Volcanos and Black Sand

Yesterday we traveled down the coast, around the tip of the island, and into volcano country. We saw some really cool stuff. We took a short hike around a steam vent area. There are these big cracks in the earth with plants growing out of them and steam bellowing up. Very prehistoric looking, I kept expecting a T-Rex to go crashing by.

Then we looked at this HUGE crater of an inactive volcano. The area at the top of the mountain is very arid and dry (and rainy and cold), but then we drove down to where the lava tube was (a big cave created by lava) and it was warm and humid and very tropical. The lava tube was cool, and very dark.

After that, we drove all the way down the coast past a bunch of craters to an area where there are petroglyphs carved in the volcanic rock. That was really cool. Many pictures.

Then we drove home, but stopped at a black sand beach that was riddled with turtles.

Things I learned yesterday: Chocolate covered macadamia nuts are evil. EVIL. Remember to bring a swanky dive flashlight if you're going to hike through a cave (we didn't).

Today we're driving north to see some waterfalls, and then taking a helicopter tour of the lava flows. Very cool. Hopefully we'll get some good pictures.