The road to Kalapana is actually the other end of the Chain of Craters road. If it were still in existence, you could drive from where we are all the way around the coast to the bottom of Volcano National Park. But, while they are working to reopen the road across the lava flow, it currently doesn’t run all the way through – and we can only drive about a mile and a half on the existing part that is open.
We immediately see how the lava flows have affected the landscape. At the beginning of the road, there is vegetation and the asphalt is fine. Then suddenly a big swath of road is lava gravel, cut right through a river of lava that covered the road. Then suddenly it is gone and the road is asphalt again. This occurs twice more before finally, the road is completely gone – along with all the vegetation – and there is nothing but lava as far as the eye can see.
We drive as far as allowed, parking the car at the barricades and walking up the closed road for a bit.
The vastness of this flow boggles the mind…..
…..the stark reminders of the village that was destroyed – a bathtub encased in the black lava flow beyond the skeleton of some shed-like structure…..
….along with the fact that people have reclaimed land and built houses back on top of the lava. Some nice looking, some odd little buildings – like the square black cube that doesn’t look bigger than one of those storage pods, sitting in the middle of some gorgeous landscaping out in the middle of the lava field.
We see no evidence of power out here, or sewer and definitely not cable, so we have no idea how all these people are living. It could be they are generating solar power, but we’re not sure. It is just incredible to think that they are all living out here atop the lava that took the (their?) village.
After some time of reflection and contemplation, staring at the devastation and the rebuilding efforts, we slowly get back in the car and drive out of the Kalapana Lava flow area, shaking our heads at just how incredible it all is.
Lunch plans are for Kaleo’s in Pahao – the town which is reputed to be full of “outlaws”. Kaleo’s looks a little divey from the outside, but inside it is anything but, with a great menu of local and Asian oriented food. We have a great lunch of Kalua Pork wontons (yummy) and then share an Ono sandwich (huge! Much bigger than yesterday’s sandwich – and cheaper) and a Kalua Pork platter with cabbage (oh, we are so doing this when we get home). I was too busy eating to take food pictures – but did manage to snap one of Ed at least.
Back on the road, we’ve still got lots of time, so we decide to do the Rainbow circuit which I had planned if we didn’t go to Puna. Turns out you can do both easily. We plugged in Rainbow Falls and Alice took us through the back roads and neighborhoods of Hilo (so we avoided the bottleneck and traffic of downtown Hilo) to the Falls area. We know that we won’t see any rainbows now, because they only show in the morning when the light is behind you – but it is still worth a visit. The falls are really heavy from all the rain and they are beautiful. Also an easy walk, since there are viewing platforms and stairs cut into the hill to view the falls from above.
On the way back to the car we stop to watch a little cardinal flitting around in the trees. He actually sits on a bush right next to us and watches us watch him.
Next up, we go to the boiling pots and Pe’epe’e falls, where again there is no need for hiking, but a short walk across cement sidewalks to view the boiling pots and the falls in the distance. There is also this wild looking flowering plant that has blooms that look like lace. I think it is actually diseased, or eaten up by some insect, but it still looks really cool.
It’s getting misty and a little rainy as we head back to the car, but we’re done, so perfect timing to head back and turn in our car. Back through the Hilo neighborhoods, we get gas at Safeway which is a trial in patience (OMG, they are so slow!) and then onto the airport to dump the car. Shuttle back to the airport, and onboard with plenty of time to spare.
Next up: 5 days at sea then blog from Vancouver.
No comments:
Post a Comment