CAPTURING CRATERLAND
As my Hawaiian passage continued at the town of Hilo in the Big Island, I was swept away by the beautiful beaches and lush foliage as I soaked in the mid-day sun. My visit was rather timely; it was November 2016, two months into a period of particularly high volcanic activity in Kilauea. The most active of the five volcanoes that make up the island of Hawai’i, it has been erupting constantly since 1983.
Kilauea is undergoing a period of inflation as the magma reservoir swells. Under normal conditions, the lava lake is not visible from the official overlook points, but the level has risen so significantly it can now be seen clearly. For the first time in 3 years, the lava flow has travelled for 6.5 miles into the Pacific Ocean where it cools and hardens. Since 1983, 500 acres of new land has been added to the island by the solidifying lava.
There was a time in the mystifying past of Hawai’i that a thin veil separated the natural from the supernatural. Mortals were made the sport of the elements and the play things of the gods.
This was the time when Pele decided to end her long journey and made the crater of Kilauea her home. As a creator and destroyer, she is the goddess of fire, wind, and volcanoes. She propels molten fountains into the air and governs the great flows of lava. With her power over the volcanoes, she created the Hawaiian Islands and to this day, she has been known to reveal herself as land forms throughout the beautiful islands she crafted herself.
The stark contrasts in landscape and the extreme colors painted by nature found in both land and sea make the Big Island something of a wonderland. As day turns into night, with moana winds softly piercing through your bones, one can easily be hypnotized by the glowing streaks of stars that span across the black night sky. Here, epic tales are told by candlelight of hidden beaches and the endless search for secret waterfalls. Locals elicit the pono vibe, in a place where mountains meet the sea, and adventure is a state of mind.
