Cabo Verde/Fogo: Descending Pico do Fogo Volcano

While going up the volcano takes hours and serious rock scrambling, coming down takes mere 15-30 minutes as you slide or run down the steep volcano side in deep lava sand. Sandboarding could definitely be an option here, although the mountain is way too steep for that and at the bottom you end up right into the Pico Piqueno, the vent that erupted and exploded in 2014 with fountains of lava and huge lava flows that buried a nearby village. The area is still hot and smoldering and smells of sulphur. Climbing on the ledge above the crater was clearly not a safe idea either but what wouldn’t you do for a great photo-op.