Volcano 🌋

We took the saddle road, which leads from Kona in the west to Hilo in the east through the middle of the island. The road is well-built, but the speed limit is 55 mph (90 km/h). You are surrounded by changing nature as far as the eye can see. We passed by Mauna Kea, where the native Hawaiians protested against the construction of a giant telescope. Otherwise, there are no gas stations, street lights, shops, or houses for about 150 km. If you have a problem here, especially at night, then you really have a problem. The journey took 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Upon arriving at Volcano National Park, we first visited the Visitor Center. There, we received information materials and watched a 20-minute film. The park is huge, and a complete tour would be about 60 km. You can hike or drive by car from viewpoint to viewpoint. We decided to take a tour of about 2-3 hours. Unfortunately, we did not see any flowing lava, which we could have experienced the previous year. But still, it was very impressive to see how the hardened lava had made its way. Some things like the Thurston Lava Tube or the Jaggar Museum were closed due to road closures. The lava from last year did not spare the roads either. We drove down the road, making stops along the way, all the way down to the sea, into which the lava had poured last year. We saw craters, both fresh and overgrown, lava fields, and rocks that the volcano had spewed out. The devastating power of this natural phenomenon becomes apparent. There were various places where steam was rising. This steam was hot, and we could touch it gently. Strange feeling to know what must be under the ground 🙂 🌋