We met our tour guide on the pier and were amazed to discover there were only 6 of us signed up for this tour! Previous to this we'd been going in two bus loads to other sites. We'd have almost a private tour and guide!
We set off from Hilo headed west towards the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. I have to say every tour guide we've had has been so fluent at talking the entire way about Hawaiian culture, history and landscape. And they all think the island they live on is the best! They have a tale for everything so we have gained so much from driving around with that constant narration. We learned Hilo is the wettest city in the Hawaiin chain, and parts of the rain forest we were to cycle through receive as much as 250" of rain a year. Couldn't believe our luck that the rain was holding off for us today!
Once we reached the altitude where our bike ride was to begin we first of all stopped at the Jaggar Museum where we would have the most amazing view of the Kilauea crater. There are craters within craters but the largest is about 4 miles by 3 miles. Steam is still rising from the crater floor but the molten lava is not visible. This volcano erupted back in 1984 and has been active ever since. It is the one you may have heard about in the news because its lava flow was getting perilously close to a neighborhood back in September 2014, and ended up destroying one house before it finally stopped advancing.
After a short photo op we went to begin our bike ride. Alan was our guide, a very comical guy who hailed from England, then Canada but grew up in Hawaii. Funny since we were all Brits or Canadians in this group. In fact half this cruise seems to be Canadian, escaping that winter freeze!
Off we went and I have to say it was pretty cool being able to cycle around the rim of a volcanic crater. Not something you get to do everyday! We stopped at multiple overlooks to see the crater from different angles and Alan was quite the expert on all the plant life so we had a real education as we went along. We stopped at some steam vents where you could feel the heat coming up from the ground, and have a free steam facial in the process!
Continuing on down the volcano we passed through lush rain forest and then even got to walk through a lava tube and on a field of lava rock. To finish our ride we went straight downhill at quite some speed before celebrating our ride with fresh papaya and pineapple.
As we drove back towards the cruise ship our guide, Shawn, shared yet more interesting facts. We had noticed that there is so little wildlife here on the islands and he told us why. They had a rat problem eons ago so some bright spark thought they'd import mongooses to eradicate the problem. Trouble is mongooses are diurnal and rats are nocturnal so they rarely ever meet! Instead the mongooses were responsible for killing off nearly all the native birds. Between them and the feral cat population the birds didn't stand a chance. We actually saw a mongoose running in the street in the town. He also talked about how few plant and animal species were native to Hawaii but rather had been brought in by humans, often on the soles of our shoes without even knowing it.
Once we returned to the ship we grabbed a much needed glass of wine before once again enjoying dinner and a show. Heading to Kona on the west side of the island tomorrow, the drier, sunnier side.
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