiacs into an incredibly picturesque little town, built of soft-coloured limestone houses at the foot of what was once an old Spanish castle and fortified town. We took a drive around the island to enjoy the spectacular scenery and colourful fields full of spring flowers, stopping here and there to admire the views of cliffs and beaches and the old pumice quarry. We then had a choice to wander the streets to enjoy the laidback island life, or walk up to the fortified town to see the wonderful archaeological museum housing rich collections of prehistoric and classical finds, outstanding among which are the Greek vases and ancient theatre masks.
Once back on board, we joined the officers and staff in the lounge for a welcome aboard party, followed by a dinner of delicious specialties from the region – but the surprises were not over, as we sailed past the northeastern-most island in the group, the famed Stromboli. This volcano has been active for over 2000 years and its warm red glow has been used as a beacon by travelers for over 20 centuries. Our skillful captain maneuvered to have the stern of the National Geographic Explorer facing the dark looming outline of the volcano, and we settled back after dinner to enjoy a wonderful starry sky (brought to life by Naturalist Tom Ritchie and his powerful laser pointer) while waiting for the warm glow to offer more of a show. And we were not disappointed, as several times, to the delighted exclamations of all, lava was spewed up into the sky to land along the rim of the crater – a common experience shared over time by all those who came through Sicily.
