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1    Introduction & at-sea days
2    Lahaina
3    Nawiliwili
4    Honolulu
5    Kona
6    Hilo
7    Dining
8    Entertainment, days at-sea, Ensenada, & home
 
 
 

Hilo

Our final port in Hawaii was Hilo on the opposite side of the big island from Kona.  The captain announced as we were leaving Kona that the Kilauea Volcano had shown activity and for the first time in a long time, there was lava flow down the side of the mountain.  He had changed our route from around the north end of the island to around the south end, so we could see it.  We passed it at about 1 AM.  As I saw the flow through our window, I decided to quickly dress and go up to one of the higher decks.  I took many pictures of the flow, but did not get very good images as my camera required a 1 second exposure at ASA 1600.  I could not hand hold my camera steady enough for a 1 second exposure.  I tried some at faster speeds, and they show the flow, but much more dimly.  Hawaii Bob (more about him later) was up on the deck giving a very good description of what was happening.  Even though it was in the middle of the night, I was very happy I had gotten up to see it.
 

	As we cruised by at 1:00 AM, we could see the orange glow of the molten lava working its way down the mountain.  It is almost to the sea, but not yet entering the sea.
Hawaii Bob was on deck describing the happenings and the ancient beliefs about volcanic eruptions.

In the morning, after we had docked in Hilo, we had our final tour called "Explore Hilo".  This was a bus tour of the Hilo area and Volcano National Park.  We drove through areas of heavy vegetation and beautiful plants and trees.  Shortly we pulled into the Mauna Loa Nut Plant.  We had samples of just about all the variations of Macademia nuts they produce and had the opportunity to buy all we wanted.  I bought some Macademia nuts, but I got them at Walmart for much less!
 

From here we ascended the mountain to the Volocanoes National Park.  The driver had to check with park officials to see if we could go, as things are happening!  The area is emitting about 6 times the normal levels of gas, and sometimes it is too much for the tours to go up.  We were allowed to go.  We went to the top of the volcano past many steam vents in the ground.  We looked down into the caldera where steam and gas was venting   We went into the instrumentation building where a number of seismographs were recording the activity of a number of locations around the volcano.  They feel that Kilauea is going to errupt in the near future.  It already is putting out molten lava through rifts in the side of the dome, which we saw last night.  The atmosphere was very "smoggy" from the volcano gasses, and breathing was a problem.  There was a lot of coughing and hard breathing.  Although it was very interesting, it was a relief to leave the mountain.

Note of 2/21/08:
As of yesterday, there was an explosive erruption of Kilauea scattering rocks and debris over a 75 acre area.  No lava was released.  There was some damage to the museum and the parking lot.  Part of Volcanoes National Park has been closed.  The explosion was apparently caused by a buildup of gases.  This explosion was the first in about 85 years.  Scientists are unsure of what will happen next.
 

As we drove up the mountain, we could see steam vents everywhere.  The rainwater seeps into cracks in the ground and eventually contacts hot rocks, causing the steam.
	This is Halema'uma'u Crater in the caldera of Kilauea volcano.  This is the area which exploded just 9 days after I took this picture.
Seismographs in the museum plot activity at a number of locations around the volcanos.

We drove through an area of rain forest.  It met the requirements of a canopy, undergrowth, and ground cover.  This rain forest is different from most as here the canopy consists of a single variety of trees and the undergrowth a variety of species.  Most rain forests have a variety of canopy trees and a single type of undergrowth.  Within this rain forest we stopped and hiked through a lava tube.  This is a tunnel of hardened lava a few hundred feet long.  We left the area and stopped by a local high-end candy factory.  The samples here were excellent.
 

	This area is a real rain forest.
We are hiking toward the lava tube.
	Here is the entrance to the lava tube.
The lava tube is quite dark.  You walk on a wet, uneven surface.
	Upon getting back to the dock, there are many vendors in a building just alongside the ship.
Here we are sailing away from our last stop in Hawaii.

This was our final stop in Hawaii, and in the evening, the ship set sail for 4 days of sea travel to Ensenada.