oh my god look…
Originally uploaded by cindigodotcom.

More Hawaii photos here.

We made it out of Kona alive. And you guys didn’t even know we were in peril did you? Well I was just being dramatic. The only peril we were in is from falling asleep standing up because we’re running around like crazies. Andrea the other couchsurfer was only here for thirty six hours. Since we had the rental car, we felt it was our duty to make her (and our) thirty six hours the most memorable we could. After snorkeling all day Thursday, eating dinner and falling into bed, we got up at six am on Friday to drive two hours to see the volcano.

We hiked through the lush forest four miles and down into the crater in the center of the trails. Walking across the black and martian landscape was a unique and amazing experience. Some spots look like what you would think pavement in a movie of an earthquake would look like. Mammoth slabs of flat lava pushed up against each other near treacherous gaps where the earth has pulled apart.

We went through lava tubes. The tubes were explained to me but I can’t quite tell you how they formed. They were basically a long cylindrical cave made by lava. The fist half was lighted. The second half was only for the brave with flashlights. We braved it and at the end we sat for a while, flashlights out in the blackest darkness I’ve ever been in.

At around five we were going back and forth on if we should go to dinner or to press on to hike over the hardened lava flooded road to get a closer look at the still erupting portion of the volcano. If you want a long hike you can get very close. But we weren’t up for, and didn’t have time for a long hike, we just wanted to get a better view. We were torn because we were tired and hungry and had to get Andrea to the airport by ten, and it was a two hour drive. Of course, we could have dinner any day. How often do you get to hike to a active volcano? In the day you can see the rising plume of smoke. When the sun goes down you can see the red lava. The problem was it was raining and the further you walked towards the volcano in the twilight meant that you would have to cover that much ground in the dark on the slippery rocks on the way back.

We went in about three quarters of a mile but the visibility was bad, the rain was coming down harder and it was getting dark fast. We turned around and made it back to solid ground just as it became too dark to see. Also, as a bonus, none of us cracked our heads open. We were the only people that I saw not dressed appropriately for the weather. There were hoards of Japanese with yellow rain slickers walking in groups and throngs of Americans with clear plastic disposable gear. Andy had on a short sleeved t-shirt and jeans and I had on a hoodie with fake fur inside the hood. Incidentally when you get the fake fur of the hood wet and then put it on your head, it is very similar in texture, weight and smell to a wet puppy. We were soaked to the bone and pretty cold by the time we made it to the car.

We had fifteen minutes for dinner so we called ahead to a Thai restaurant, wolfed down some pad thai, curry and spring rolls and were on the way to the airport. Andrea departed on time. By the time we made it back to our bedrolls my eyes were crossing from exhaustion and I practically fell into my sleeping bag.

Today we left Kona and our gracious hosts James and Lee and drove an hour to stay with Kanoa. We’ve only met for a minute but I can already tell we’re all going to get along famously. His place is gorgeous and old and the surrounding scenery is spectacular. We did all of our laundry and are now laying on a futon, drinking cherry vodka and preparing to watch bad downloaded tv on the laptop.

We’ve been getting up really early. The plan for tomorrow is to sleep in and do nothing.