Hawai’i Volcanoes

March 2023 | Park 28

Part + Park 2 (of 2) on our fifth anniversary trip.

Whenever we look back on this trip, it’s generally followed by one of us sighing and saying: “Can we go back? Soon?”

And honestly, I’m feeling that now as I look back through these images and surface some of our memories. We spent eight blissful days hiking through rainforests and craters and subalpine shrublands. We camped on mountains and beaches. We snorkeled and continued falling deeper in love with the oceanic world. We saw mama and baby humpback whales, unexpectedly ran into a huge manta ray (almost literally…) which terrified us until we learned they’re completely harmless, I saw my first reef shark, we swam right next to ancient looking green sea turtles, and we were graced by the presence of a pod of spinner dolphins one morning while sea kayaking and snorkeling in Kealakekua Bay.

We spent the first half of the trip camping on Maui, which I’d do again in a heartbeat. But once we transitioned to Hawai’i, we gave in and reserved an “eco cabin” for two nights that were supposed to be camping nights and I must say, that first shower and night sleeping on a bed felt so good. This ushered in a part of the trip that also felt so restorative and necessary. We ate açai bowls and found an incredible poke shop that has ruined all other poke for me ever since. We explored Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park and bought a print of a gorgeous art piece titled Pele Sleeps from Nelson Makua, a Native Hawaiian artist, which has been displayed in our living room ever since. We spent the last two nights in a little house next to a coffee farm in the hills above Kona, dining on fresh mangoes from the farmer’s market and wishing we could rewind the trip and start it all over again.

We left with gratitude in our hearts to these verdant lands, these smoking volcanoes, these waters teeming with life, and to the Native Hawaiians who have stewarded it all since time immemorial. Mahalo.