Nyiragongo volcano

After crossing the border and driving through Goma, we headed toward Mount Nyiragongo,one of the only active volcanoes in the world that you can climb. It is over 3,700 meters above sea level and the crater 250 meters deep and two kilometers wide.
The hike up and down Nyiragongo takes two days. The first day is about six hours of hiking across lava rocks that are left from the 2002 eruption of the volcano.
When we were about halfway up the volcano, we turned around and realized we had begun our hike by climbing a smaller, inactive volcano right next to Nyiragongo.The hike is tough, but the view from the top makes it absolutely worth the effort. We arrived at the rim of the crater around five o'clock in the afternoon and had a perfectly clear view of the lava lake within the volcano's crater. Our guide was as amazed by the view as we were - he said it was the clearest he'd seen the crater in fifteen years. We sat just on the edge of the rim for the next several hours, amazed by the bubbling lava below.
While we watched the lava, our porters had set up camp, just a few meters away from the rim of the volcano on a small ledge. When we were frozen from the wind where we were sitting, we walked over to the small camp to sit around the fire and eat some dinner (thank you everyone for the care packages of tuna fish and granola bars!)

Before long, the sun began to set over the crater.
Although the steam adn smoke grew thicker as it got darker, the lava began to glow more and more brightly, and I understood how it could be seen from kilometers and kilometers away.The evening just became more and more amazing when we realized that there was a full moon overhead and, not just a full moon, but a full lunar eclipse.
The next morning we were up early to pack up camp and head down the volcano.
The hike down was much quicker than the hike up but not necessarily much easier. Each step had to be taken cautiously lest we slip in the skree and slide down the side of the volcano. Still, we were back at the base in only three or three and a half hours and not long afterwards were on a bus back to Kigali.