Travel in Hawaii - the Big Island's volcano

Dear Friend,
The Big Island's active volcano was a big draw for us. If you are fascinated by nature, as we are, a volcano is a spectacular sight. Mauna Loa is the one that is active at this time and it's lava flow when we were there, was small as it is now, but being in its presence was still really impressive. My husband and I went to the island of Hawaii for 3 nights primarily to see that volcano. Of course if it were to become very active, we'd probably go back to see that.

While I'm aware that flying in a helicopter is much riskier than flying in a fixed wing plane, we did take the helicopter tour and absolutely loved it. It was probably the high point of our volcano excursion. I had flown in helicopters before and loved what I could see from them. I don't think I could have grasped the size of the land mass covered by hardened lava from that volcano's past eruptions if not for the helicopter tour. Besides it was lots of fun! I never felt unsafe. Our pilot was an islander and quite knowledgable about Hawaii's history. The picture at the top of the page that shows the molten lava as it comes out of the earth makes it appear that we are closer than we are. That must have been a zoom.

We not only saw it from the air as in the picture on the left, but also drove to the park (about 45 minutes from Hilo) and got out and walked near vents so we felt the heat and smelled the sulfur smell as well. Then driving back to the west side of the island on what appeared to be a freshly paved two lane road with almost no traffic, we passed a sign that said something like "Please report any cracks in the road promptly." That was slightly unnerving.

Below the picture of the steam rising from a vent of the volcano, near the bottom of this page, is a picture of a tree that we kept seeing on Hawaii. Driving back to the hotel from the volcano, we stopped and took it's picture. It is a Royal Poinciana, Flamboyant. Flamboyant it is - 30 feet tall and 50 to 60 feet wide at the top and very red .
Hope you enjoyed seeing my pictures? Maybe they have reminded you of a similar trip. Or maybe they'll help you plan a trip. I have loved reminiscing.

Take care,

Maggiegladyoucame