I have been in Hawaii for the past 10 days on two very different islands.   I arrived in Honolulu to have one overnight before my friend, Peggy, arrived.  We went to the big island, Hawaii.  It is the newest of these volcano-based islands.  The  “hot spot” in the oceanic plate that creates the volcanic activity has moved 6 miles per year to create first Kauai and then successively the other islands.  The island of Hawaii is over the volcanic activity for the moment.  Hence, there are two active volcanoes on the island.  There is always a threat of lava flow from the older and less active volcano and from the younger, smaller and more active one.  We saw the consequences of living on the edge of new creation.

Our first stop on the journey was a yoga retreat center.  Peggy had asked and I had agreed to stay there.  I don’t practice yoga, but I loved the idea of staying in the jungle and enjoying the quiet of a more meditative place.  Unfortunately, the pictures gave us a more rosy view of the place than really existed.  In my 20’s and 30’s, I would have loved this place.  In my 70’s, it lacked too many creature comforts – a comfortable bed, access to internet, complete isolation from the outside world.  The food was great.   The people were interesting. 

One of the most interesting natural phenomena was the volcanic activity in the area.  The area around the retreat center is one of the newer areas of growth from lava flow.  Lava on the island has two types, one is sharp ah-ah and the other is smoother and easier to walk on.  You can see layers upon layers of outflow along the edges of the cliffs.  There are a few accessible “black sand” beaches.  The lava had flowed over a town near the yoga center last year burying 30 houses.  It came right up to the edge of a recycle center.  This picture shows the lava in the background.

Sunrise from the Yoga Retreat Center

Interestingly, people are rebuilding their homes back on top of the lava flow.  Someone explained to us that the families were allowed to rebuild by the government and could live on the plot for $25 per year.  I wondered at the mindset that allowed people to take nature’s expression as a given in their world.  Plants return to the lava area beginning with the small ferns and gradually the trees.  Until that happens, I would think that the black lava  will be hot to live on.  Interestingly, with the outflow, they now have an absolutely fabulous view of the ocean.

We moved to town for the second two days, rented a car, and saw something of the island.  I in particular wanted to see Volcano Park located at the caldron of the smaller, more active volcano.  It was suggested to visit late in the day to get the best view.  The volcano last exploded out of the caldron in the 1980’s when it threw boulders the size of refrigerators over the landscape.  It obliterated the former observation site that was quite close.  Now the observation deck is 2 miles away.  You can see the wider shell of cinders from the caldron, but you have to wait until after dark to see the glow from the gases escaping from the caldron.  Most of the lava flows from small craters down the side of the volcano and from weaknesses in the ground. 

We made another stop at a great fall.  It was the site of a movie from the 1930 – 1940’s.  The movie, Four Frightened People, was about a group escaping a plague outbreak in Africa and having to overcome animal and people attacks.   The movie company imported trees and plants to make the area look like a “real” rain forest.  They left the imports and many of the new plants are threatening native species.  At the base of the fall they build a stone basin for Claudette Colbert to take a bath.  

Hawaii is the island of orchids.  This opportunistic plant grows wild in the forest on the branches of living and dead trees.  At the retreat center, I found a number of them.  We also stopped at a grower’s store.  The Hawaiian orchids are a different genus than the popular US orchids.  It was an amazing variety.  He had one S. American endangered orchid that he had crossed with a relative to create a new orchid that he was allowed to sell.  (It’s illegal to sell endangered species, but okay to hybridize.  Go figure)   My friend bought six orchids to be sent to her in the states.

On our very last day on the island, we just explored.  We saw some great shore spots.  As we walked the only white beach in the area, we met a family collecting crabs to feed their pet octopus.   I wonder at people's taste in pets.