may 2014

This was my second time in Hawaii, and I was eager to come back after having an expectedly good experience the first time around. I had stayed on Oahu, hiking and eating my way though the regions there. Now, we ventured to the Big Island, the land of volcanos and extremes. I had never seen a volcano in real life before, so I was excited when I finally did (but disappointed that we couldn't see lava flow). The barren land of Volcanoes National Park feels primordial and eerie, especially after hearing about the town that used to exist there. One of the best things we did on the Big Island was night snorkeling with the manta rays in Kona. As we floated on top of the water, the rays would swim close to us but never touching. I'm also a stargazing fan, so up we drove to the conservatory on Mauna Kea. You can see the milky way glittering and luminous from there.