Going Places with Lucy & Leo

We arrived at the Port of Hilo on the Big island of Hawaii to a pouring rain, the first time for rain on the trip even though this is the rainy season in the islands, so overall not too bad. But what is a bit of rain when you have a raincoat and there’s a volcano waiting for you. Our tour guide was waiting for us at the port early in the morning and we were happy to see it was a small group with just us and another couple, this made it a very intimate and relaxing tour. We set right out towards Volcano National Park which is the highest point on the island at 13,000 feet above sea level and our guide felt the rain would be over by the time we reached the top.

The Big Island called Hawaii is the youngest island is the chain, formed by six volcanoes with two active volcanoes still in existence, the Kilauea and the Mauna Loa. The Hawaiian islands were born from the sea through a series of volcanic eruptions with the oldest island being Kauai, the first island we visited, All of the islands now have inactive volcanoes with the exception of Hawaii. The islands are all moving west at the rate of what a typical fingernail grows due to tectonic plates shifting. In a few millions years they will reach Japan. But that is something we did not have to worry about on this trip..

It took us 45 minutes to drive from the port of Hilo to the entrance of the Volcano National Park but the rain had stopped by the time we climbed to the Kilauea rim overlook.

From this point you can observe the smoldering caldera which collapsed during an eruption in 2018. The most recent eruption was September 10-16 2023, when the lava flow reached the crater floor within the park and lava fountains spewed molten magma 32-50 feet up in the air. Our guide, who is a native, has lived through many of these events and has seen the effects of it on close friends and community so this is a very serious and also spiritual aspect of the Hawaiian’s life.

Our guide told us the story of Pele the volcano deity and creator of these islands. She was born in Kahiki but traveled to Hawaii after being exiled from her home and found permanent residence in the summit of Kilauaea where today she rules the land by creating new and destroying unworthy land. She is unpredictable but to many Hawaiians she is family and revered.

We had time to explore the rim and visit the steam vents and lava tubes which are part of the National Park. Our guide showed us a “trick” to get the steams vents to spew more steam, by taking a napkin, lighting it with a cigarette lighter and placing it next to the vent. The effect was the smoldering napkin ignited the methane that seeps out of these steam vents causing a huge ball of steam to come out. We felt special as the other tourists around the vents could not figure out why the only time the vents spewed huge steam balls was when we were around. Our guide then started singing to the Hawaiian gods to complete the special effect.

Before we exited the park, we had a chance to visit and walk through one of the Nahuku- Thurston lava tubes. This lava cave is 500 years old and located at the 3,900 foot elevation on the Kilauea Crater at the National Park. These tubes or caves are formed when a river of lava cools from the outside building solid walls. This particular tube is accesible by a trail through a rainforest which is impressive in itself for the varieties of tropical plants and bird species. It was a bit slick due to the rain but truly beautiful anyway. The walk through the lava tube involves walking through some uneven path and the tube is somewhat lit. The system of tubes in this part of the park are up to 40 miles long with some tubes under water. Our walk was 0.4 miles so an easy 10 minute walk. We loved walking through what was once a river of molten lava.

You would think all this volcano walking would be enough for one day, but our day was far from over as our guide took us back to Hilo with a few interesting stops along the way. First we made a quick stop at the Hilo candy and coffee company where we sampled Hawaiian coffee, chocolates and the most delicious shortbread cookies I’ve ever had, needless to say some of those made their way home with us.

Next, we stoped at Rainbow Falls where the waters of the Wailuku river drops 80 feet to a natural lava cave. In sunny days the waterfall creates rainbows but we were not lucky to catch that.

Our next stop, The Hilo Farmer’s market was a treat. We have never seen such a variety of fruits and vegetables in any market. There was a large food section and another just as large of art and local crafts . We had plenty of time to browse and do a bit of shopping. The sun was out by now and the sights and sounds were delightful. We learned from our guide that Hawaiians love spam, so there was a variety of items with this “delicacy”. I am not a fan so I left it to those who can truly enjoy it. Our guide loves it and he told us that it’s even sold at McDonald’s. Whatever floats your boat is my motto.

By this time we needed a bit of break so our guide in his wisdom picked just the right place. The Liliuokalani Japanese Gardens. A truly beautiful place to relax and enjoy the views. These gardens were dedicated in 1917 to honor Hawaii’s Japanese immigrants who worked the sugar cane fields. It is a beautiful park with ponds, pagodas, teas houses. We took our time strolling and taking pictures.

There is so much to this island that it is impossible to pack it all in one day. We learned that the islands of Hawaii are called that because King Kamehameha, the great unifier, was born in the big island of Hawaii. The island is also known for green sand beaches which our guide took us to see since we were a bit skeptical about green beaches and when we got there we noticed that the volcanic sand has mixed into it green quartz particles that does indeed give the sand the greenish hue.

Another interesting factoid is that the southern most point of the US is in this island at Ka Lae. Standing at this point the closest land is Antarctica. Leo is getting closer to his dream of visiting that continent.

Finally as our tour started to wind down, our guide presented us with palm leaf hats which he had been busily making from scratch from the time he picked us up in the morning and as we toured the island during the day. I think we look very good in them!

From here we went back to the ship and arrived just in time for Happy Hour.

And back we go out to sea again for another fun five days voyage to Ensenada, Mexico, which will be our last stop. I look forward to getting up late, enjoying the pool and celebrating my birthday on the high seas.