Big Island (Hawaii) - what to see, do and eat
A few days after we booked our Big Island trip, Mauna Loa (the largest active volcano in the world, located in Big Island) started erupting. My social media feed was flooded with incredible video footage of the lava spewing from Mauna Loa, and getting closer to Saddle Road, the main connecting highway between the western and eastern sides of the Big Island. We were a little nervous, and indecisive whether we should cancel the trip, but decided to take a risk with the hope of experiencing live volcano sightings, a once in a lifetime opportunity. It did not really turn out as exciting, honestly was an anticlimax - Mauna Loa stopped erupting just a few days before we left 🙁. While we were able to see the fissures and lava/ash trail of the latest eruption, explored the steam vents and cinder cones on Saddle Road, compared and read up on pāhoehoe and ʻaʻā lava patterns and textures, shocked by the devastation of the 2018 Kilauea volcano eruption taking out whole neighborhoods, and marvele