At 3 o’clock in the morning, we headed for Nyiragongo’s crater a hundred meters above our campsite. We trudged quite slowly facing fierce winds in our drenched clothes from the previous day’s rain. Our group of 10 was not composed of the most skilled hikers, but we were motivated to see the world’s largest lava lake.

Guided by a park guard, we reached the crest, turned off our flashlights, turned on our cameras, laid our bellies against the slope and stretched our heads over the edge. Through the smoke we stared 700 meters below, twice the Eiffel Tower, where the earth was boiling. Our faces were illuminated by a 250 meters wide fluid lava lake in full activity. There are only three of those in world today.

Suddenly, a feeling of miniature overcame my thoughts, similar to the empty feeling I get when I stare at the stars for too long. A Nigerian friend who had climbed Nyiragongo the year before told me “he had starred into God’s eye”.

Nyiragongo has a very special relationship with the residents of Goma as well. In its two most recent eruptions, lava spilled straight into city center to end its course in Lake Kivu. In the last eruption, in January 2002, a fifth of the half million inhabitants lost their homes. Yet, despite all the warnings of another disaster, they have rebuilt their homes over where they once stood: over the lava.

Goma is the second city most at risk from a volcano after the city of Catania beside Etna in Italy. According to Jacques Durieux, a volcanologist who leads the Observatoire volcanologique de Goma, history has never witnessed the relocation of inhabitants in face of a potential disaster, San Francisco being a good example.

Nyiragongo doesn’t pose an immediate threat to Goma today, but volcanoes change behaviors unpredictably. Sooner or later, history will repeat itself according to Mr. Durieux.

Before that happens, and the probable disappearance of the lava lake, it might just be the right time to visit Nyiragongo, that is, if you’re in the neighborhood.

Audio: Listen to Arnaud's piece for BBC Radio exactly last year when he met villagers who had lost everything. At the end of the piece, the kids sing:"Nyira sleep, God above us, bring us to Rwanda when the lava comes again."

Update: Check out some photos I was able to collect.