Hawaii Vacation - Norwegian Pride of America - November/December 2014 - Day 5 – Hilo - Volcanoes National Park – Akaka Falls

Tuesday December 3, 2014

Got an early start with room service and it came exactly on time with everything we needed. I have sailed some other lines where it is a gamble if it would come, so I was very happy with room service.

The excursion we picked was through Norwegian and called the crater hike and Akaka falls through Arnott’s tours and David was our guide. First off he was extremely knowledgable about Hilo and was above and beyond when it came to everything with the tour. I would do any tour he was leading in a heartbeat.

We first drove up the mountain, which took about an hour and learned all about volcanoes and the hike we were going to take. Once at the top we were given rain ponchos and walking sticks, both needed and started our 4 mile hike after hitting up the bathrooms. The hike down was good and they do keep up a rigorous pace, which does not leave much time for photos, but I was able to get a few photos here and there. The area is a tropical rainforest and after about 1.8 miles you hit the crater where you need to go down steep hills and steps.

The crater is covered in jagged molten lava rock so you need to be careful, but our guide was very good and helped everyone along the way. Once on the smooth area it felt like we were on another planet. We could walk up to these steam vents and you could feel the heat as you put your hand near it. The whole area was amazing and this is truly a once in a lifetime experience.

Now for the hard part, we had to walk back up to the summit, which was over a mile away. It was rough and I understand now why this is a difficult trek and not good for people with breathing issues. Even in my most fit body I would have had issues, but I made it and so did everyone else. Once on top we had a bathroom break and a chance to walk through the lava tube. The tube was cool, but more of a “I did this” type of thing. Also, wait for the visitor center for the bathroom because the lines were long.

We got back in the small bus and headed to the visitor center and were served lunch, water, turkey wraps with local produce and chips. It was perfect. We got to go to the observatory edge and watch the lava lake from a distance. Unfortunately, you can not see the lava and were told only at night you can see the red glow.

We left the park and David gave us a nice quick tour of the city, there is not much to it and explained to us the reasoning because of the tsunamis. He also took us to various hidden places where we could see some out of the way things like banyon trees donated by the famous and a coast line drive.

Last was the Akaka falls and this was incredible. I could spend all day in that area hiking those trails and just looking out onto those falls. Everything looked so clean and refreshing.

The tour lasted about 8 hours and was worth it. It just was an amazing experience and I would be thrilled to do it again even.

Got back to the ship around 5pm and took a little nap and then relaxed in the coffee/wine bar till our late reservation for Teppanyaki. We did the late seating and were lucky enough to be seated with 3 senior crew members. It was really nice to get to know them all and we had a great time.

The food, again they were heavy handed with oil, but otherwise it is very similar to any other hibachi. The fried rice was very good. Miso soup could have had more tofu. Seaweed salad was yummy.  Chicken and steak were prepared perfect. It was all very good and the chef had some really cool tricks I have never seen before. Also, they do just have green tea ice cream, but it was not on the menu, so just ask for that. 

Off to bed.

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