Volcanoes National Park is one of these places you really need to see before you die. And it is the main reason why lots of people is visiting the Hawaii Big Island. And today I went there. And even if it was the second time that I visited it, believe me, it was amazing ...
The real miracle is that I managed to get up at 5.30AM. Yesterday
nite I set the alarm clock, but honestly I didn't really expect to make it. In the last days I really have an hard time to wake up at 8AM and go to work. But probably that tells a lot about how much I am excited about the work I am doing lately.
Never mind ... :o The reason why I wanted to get there before sunset was to check the
vapor steam from the Kilawea caldera. They are more visible in the morning after the
nite humidity drops into the cracks at the bottom of the caldera. Really
nice. Especially because, when I got there, around 6.30AM I was the only person around, so the silence
made everything even more special ...
... and these are the
steam vents ... really nice ... and pretty hot ...
... everything here is magical. And so
powerful. I guess it is difficult to understand until you don't see it with your eyes. Here is how the road and the cars look in the middle of mountains of lava ...
... and here are a couple of guys I definitely envy today ... bicycling the Volcanoes
National Park ... something I would like to do one day myself ...
... today for me was only pictures ... here on of me ... on the edge of the
Kilawea caldera. Definitely I was wearing the wrong sweatshirt for this National Park ...
I guess the beauty of this National Park is in the uncommon and
enormous and incredible landscapes you have ...
... but also in the incredible beauty of the small details. Like in the shape that the lava takes once it cools down ...
... and in the power
of the nature, able to reborn from such
destruction ... it is really something special to see a green plant pop out from the black lava ...
... who knows. Maybe the environment will be able, one day, to recover also the destruction the human beings are making. Hopefully. This is an other amazing site to visit. This is a
lava tube. Basically the lava used to flow here. The external part cooled down. And created a kind of a tube. The lava stopped to flow. And these incredible tubes got crated. Pretty impressive. Apparently this one that I visited is
500 years ago. So lava was flowing here when Columbus discovered the American Continent ...
And this was supposed to be the highlight of the day.
The lava flowing into the Ocean. Because it needed a 4 hours hike I decided to skip it and take it easy on my Achilles tendon. I didn't hike till there. This is the picture I took after 10 minutes hike ... far away the
columns of steam for the lava dropping into the Ocean ...
... I was a kind of
relieved, when I asked to some hikers and I was told from them that after that long hike there wasn't much to see even close by. Apparently the lava is flowing underneath the existing crust and it is difficult to spot red lava. Maybe I
will go to check it next weekend, if my tendon will feel better.
Mmmm ... last, but not least, an advice. If you are going to park your car, try to follow the NO PARKING signs. Trust me ...
... where the rocks, are not just the rocks I am used to see anywhere else. They seem to have a colorful rainbow trapped into them ...
... where the plants seem free to liberate all their creativity and beauty ...
Where people is offering flowers and food to Pele, the goddess of the Volcano ...
... where the sea is so blue, the grass is so green, and the sky is perfect ...
Where seems that also the animals have left rusted cages to wander around free because they are really feeling that they are living in heaven ...
... where in black sandy beaches while you are swimming in a pool you can meet a sea turtle, and you can not avoid to believe to the local myths ...
... where your arms are not big enough to show all the joy you are experiencing ...
... and where I was soooo happy that I jumped on the entrance sign of the Volcanoes National Park ... here I felt like the happiest person on Earth ...
... :D
... they get close enough to hear them speaking. They speak in English. He is definitely German, probably she is American. But they speak in English most of the time. So we are there looking at these incredible steam vents coming out of the caldera and the old man looks at his wife and says ... "We should have these in Germany, this is perfekt to bake potatoes" ... :O ... yes, probably what everybody are telling about the Germans with sandals & socks and about the Germans and potatoes is not true ... :D
... and I am taking the picture of them ... mmm ... I think I have some Japanese ancestor myself ... :D ... what else ... ah yes ... if you are interested today I took my test at the end of the training ... and I really hope that I passed it ... otherwise I am afraid my boss will charge me for the airfare, the hotel and the training as well ... :O
... and just a couple of hours outside ... enjoying the palms, the blue sky and the ocean breeze ... a paradise ...
... and I just love it ... especially when the wind is blowing like it was blowing today just before sunset ...
... and believe me, life is too short ... play dirty ... and do whatever you can ... to visit Hawaii at least once ... before it is too late. 
The real miracle is that I managed to get up at 5.30AM. Yesterday nite I set the alarm clock, but honestly I didn't really expect to make it. In the last days I really have an hard time to wake up at 8AM and go to work. But probably that tells a lot about how much I am excited about the work I am doing lately. Never mind ... :o The reason why I wanted to get there before sunset was to check the vapor steam from the Kilawea caldera. They are more visible in the morning after the nite humidity drops into the cracks at the bottom of the caldera. Really nice. Especially because, when I got there, around 6.30AM I was the only person around, so the silence made everything even more special ...
... and these are the steam vents ... really nice ... and pretty hot ...
... everything here is magical. And so powerful. I guess it is difficult to understand until you don't see it with your eyes. Here is how the road and the cars look in the middle of mountains of lava ...
... and here are a couple of guys I definitely envy today ... bicycling the Volcanoes National Park ... something I would like to do one day myself ...
... today for me was only pictures ... here on of me ... on the edge of the Kilawea caldera. Definitely I was wearing the wrong sweatshirt for this National Park ...
I guess the beauty of this National Park is in the uncommon and enormous and incredible landscapes you have ...
... but also in the incredible beauty of the small details. Like in the shape that the lava takes once it cools down ...
... and in the power of the nature, able to reborn from such destruction ... it is really something special to see a green plant pop out from the black lava ...
... who knows. Maybe the environment will be able, one day, to recover also the destruction the human beings are making. Hopefully. This is an other amazing site to visit. This is a lava tube. Basically the lava used to flow here. The external part cooled down. And created a kind of a tube. The lava stopped to flow. And these incredible tubes got crated. Pretty impressive. Apparently this one that I visited is 500 years ago. So lava was flowing here when Columbus discovered the American Continent ...
And this was supposed to be the highlight of the day. The lava flowing into the Ocean. Because it needed a 4 hours hike I decided to skip it and take it easy on my Achilles tendon. I didn't hike till there. This is the picture I took after 10 minutes hike ... far away the columns of steam for the lava dropping into the Ocean ...
... I was a kind of relieved, when I asked to some hikers and I was told from them that after that long hike there wasn't much to see even close by. Apparently the lava is flowing underneath the existing crust and it is difficult to spot red lava. Maybe I will go to check it next weekend, if my tendon will feel better. Mmmm ... last, but not least, an advice. If you are going to park your car, try to follow the NO PARKING signs. Trust me ...
