When you walk on Etna’s craters you can imagine how rich the mineral-filled lavic soil will one day become. It takes 100 to 700 years for lava soil to support new vegetation growth. One of the first natural plants to return (and pictured here) is Sicilian astragalus. Others include camomile flowers, Etna rennet, and tansy to name a few. Mosses also start to form. When at the Silvestri Craters, be sure to look for ladybugs, one of the first insects to come back after an eruption.

I took this photo standing inside one of the Silvestri Craters that were formed from an eruption in 1892. Can you see the people walking on the rim?

(Where we would have been today. #stunningsicily)