In honor of Valentines Day here is a photo of Antonio and me at the top of Nyiragongo volcano in Virunga National Park in the eastern part of DRC. This was a challenging hike up the side of a very steep and high volcano. It took us about six hours with regular breaks.

The eastern part of the country is infested with rebels coming in from Rwanda and Uganda. The two armed guards that led us up the volcano told us that just that morning over 200 Rwandan rebels had crossed the border into the park not too far from where we were. This definitely added to the excitement of climbing the volcano.

Thankfully we never encountered any of those rebels. We slept peacefully on the edge of this very active volcano in very basic tents provided by the park. I spent most of the night shivering inside my tent because it was so cold and I didn’t think to bring a jacket. We were in Congo after all. Antonio was so excited about the volcano that he kept running back and forth from the tent to the edge and taking photos of himself in front of the glow. Each time he’d ask, “Why don’t you come out here? It’s so amazing!” Then he finally realized that if he lent me his jacket I might come out and play. So that’s me on the edge with him, all bundled up in his jacket and admiring the glow, both inside and out.

We had only just begun dating at this point and this was the first of many adventures together. I had a feeling that it was something special and now, when I look back on these early times, I feel so lucky that we have kept on climbing together, overcoming many challenges, experiencing life’s most grand adventures, and all the while steadily stoking the flame and building a fire that will keep on burning, just like this volcano.

Magic 45, My Valentine and the Volcano, Top of Nyiragongo Volcano, Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo