10 incredibly photogenic volcanoes

Standing proud at 4,200 feet, Kilauea's "lava lake reflects its fiery colors onto the plume and into the night sky, creating an amazing glow show," says Eric Leifer, tour guide at KapohoKine Adventures and a National Geographic explorer.

The deceivingly inviting turquoise lake of Kawah Ijen in Indonesia is composed of sulfuric acid. The volcano is famous for "blue fire" caused by sulfur gas burning as liquid sulfur cools into yellow blocks that miners cart away. It's best to watch your step on a volcano, even more so with a skin-melting lake.

This camera-ready volcano (Villarrica, Chile) also has a mountain lake and quaint village at the base. The view is stunning whether you're standing at the bottom or looking down into its bubbling lava lake.

It's best to start the hike at night to reach the top by morning. The perfect shot: sunrise through the Japanese Torii Gate at Fuji's summit.

The curious cloud formations offer an interesting photo op. If you're hiking through the home of mountain gorillas in East Africa, Virunga can offer spectacular photos of the elusive endangered species.

The aquamarine surface of Laguna Verde in Bolivia brilliantly captures the conical Licancabur volcano in the reflected surface.

The volcano is always bubbling and up to something. It's possible to catch a fantastic shot of Italy's Mount Etna looming over the picturesque town of Catania while Mother Nature is in action.

Costa Rica's Arenal volcano is known for its continuous pyroclastic and lava flows. The area is filled with wildlife like parrots, howler monkeys and deer.

Mayon in the Philippines is known for its perfect conical shape. Any angle provides a stunning picture.

It could be the icy blue tone of Cotopaxi's glacier, or the impressive 19,347 feet that makes it the poster child of Ecuador's natural beauty.

• Kilauea is the world's most active volcano, erupting continuously since 1983


• Kawah Ijen's pristine turquoise lake is composed of sulfuric acid


• The peaks of the volcanic Virunga Mountain chain are often shrouded by strange formations called "cloud caps."

(CNN) -- It's no surprise that dangerous locales are also often the most photogenic.

And that includes volcanoes, which have been in the news a lot in recent days.

Just recently a daredevil made the news for abseiling into the mouth of one, while a pilot in Iceland made headlines for diverting his plane to give passengers a better view of lava-spewing Bardarbunga.

Tourists captured these amazing images of the eruption of Mount Tavurvur in Papua New Guinea late last month.

No volcano should be tackled lightly -- these are mountains, after all, and if active they can give climbers tougher challenges than a bit of altitude sickness or fatigue.

Those who prepare correctly and find a good spot, however, will be rewarded with some fantastic vistas.

1. Kilauea, Hawaii, United States

Forget sun-swept beaches, surfers and grass skirts, the Hawaiian Islands are home to one of the most spectacular light shows on the planet.

Located in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the southern coast of Big Island, Kilauea is the world's most active volcano.

Standing proud at 4,200 feet (1,280 meters), it's been erupting continuously since 1983.

Adventure seekers may wish to hike over hardened lava fields to witness its power as lava hisses steaming into the sea.

"I've been a tour guide all over the world and there is nothing else quite like Kilauea," says Eric Leifer, a National Geographic explorer who also guides for KapohoKine Adventures.

"Once you stand on the edge of creation staring into that glowing caldera, a few things become quite clear: that we are small, life is short, and this world is beautiful."

Last major eruption: 1983

Best photo op: "A dramatic plume of gas and ash wafting out of the crater during the day," says Jessica Ferracane, public affairs specialist at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

"After dark, the lava lake reflects its fiery colors onto the plume and into the night sky, creating an amazing glow show."

If you go: Check out the many hikes and volcano viewing points available, no matter what your fitness level.

MORE: Insider Guide: Best of Honolulu

2. Kawah Ijen, East Java, Indonesia

A pristine turquoise lake crowns the crater of this spectacular 9,100-foot mountain in East Java.

But while the tropical color of the water may look inviting, it contains sulfuric acid.

Though Kawah Ijen is not currently erupting its restlessness can be sensed from underfoot as steam hisses from unseen vents in the crater surface.

The volcano is also famous for "blue fire," as the sulfur gas burns with an otherworldly hue at night. Liquid sulfur also cools into bright yellow blocks that local miners laboriously cart away to sell in nearby villages.

Those planning to go at night should carry a flashlight -- when there's a skin eating lake in the mix, it's best to watch your step.

Last major eruption: 1817

Best photo op: The electric blue sulfur -- if you're lucky. Something this unusual doesn't happen every day.

If you go: Start your trek in the town of Banyuwangi and consider hiring a local guide.

Snap-happy travelers will get the best of Villarrica from the top and base of the volcano.

3. Villarrica, Chile

What could be more photogenic than a lake bubbling with fiery hot lava?

At 9,300 feet, Villarrica is one of the few permanently active volcanoes in the world.

The lively lava lake in its crater is one of the southern Andes' hottest tourist attractions.

"The great thing about climbing Villarica is that it's accessible to most people of average fitness," says Steve Moore, adventurer and travel blogger on The Twenty First Century Nomad.

"The views from the top on a clear day are what really makes it special. And you get to slide down on your bum, too."

Add to Villarrica the pristine mountain lake and quaint little village of the same name at the mountain's base and you have yourself one heck of a camera-ready volcano.

Last major eruption: 2008

Best photo op: Your friends sliding down the snow chutes on their backsides. "You flow down the mountainside using your ice pick as a brake," says Olga Reimgen, co-founder of Epiclist.

"Some folks take it even bigger and carry their skis or snowboards to the top."

If you go: Many tour outfitters offer guided day trips to the summit at very reasonable rates.

MORE: 5 luxury vacations in Chile

4. Fuji, Japan

The sacred form of Mount Fuji has been enchanting humankind for more than 2,000 years -- in fact, it's Japan's number one tourist attraction and the mountain's iconic image can be found plastered on everything from T-shirts to coffee mugs.

More than 200,000 people climb this cherished 12,300-foot national symbol every year.

Because it's so well traversed it's well stocked for the tired trekker.

Ten stations mark the rocky trail up the side of the mountain, allowing hikers to fuel up on Japanese staples like noodles and sake.

There are even no-frills mountain huts where the weary can crash for around 5,000 yen ($47), but things can get crowded very fast.

Last major eruption: 1707

Best photo op: Sunrise through the traditional Japanese Torii Gate at Fuji's summit.

If you go: July and August are official climbing season. Most people begin the hike at night to reach the summit before sunrise.

Bring a headlamp and dress in layers if you want to make it to the top -- it can get very cold, even in the summer months.

5. Virunga Mountains, East Africa

No, it's not a UFO.

Those strange clouds that hover over the eight peaks of the volcanic Virunga Mountain chain on the boundaries of Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo are called "cloud caps," and give these mountains a strange, otherworldly aura.

"The cloud formations form around the top of the Virungas when wind is forced upwards after coming into contact with the mountain," says Praveen Moman, co-founder of Volcanoes Safaris and an Africa travel expert.

"The air cools until it reaches the dew point, which forms droplets visible as the cloud formations."

Last major eruption: Mount Nyamuragira in the Virunga Mountain Chain erupted in 2011.

Best photo op: The elusive endangered mountain gorillas that call these mountain slopes home.

If you go: It's not inexpensive to get to this part of the world, but if you do, trekking through the dense jungle surrounded by primates will leave you feeling like gorilla expert Dian Fossey.

The reflecting Laguna Verde gives lots of room to play with angles.

6. Licancabur, Bolivia

The turquoise lake sitting at the bottom of the 19,400-foot Licancabur Volcano looks like it belongs in another world.

This part of Bolivia straddles the border with Chile and is home to one of the largest salt flats in South America.

The dusty terrain looks more like a moonscape than any place on Earth, and the brilliant-hued and aptly named Laguna Verde glows like a mirage in the arid heat.

According to Jacquie Whitt, co-founder of Adios Adventure Travel, the best way to reach Licancabur is by jeep.

The trek starts at the Uyuni Salt Flats and passes bubbling mud pits and lagoons full of flamingos -- both vying with the volcano for the title of "most photogenic."

Last major eruption: Approximately 10,000 years ago.

Best photo op: In front of Laguna Verde with the conical Licancabur Volcano reflecting majestically on the glassy, aquamarine surface.

If you go: When booking a jeep trek, be aware that most operators combine groups to save costs.

If you don't want a shared tour with strangers, book a private tour and take your own guide.

7. Mount Etna, Italy

A 2013 addition to UNESCO's World Heritage list, Etna is the second most active volcano in the world and the highest one in Europe.

Looming above the picturesque town of Catania on the island of Sicily, Etna poses for curious tourists and also makes for an easy climb.

Italian scientist Luigi Vigliotti, a researcher at the Institute of Marine Sciences (ISMAR) in Bologna explains that although Etna erupts on a frequent basis, the eruptions are not characterized by explosive activity, making Etna a relatively safe volcano to scale.

Last major eruption: 2011

Best photo op: The ancient villages dotting the flank of the volcano, where hardy Italians have lived in the mountain's shadow since historical times.

If you go: Why not gorge on pasta before setting out to climb the mountain? You're in Italy after all, and you'll need your strength for the ascent.

MORE: Exploring Sicily's fiery Mount Etna volcano

8. Arenal, Costa Rica

Arenal looks pretty good for being 7,000 years old.

As the most active volcano in Central America and one of the 10 most active volcanoes in the world, Arenal is known for its continuous flows of lava and hot gas, and for containing some of the youngest rocks on the face of the Earth.

Ronald Calvo, geomorphologist, trip designer and tour leader for DuVine Cycling + Adventure Co., says the area surrounding Arenal is also a natural adventure park.

"Travelers can enjoy magnificent views of the cone shaped volcano while biking though the breathtaking landscape, zip lining over the forest's canopy and paddling in Lake Arenal," he says.

This area is also filled with wildlife; so expect to spot parrots, howler monkeys and deer as you make your way through this 29,692-acre national park.

Last major eruption: 1968

Best photo op: Arenal strikes a pretty magnificent pose as it is, but consider yourself lucky if you manage to capture a selfie with one of the hairy locals.

If you go: Rainy season is from May to January. Best plan accordingly.

A little volatile and dangerous, but the view from afar is still radiant.

9. Mayon, Philippines

On the Philippine island of Luzon, 206 miles (332 kilometers) southeast of Manila, stands one of the world's most active volcanoes.

Mt. Mayon towers over the city of Legaspi, its imposing shadow a constant reminder of Mother Nature's power.

Since 1616 this impressive stratovolcano has erupted 47 times, with many of the explosive blasts causing deadly mudflows and ash falls.

In 2013, five climbers died when they were hit by falling rocks thrown up by a particularly violent blast.

Steeped in mythology, the mountain is named after the uncle of a mythical princess who was renowned for her beauty, according to local legend.

The princess defied her uncle by running away with her lover and the mountain's rumblings are said to be the wrath of this jealous and violent relative.

Last major eruption: 1814

Best photo op: Anywhere. This volcano is known for it's perfect conical shape.

If you go: While Legaspi City may not offer a plethora of sightseeing activities, it does have a handful of hotels and amenities and is the best base for exploring this famous volcano.

MORE: 11 coolest towns in the Philippines

10. Cotopaxi, Ecuador

Cotopaxi may be difficult to pronounce, but according to Jacquie Whitt, co-founder of Adios Adventure Travel, it's not that difficult to climb.

"No experience is needed, but you must hire a licensed guide and rent crampons, an ice axe and harness if you want to summit," she says.

Surprisingly, considering the significant elevation, it's possible to reach the top of this particular portion of the Andes in just one day.

For the less adventure minded, Chilcabamba Eco Lodge's panoramic windows offer stunning views of Cotopaxi's archetypal cone shape.

Rising to a stately 19,347 feet, this impressive mountain is a poster child for the natural beauty of Ecuador.

Last major eruption: 1904

Best photo op: The icy blue tones of the mountain's glacier juxtaposed with the dramatic red earth beneath.

If you go: Keep in mind that as of 2012 all peaks in Ecuador over 16,000 feet must be climbed with a licensed guide.

Leslie Patrick is a travel writer who has written about everything from North Korean defectors to five star hotels. Her adventures have spanned 35 countries thus far and she blogs at Chic Adventurer.

World's most 'British' vacation?

Land Rover's testing ground is located in the 5,000-acre estate of UK's Eastnor Castle -- the destination of a new "Best of British" tour. Here, forest tracks, steep hills, deep water and plenty of mud will have drivers gripping the wheel with exhilaration, and perhaps a little fear.

Blenheim Palace, an 18th century Baroque masterpiece, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Besides a house and grounds tour of the palace, there's also an adventure playground, maze and mini-train that will tire the kids out nicely.

Your home of two nights has plenty of entertainment options to keep you preoccupied. Other than billiards, guest rooms come with a collection of British reads covering topics as diverse as country houses, poetry, exploration and ports.

Bouncing around the antique four-poster beds is one way to experience life at Eastnor Castle.

Eastnor Castle has been Land Rover's training and testing ground since 1962.

While staying at Eastnor, visitors will see plenty of suits of armor. It's like living in a museum.

Barbour jackets and green wellies come out on the castle grounds if you want you try your hand at the very English hobby of shooting clay "pigeons."

In the lavish surroundings of the William Cecil Hotel on the Burghley Estate, visitors can attend the famous Burghley Horse Trials. The last day of the tour includes the show jumping climax of the trials.

• Eastnor Castle has been Land Rover's training and testing ground since 1962


• Visitors can try their hand at off-road driving through the forest tracks, steep hills, deep water and mud around Eastnor Castle


• The Best of Britain tour ends with a chance to attend the famous Burghley Horse Trials

(CNN) -- I pump the gas to the crest of the muddy hill, engine roaring.

A sharp hairpin bend immediately requires a swift swing of the wheel, but the tires keep their grip and I bump my way down a steep incline of mud, rocks and tree roots.

At the bottom I'm greeted with a deep flooded section of track and as the vehicle plows through, a colossal splash of muddy water swamps the hood.

Through the swampy greenery of reeds and ferns, I feel, for a moment, like a khaki-clad explorer of the Empire, navigating the jungles of British East India.

In fact I'm cruising in a brand new Land Rover Discovery, from London to Eastnor Castle in the Malvern Hills, on day two of Land Rover's "Best of British" tour, having kicked off in style with a night of world class luxury at the legendary Savoy Hotel.

My mission is to become even more British than I already am, delving into my own culture with abandon, discovering the land and its history, in order that one day I might be able to order a "Gee 'n' Tee," play a game of croquet and use the word "chap" in a dozen different ways without sounding like a charlatan.

If my lunch stop is anything to go by, it won't be long before I'm ordering that quintessential Brit drink from a butler too -- after a pass of Windsor Castle and the Chiltern Hills we pull up at the gilded gates of Blenheim Palace.

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Within these palatial English walls is a dining room reminiscent of British colonial India.

Blenheim Palace

"Welcome to the birthplace of Winston Churchill and residence of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough," announces our host in a cut-glass accent.

This 18th century Baroque masterpiece is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and despite a recent land-selling controversy, it remains a day trip destination that'll tire the kids out nicely, with an adventure playground, maze and mini-train just some of the attractions besides the house tour and grounds.

Quickly, we're whisked off for our victuals in the Indian Room, its colonial furniture and tropical decor harking back to a time when Britain really did rule the waves.

A retired army colonel gazes at the exotic milieu, "Ah, could be Bombay 1895," he muses wistfully.

The days of the Raj live on in this corner of England.

Strolling around the gardens, I do a mental check of my kit list for the next few days.

Green wellies -- yep. Barbour jacket -- yep.

Trusty hound and a tweed deerstalker cap? Er... well, maybe that would be taking this whole aristocracy fantasy a bit far but it's easy to get carried away on this trip.

This is the England of Downton Abbey and Gosford Park -- an exclusive tour through our green and pleasant land, staying in historic palaces, ancient manor houses and chocolate box villages along the route.

Traditional country pursuits are all part of the fun too, although nothing as contentious as fox hunting.

And though I'm doing this tour in that icon of British motoring, the Land Rover, it of course doesn't take a 4WD vehicle to negotiate the tarmac roads of southern England.

Which is why we are heading for Eastnor Castle, Land Rover's training and testing ground since 1962.

The sumptuous castle will be our home for the next two days and when we're not bouncing around on our antique four-poster beds or rubbing shoulders with suits of armor we'll be out in the 5,000-acre estate, putting our off-road driving skills to the test on a private network of forest tracks, steep hills, deep water and of course, this being England, plenty of mud.

Having "done the practical," later we'll find out how this car favored by England's land-owning elite is actually put together too.

MORE: Paradise with a conscience: Sumba Island

Keeping your eyes on the prize is the only way to hit that clay pigeon.

Driving and discovery

The Barbour jacket and green wellies come into their own the following day as we stride out across the castle's grounds, shotguns over our shoulders for our own version of the legendary hunting parties of the Victorian and Edwardian age when shooting skills were considered the mark of a man, alongside horsemanship and a stiff upper lip.

While no feathered friends are bagged (just pigeons of the clay variety), we do get to hang with some top birds -- falcons.

"Now, this is real hunting," says the falconer with pride.

"People have been hunting with birds of prey in England for 1,200 years, since the Saxon times."

Never mind the history; seeing these predators in action gives you a sense of the wild like few other things and its popularity is booming in the country.

But we mustn't dither, for after heading across country, stopping for a proper English cream tea and a night in the honey-stone village of Lower Slaughter (it really deserves a nicer name) we arrive in Gaydon, the home of Land Rover.

This is where we get our petrol head on for the engineering tour of the plant plus a chance to drive some of the vintage vehicles, harking back to a time when men were men and Land Rovers were workhorses.

We'd already run these machines through their paces at Eastnor, careering through flooded fields and up and down muddy hillocks on the test track -- and now we got to see how all that engineering was put together.

From what was simply a riveted steel utility vehicle to today's air-conditioned dream machine with computerized terrain response, the Land Rover really has come a long way since the first Series 1 model rolled off the production line back in 1948.

Take it from me -- the men on the trip found it fascinating.

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Shaking it all off

Of course, this being the Best of British tour means it can end only one way -- with Shakey.

We're off to Stratford-Upon-Avon to experience the genius of the Bard at the Royal Shakespeare Company with the added bonus of dinner on the theater's rooftop restaurant and Champagne and petit-fours during the interval.

And did I mention that we have the best seats in the house?

No, there's no gambling here.

A final day in the luxurious surroundings of the William Cecil Hotel on the Burghley Estate sees some of the group attend the famous Burghley Horse Trials.

But for me, the fantasy is over.

The last six days have been an immersion in elegance, excellence and impeccable good taste -- and a unique window into the grandeur of Britain's past.

I hand over the keys to my Land Rover with a farewell pat, as I know it is unlikely we'll ever be reacquainted, and make my way back to real life.

Now. Where can one find a decent "Gee 'n' Tee"?

The Land Rover 'Best of British' tour runs from August 31 to September 8. Limited availability.

Prices from £3,995.00 ($6,463) per person. Burghley Horse Trials extension from £1,695.

More details and bookings here: Abercrombie & Kent ; +44 845 482 0832

Lois Pryce is a British travel writer who's other adventures, including a solo motorcycling trip through Iran, can be seen at http://ift.tt/1myGwgB.

ISIS victim's mom: Inaction appalling

• Jim Foley's mother says the U.S. must find a way to negotiate with terrorists


• She criticizes the U.S. government over its actions since son's 2012 disappearance


• Foley kin "told ... many times" they might be charged for raising ransom, his mother says


• Diana Foley adds: "We were just told to trust that he would be freed somehow, miraculously"

(CNN) -- The mother of James Foley -- an American journalist beheaded by ISIS militants -- said she is "embarrassed and appalled" by how the U.S. government dealt with her son's case, telling CNN that officials even suggested family members could be charged if they raised ransom to free him.

"I think our efforts to get Jim freed were an annoyance" to the U.S. government, Diane Foley told CNN's Anderson Cooper in an interview that aired Thursday. "It didn't seem to be in (U.S.) strategic interest, if you will."

Officials told Foley family members "not go to the media," and that the "government would not exchange prisoners," or carry out "military action" to try to rescue her son, according to Diane Foley.

"Jim was killed in the most horrific way. He was sacrificed because of just a lack of coordination, lack of communication, lack of prioritization," Diane Foley said. "As a family, we had to find our way through this on our own."

She added that the family was told many times that raising ransom "was illegal (and) we might be prosecuted."

"We were just told to trust that he would be freed somehow, miraculously," Foley's mother told CNN. "And he wasn't, was he?"

Captive's mom: Jim was 'sacrificed'

Rice: We made effort to bring Foley home

Terrorist in Foley video identified?

Full speech: Obama's plan to stop ISIS

American journalist James Foley -- who disappeared in 2012 in Syria -- was executed by a hooded ISIS militant.

In fact, video posted online on August 19 showed James Foley kneeling next to a man dressed in black, with Foley reading a presumably scripted message that his "real killer" is America, then being summarily executed.

ISIS -- the Islamist extremist group that's taken over large swaths of Syria and Iraq in its quest to create a far-reaching caliphate under its strict version of Sharia law -- took credit for Foley's beheading, saying it was in response to U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and threatening more killings.

'Our government needs to be ... willing to negotiate'

More than three weeks later, U.S. President Barack Obama named Foley as he outlined his strategy for fighting ISIS and described the terrorist group's brutality.

"They enslave, rape, and force women into marriage. They threatened a religious minority with genocide. In acts of barbarism, they took the lives of two American journalists -- Jim Foley and Steven Sotloff," Obama said in a televised address Wednesday night.

As she watched the speech, Diane Foley said one thing was going through her mind.

"This whole strategy to eliminate ISIS and the terror threat is important, obviously, so perhaps part of the strategic way of doing that is to bomb them, and to engage in force. But that only caused Jim's death," she said. "I guess all I'm trying to say is that our government needs to be shrewder, smarter, willing to negotiate with these people who hate us, so that we can find better ways to rid ourselves of terror."

Video shows ISIS beheading James Foley

'He was compelled to bear witness'

After her son's death, Diane Foley wrote on the Free James Foley Facebook page that "we have never been prouder of our son Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syria."

Sometimes, she said Thursday, it was tough for his family to deal with his decisions to report in dangerous parts of the world.

"At times, even his siblings were angered that he would return after his captivity in Libya. I mean, it was hard as a family to understand, because Jim was so loved ... and we were selfish. We wanted him with us. We wanted him safe," she said. "But Jim was not. Jim was selfless, and he had the courage and the compassion. ... He was compelled to bear witness."

Her love for her son was evident, but so was her disappointment that more wasn't done -- especially by the U.S. government -- to secure his release, somehow, since his November 22, 2012, disappearance in northwest Syria. At the time he was working for U.S.-based online news outlet GlobalPost.

"Jim would have been saddened" by the U.S. government's efforts in the years after his abduction, his mother told CNN. "Jim believed, till the end, that his country would come to (his) aid."

A failed rescue operation

Upon hearing these comments, U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice -- after praising the Foley family for doing "an amazing job ... to try to bring Jim home safely" -- said she "and others in the U.S. government worked very hard with Diane Foley and her family to try to be supportive, to try to provide what information we could."

Rice also pointed out "hundreds of American personnel" were involved in a "very daring and very well-executed rescue operation" to free Foley and other captives, after getting what they hoped was "actionable intelligence" about the location of the hostages. Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby has said elite U.S. commandos undertook this mission this summer inside Syria.

Official: U.S. commandos tried, failed to rescue hostages

"Unfortunately, they were no longer there," Rice, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told CNN. "But I think that effort ... underscores the importance that we attach to doing everything that we possibly can to bring Americans in captivity back home."

Diane Foley, though, said the rescue operation came "very late."

"Their location was known for more than a year," she said.

During her son's time in captivity, she said, it often seemed the family knew more about his whereabouts than the authorities.

"I did all I could," she said. "I was unable to do enough."

Lessons for the future

Now, Diane Foley says she thinks Washington should change its approach to cases like that of her son and Steven Sotloff, another American journalist beheaded by ISIS weeks after James Foley.

"I pray that our government will be willing to learn from the mistakes that were made," she told CNN, "and to acknowledge that there are better ways for American citizens to be treated."

There should be international dialogue about how to handle hostages of terrorist groups, she said.

"The risk is becoming higher and higher," she said, "and I really feel that our country let Jim down."

Obama escalates campaign against ISIS

Watch Anderson Cooper 360° weeknights 8pm ET. For the latest from AC360° click here.

When you're the only white person

Amanda Shaffer's entire world shifted when she became a white minority in a black high school.

• What happens when whites live in in a black world?


• White student at black school: Your vision shifts


• Some still can't define what being black means


• Why you should never say "I don't see color"

(CNN) -- Flip open Amanda Shaffer's high school yearbook, and you'll notice something that stands out even more than her classmates' earnest smiles and big hairdos.

Only a handful of white faces appear among the portraits of African-American students -- flecks of white on a canvas of black and brown. One of those faces belongs to Shaffer, who was bused to a black high school in Cleveland, Ohio, after refusing to follow her friends to a white, private academy.

For three years, Shaffer was the only white person in the room. She had to learn how to fit in, how to not say the wrong thing. She had to deal with the peculiar sensation of being the only white girl in the bleachers as jittery white basketball teams entered a raucous gym filled with black people.

"It shifted my point of view," Shaffer says. "It's like when you go to the optometrist, and they slap those new lenses on you -- you see the world differently."

At least some do. A co-owner of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks recently offered another perspective on race when he complained in an email that the presence of too many black fans at Hawks' games scared away Southern whites who are "not comfortable being in an arena or a bar where they are the minority."

Bruce Levenson, the owner, resigned. But the focus on his remarks ignored the perspective of people who actually have a lot of practice at being the only white person in a black crowd. They are whites who, by choice or necessity, lived in an all-black world. They became the white minority.

There's a long tradition in America of people offering unsolicited advice to racial minorities on how to blend in. But there's no instruction book for those who struggle with an experience that one white NBA player described as "the loneliness of being white in an all-black world."

It's not all racial angst, though, says one civil rights activist who left his all-white upbringing in Vermont to live for two years among black residents in Mississippi, where he discovered R&B singer Otis Redding, okra and black preaching.

"I lived in a completely black world; every couple of weeks, I looked in the mirror to remind myself that I was white," says Chris Williams, who was then an 18-year-old volunteer for a civil rights campaign known as Mississippi Freedom Summer.

Chris Williams, then 18, found a new home among blacks in Mississippi where he became an activist.

What did he learn? Williams and others with similar experiences gave this minority report.

You learn to imagine

He was a raised in a small town in Missouri and went on to become a Rhodes Scholar, a U.S. senator and a presidential candidate. But some of the most important lessons Bill Bradley learned came on the basketball court as a player for the New York Knicks.

Bradley joined a team dominated by black superstars such as Willis Reed, Earl "The Pearl" Monroe and Walt Frazier. Off the court, though, the team's hierarchy was reversed.

"When I was a rookie, I was getting a lot of offers for commercials and my black teammates, who were better, were not getting any," he says.

Bradley got something else that he says was invaluable -- a glimpse into the private lives of black people. He shared rooms, meals, bus rides and long conversations off the court with his black teammates. He saw the constant racism they experienced and how it fed their anger.

He knew what it felt like to be outsider because he had become one.

In a speech he once gave to the National Press Club, Bradley said:

"I better understand distrust and suspicion. I understand the meaning of certain looks and certain codes. I understand what it is to be in racial situations for which you have no frame of reference. I understand the tension of always being on guard, of never totally relaxing ...

"I understand the loneliness of being white in a black world."

Bradley eventually made the NBA Hall of Fame. He's become one of the country's most insightful voices on race.

"Race relations are essentially exercises in imagination," he says today. "You have to imagine yourself in the skin of the other party. So that means if you're white, you have to understand certain realities."

Other white sojourners in a black world say you have to learn to take advice or even orders from a person of color.

Every couple of weeks I looked in the mirror to remind myself that I was white.

Chris Williams, a civil rights activist who lived for two years with black families in Mississippi

One man had to do both to stay alive.

When Williams went to Mississippi in 1964, he had to live with black families because many local whites detested Freedom Summer volunteers. They taught him how to become a part of their community and protected him. One black man saved his life by pulling him away from a white mob.

Williams says white Freedom Summer volunteers had to abandon the notion that they were there to rescue black people. They weren't going to Mississippi to become civil rights leaders, an organizer told them.

"He said the civil rights leaders were already there; you go down there and help them," recalls Williams, now a retired architect who still lives in his boyhood home in Vermont. "He said that they know what needs to be fixed, and they'll tell you."

You learn what people really think

The Public Religion Research Institute recently caused a stir when it released a poll that said three-quarters of white Americans have no nonwhite friends. Some commentators invoked the survey to explain why some whites seem clueless about racial sensitivities: They know no people of color to give them a different perspective.

White minorities in black communities say they have no problem hearing another racial perspective. They often hear more than they should.

The Rev. Curtiss Paul DeYoung says black people became so familiar with his presence when he joined an all-black church in Harlem and later attended the predominately black Howard University in Washington that some called him a "white Negro."

"People didn't change who they were when they talked to me," says DeYoung, now director of the Community Renewal Society in Chicago, a faith-based group created to eliminate race and class divisions.

"When you get into racially mixed situations, we change who we are and clean up our thinking in mixed settings," he says.

Black people let it rip in front of him, though. Once during a class at Howard, a black classmate talking about the country's first settlers declared that "all white people are criminals."

"I quickly understood that this was not a personal attack on me," DeYoung says. "People were very welcoming to me personally, but she was talking more about institutional racism."

DeYoung met a black student at Howard who he later married. They remain married today and have two adult children.

"The woman who made that comment in class found out later that I was engaged to my wife and came up to me and said, 'Welcome to the family,' '' DeYoung says.

Other whites who spent time in all-black communities say they started noticing remarks from their white family and friends that were just as raw.

Shaffer, the white student who was bused, says she realized that her father called black kids "pickaninnies" and her brother called Puerto Ricans "Spics." She heard whites talk about "Jewing" prices down and warning others to wipe a soda can before drinking because "you don't know if a black person touched it."

"I just started noticing this subtle and casual racism that nobody around me questioned," says Shaffer, who is now an activist and director of faculty development at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.

I understand the loneliness of being white in a black world.

Bill Bradley, former U.S. senator and a Hall of Fame player with the New York Knicks

You see fear

Shaffer picked up on other things as well, such as the fear in some white faces when they moved into a black setting.

When she attended basketball games at her high school, Shaffer says, she would often be only one of two white girls in the crowd when white high school teams visited. It was like a disembodied experience -- she could step outside of her whiteness and watch with bemusement as nervous whites entered her school gym.

"One of the things I noticed is that they weren't actually making eye contact with people on the other side of the court," says Shaffer, who wrote about her experience in an essay entitled "Busing: A White Girl's Tale" for an online magazine, Belt.

"They were in a place where there were more black people than white people and that is not usual for white people," she says.

Some white minorities become more afraid of what they see inside themselves.

When DeYoung was in college, he decided he was going to introduce himself to an attractive white freshman he spotted. But when he saw that woman walking across campus with two black men, he suddenly lost interest.

DeYoung rummaged through his mental attic to figure out why. The answer humbled him. He was a man who grew up buying the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches and watching his father pastor a multiracial church, but he unearthed something ugly.

Bill Bradley, a former U.S. senator, pals around with his former teammates on the New York Knicks.

"I had fallen prey to the stereotype that a white woman involved with a black man is damaged goods, which goes back to the slave masters who taught people that black men were sexual animals," he says. "I thought, 'I don't have prejudice,' and then one of the oldest stereotypes struck me right in the face."

It can all sound so draining -- checking your motivations, trying not to offend black people. Isn't it easier to just declare as a white person that you don't see race?

DeYoung says that's actually a subtle way of insulting people of color.

"It diminishes people to not see their race and their culture," says DeYoung, who wrote a memoir about his racial journey entitled "Homecoming: A White Man's Journey through Harlem to Jerusalem."

"The reality is that race affects people's lives, and if you can't see race, you can't see the life they've lived."

You don't become an expert on race

There's a scene in the 1998 film "Primary Colors" in which a white Southern political operative tells this to a staid, uptight black campaign worker:

"I'm blacker than you are. I got some slave in me. I can feel it."

That scene captures a character familiar to some blacks: the white person who considers himself an honorary black person because he has a black girlfriend and likes hip-hop music.

Yet white people who spend time in an all-black setting seem to reach another conclusion:

"I don't think I can understand what it means to be black," says Williams, the Freedom Summer volunteer who joked that he forgot he was white. "It's much more than being a minority. It's a whole history."

That's something Joshua Packwood learned when he became the first white valedictorian at Morehouse College, a historically black college in Georgia that counts King as one of its graduates.

He says the black students he encountered were everything from punk rockers to hipsters to skateboarders to political conservatives who opposed affirmative action.

"If you ask me to define what black is, I'm not sure I can," says Packwood, who now lives in New York City with his wife and son and is the co-founder of Red Alder, an investment company.

Some whites who found themselves in the minority wrestled with a fear that's familiar to many people of color: Will people ever see past my race?

"I also have to 'prove' myself over and over again," DeYoung wrote in his memoir, "Homecoming." "Some persons of color may never fully trust me because I am white."

Curtiss Paul DeYoung, middle row second from the right, says some classmates called him a "white Negro."

The constant awareness of one's race can be exhausting. DeYoung quoted the theologian Howard Thurman in his memoir:

"The burden of being black and the burden of being white is so heavy that it is rare in our society to experience oneself as a human being."

But sometimes those moments can happen, as DeYoung learned by accident.

One day, DeYoung was looking through a journal he started keeping after he joined the church in Harlem. He noticed that the word "black" rang through every passage: I'm going to this "black church," I'm eating "black food," I'm making "black friends."

He recalled that no one at the Harlem church had ever placed a racial modifier before his name.

"Never once in that entire year did they refer to me as being white," he says. "I was just a member of the congregation. I was a child of God."

DeYoung kept reading and scanned the journal entries that came after he spent more time in the church. He noticed he was still writing about making new friends, listening to gospel and eating good food.

The word "black," however, had disappeared from his journal. They were no longer "the other." He was no longer an outsider.

He was at home.

Opinion: 'Acting white' and being black?

Opinion: Don't be afraid of America's changing demographics

Ari Fleischer: Being with Bush on 9/11

(CNN) -- Former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer sent out a series of tweets Thursday detailing what took place 13 years ago on the day of the September 11 attacks.

"It just somehow feels fitting to share what I know," he told CNN. "I don't want people to ever forget."

Taking people on the "inside" so they "can feel it as it happened is one small way of never forgetting," he said.

NATO: 1,000 Russian troops in Ukraine

• NEW: Obama: The U.S. will join the European Union in implementing sanctions


• Russia has 1,000 soldiers and advanced military equipment in Ukraine, a NATO officer says


• Ceasefire in eastern Ukraine is "very fragile," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman says


• He cites "mounting evidence" of Kiev government strengthening its military presence

(CNN) -- Russia still has about 1,000 troops inside eastern Ukraine, a NATO military officer said Thursday, a week after Ukraine's government and pro-Russian rebels agreed to a ceasefire aimed at ending months of conflict.

NATO also sees 20,000 more Russian troops aligned along the border, the NATO officer told CNN. He was not named according to standard practice in the organization.

NATO believes that these numbers amount to a large and effective military force, the officer said. In addition to the troop numbers, NATO continues to see sophisticated Russian military equipment in Ukraine.

NATO remains concerned and urges Russia to engage with the international community and Ukraine to find a political solution to the crisis, the officer said.

Moscow has consistently denied allegations by Kiev and the West that Russia has troops in Ukraine, and that it has armed and supported the rebels.

MH17 crash site abandoned amid fighting

On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said some 70% of the Russian troops believed to have been in Ukraine had withdrawn back across the border, according to the national news agency Ukrinform.

Information released by Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council on Thursday indicated that the rebel forces control a strip of eastern Ukraine running from the city of Luhansk down to the Sea of Azov.

'Very fragile' ceasefire

The truce was signed Friday after talks in Minsk, Belarus, between representatives of Ukraine, the rebels and Russia.

Workers clear rubble Thursday, September 11, after the bombing of a mine in Donetsk, Ukraine. A fledgling truce between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian rebels is already under threat, as both sides have accused the other of violating it. The fighting in the country has left more than 2,500 people dead since mid-April, according to the United Nations.

A column of Ukrainian forces is seen in Volnovakha, Ukraine, on September 11.

An elderly woman sits next to a Ukrainian soldier standing guard in Volnovakha on September 11.

Armed pro-Russian rebels walk September 11 in front of the destroyed Luhansk International Airport in Luhansk, Ukraine. The rebels took control of the airport on September 1 after heavy fighting with the Ukrainian army.

Residents of Lutuhyne, Ukraine, push containers in a wheelbarrow September 11 as they walk between destroyed armored vehicles left behind by the Ukrainian army.

Ukrainian troops protect themselves from a nearby shooting in Debaltseve, Ukraine, on Tuesday, September 9.

Young residents of Berdyansk, Ukraine, dig trenches September 9 to help Ukrainian forces protect the city from possible rebel attacks.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, left, inspects military personnel during a visit to Mariupol, Ukraine, on Monday, September 8.

A pro-Russian rebel stands next to a truck with a heavy machine gun attached to it Sunday, September 7, in Donetsk.

Homes smolder after being hit by shelling in Donetsk on September 7.

A woman stands next to a road sign September 7 after an overnight bombing attack at an Ukrainian army checkpoint on the outskirts of Mariupol.

Ukrainian troops stand on a deserted road as they patrol the border area of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions Friday, September 5, near Debaltseve.

A man repairs damage to a building caused by shelling in Donetsk on September 5.

Smoke rises on the outskirts of Mariupol after pro-Russian rebels fired heavy artillery on September 5.

Ukrainian soldiers ride a tank on a road close to where pro-Russian rebels fired heavy artillery outside Mariupol on September 5.

A wounded Ukrainian soldier is helped by a medical team on the outskirts of Mariupol on September 5.

A pro-Russian rebel holds a destroyed weapon in the village of Novokaterynivka, Ukraine, on Thursday, September 4.

Unmarked military vehicles burn on a country road in Berezove, Ukraine, on September 4 after a clash between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels. For months, Ukrainian government forces have been fighting the rebels near Ukraine's eastern border with Russia.

People wait by their cars near Berezove on September 4 as rockets hit the road ahead.

A pro-Russian rebel holds a dog, which has a hand grenade attached to its leash, in Donetsk on Wednesday, September 3.

Pro-Russian rebels fire at Ukrainian army positions in Donetsk on September 3.

A Ukrainian military vehicle patrols in the Donetsk region on September 3.

Pro-Russian rebels hold a man near a column of destroyed Ukrainian military vehicles in Novokaterynivka on Tuesday, September 2.

A Ukrainian military truck passes by a serviceman resting in his military camp in Ukraine's Donetsk region on September 2.

A destroyed Ukrainian military vehicle sits abandoned on the side of the road near Novokaterynivka on September 2.

Men clear rubble in Ilovaisk, Ukraine, on Sunday, August 31.

Ukrainian troops leave the rebel-held town of Starobesheve on Saturday, August 30.

A Ukrainian loyalist fighter from the Azov Battalion stands guard on a hill on the outskirts of Mariupol on August 30.

A pro-Russian rebel listens to the news on a transistor radio in the town of Novoazovsk, Ukraine, on Friday, August 29.

Ukrainian soldiers stop on a roadside as they wait for the start of their march into Mariupol on Wednesday, August 27.

A man opens a box filled with rocket-propelled grenades left by the Ukrainian army in Starobesheve.

A pro-Russian rebel walks through a local market damaged by shelling in Donetsk on Tuesday, August 26.

Ukrainian servicemen of the volunteer battalion Azov leave for Novoazovsk on August 26.

Pro-Russian rebels escort captured Ukrainian soldiers in a central square in Donetsk on Sunday, August 24.

People yell as Ukrainian prisoners are paraded through Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on August 24.

A pro-Russian rebel delivers a speech atop a damaged Ukrainian armored personnel carrier in Donetsk on August 24.

People look at damaged Ukrainian military equipment in Donetsk on August 24.

The first trucks of a Russian aid convoy roll on the main road to Luhansk in eastern Ukraine on Friday, August 22. The head of Ukraine's security service called the convoy a "direct invasion" under the guise of humanitarian aid since it entered the country without Red Cross monitors.

A pro-Russian rebel holds shrapnel from a rocket after shelling in Donetsk on August 22.

Residents sit in a makeshift bomb shelter during a shelling in Makiyivka, Ukraine, on Wednesday, August 20.

Dogs play together as a Russian convoy carrying aid supplies stops at a border control point with Ukraine, in the Russian town of Donetsk, on August 20.

Ukrainian forces take their position not far from Luhansk, Ukraine, on August 20.

Clouds of smoke are on the horizon as Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels clash in Yasynuvata, a suburb of Donetsk, Ukraine, on Tuesday, August 19.

An Ukrainian helicopter flies near Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on August 19.

Ukrainian soldiers load a missile during fighting with pro-Russian rebels Monday, August 18, near Luhansk.

Boys play at a refugee camp, set up by the Russian Emergencies Ministry, near the Russian-Ukrainian border on August 18.

Ukrainian soldiers carry weapons at a checkpoint near Debaltseve, Ukraine, on Saturday, August 16.

Pro-Russian rebels greet each other as they pass near Krasnodon, Ukraine, on August 16.

A fireman tries to extinguish a fire after shelling in Donetsk on August 16.

Ukrainian border guards patrol near Novoazovsk on Friday, August 15.

Trucks of a Russian humanitarian convoy are parked in a field outside the town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, in the Rostov region of Russia about 20 miles from the Ukraine border, on August 15. Ukrainian officials were preparing to inspect the convoy, which was bound for the conflict-torn east.

A truck driver from the convoy jumps out of a trailer on August 15. The Ukrainian government had expressed fears that the convoy was a large-scale effort to smuggle supplies or troops to pro-Russian rebels.

A tank belonging to pro-Russian rebels moves along a street in Donetsk on August 15.

A Ukrainian soldier walks past a line of self-propelled guns as a column of military vehicles prepares to head to the front line near Ilovaisk, Ukraine, on Thursday, August 14.

A Ukrainian soldier prepares a mortar at a position near Ilovaisk on August 14.

A man inspects damage at his house after a shelling in Donetsk on August 14.

A convoy of trucks, which Moscow said was carrying relief goods for war-weary civilians, moves from Voronezh, Russia, toward Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on August 14.

Pro-Russian rebels on the outskirts of Donetsk stand at a checkpoint near a bullet-riddled bus on Wednesday, August 13.

A pro-Russian rebel inspects damage after shelling in Donetsk on Thursday, August 7.

Smoke billows from a Ukrainian fighter jet crash near the village of Zhdanivka, Ukraine, on August 7.

Residents of eastern Ukraine cry in a hospital basement being used as a bomb shelter August 7 in Donetsk.

Ordnance from a Ukrainian rocket launcher shoots toward a pro-Russian militant position in the Donetsk region on August 7.

Relatives of Ukrainian military member Kyril Andrienko, who died in combat in eastern Ukraine, gather during his funeral in Lviv, Ukraine, on August 7.

Refugees from southeastern Ukraine wait at a refugee camp in Donetsk on Wednesday, August 6.

A pro-Russian rebel adjusts his weapon in Donetsk on August 6.

Men walk past a bomb crater in Donetsk on August 6.

A man steps out of his car as Ukrainian soldiers inspect the vehicle at a checkpoint in Debaltseve on August 6.

Ukrainian servicemen sit on a bus near Slovyansk, Ukraine, on Tuesday, August 5.

A pro-Russian separatist guards a road as Australian, Malaysian and Dutch investigators prepare to examine the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Rossipne, Ukraine, on August 5. U.S. and Ukrainian officials allege that a Russian-made missile shot down the plane from rebel-held territory, killing all 298 people on board. Russia and the rebel fighters deny involvement.

Rescue workers carry the body of a woman who was killed during a bomb shelling in Donetsk on August 5.

A boy stands in a hallway of a refugee hostel run by pro-Russian rebels in Donetsk on Monday, August 4.

Ukrainian servicemen from the Donbass volunteer battalion clean their guns Sunday, August 3, in Popasna, Ukraine.

Ukrainian soldiers fire shells toward rebel positions near Pervomaysk, Ukraine, on Saturday, August 2.

Ukrainian troops patrol near the village of Novoselovka on Thursday, July 31.

A woman says goodbye to her mother as she flees her home in Shakhtersk, Ukraine, on Tuesday, July 29. See more photos of the crisis from earlier this year

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Photos: Crisis in Ukraine

But more substantive talks on issues, including the decentralization of power and constitutional reform in Ukraine, must still take place before a lasting resolution can be found.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich told a briefing Thursday that the ceasefire was "very fragile" and that both sides must implement the framework agreed to in Minsk.

"There is mounting evidence of the Kiev government strengthening its military groups in different areas, regions; there are eyewitness reports to prove it," he said, "though Ukrainian authorities keep on reassuring us that they're not planning a military operation."

Lukashevich said Russia was also surprised by NATO's announcement of plans to hold joint military exercises with Kiev in Ukraine later this year.

"This might cause the escalation (of the situation) and put the progress in peaceful settlement of the crisis in Ukraine under threat," he warned.

New sanctions

A new round of European Union sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine will come into force Friday, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said Thursday.

EU officials will review the implementation of the ceasefire before the end of the month, he said, after which the sanctions could be amended or lifted.

The sanctions include tougher restrictions on Russia's access to EU capital markets; a ban on loans by EU companies or individuals to five major Russian state-owned banks; a ban on debt financing to three major Russian defense companies and three major energy companies; and an asset freeze and travel ban against 24 more individuals.

This means 119 people in total are now subject to sanctions, while 23 entities remain under an asset freeze in the European Union.

Russia has warned it will respond to any additional measures.

In his remarks, Lukashevich said the deadly crash in July of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 -- which Kiev and the West believe was shot down from rebel-held territory using a Russian-made missile launcher -- was being used to justify the imposition of broad Western sanctions against Russia.

A preliminary report into the crash released this week by Dutch investigators did not apportion blame for the crash but said the plane was brought down by "high-energy objects" from outside.

The United States will join the European Union in implementing additional sanctions against Russia over its "illegal actions in Ukraine," President Obama said Thursday. "We will deepen and broaden sanctions in Russia's financial, energy, and defense sectors," he said. The administration will outline the specifics of the sanctions Friday.

"We are implementing these new measures in light of Russia's actions to further destabilize Ukraine over the last month, including through the presence of heavily armed Russian forces in eastern Ukraine. We are watching closely developments since the announcement of the ceasefire and agreement in Minsk, but we have yet to see conclusive evidence that Russia has ceased its efforts to destabilize Ukraine," Obama said.

Aid convoy

Lukashevich also said there had not yet been a "breakthrough" allowing a new Russian aid convoy to start moving into Ukraine in the next few days.

"We hope that the delivery will be carried out with participation of Ukraine's border guards and customs officers as well as officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross," he said. "We hope, however, that the coordination would not be dragged out."

A previous convoy carrying aid for civilians caught up in the fighting in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions was sent over the border by Russia without permission from Ukrainian authorities.

The Presidents of Russia and Ukraine are "broadly satisfied" with the status of the ceasefire, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told Russia's Interfax news agency on Wednesday.

CNN's Andrew Carey in Kiev and Alla Eshchenko in Moscow contributed to this report. CNN's James Frater also contributed.