Four days after leaving Nuku Hiva, our ship docked in Hilo on the Big Island (Hawaii). We signed up for a full-day hiking tour of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The hike was marked as strenuous and they told no lies.This kept our group smaller than usual. We started early with a trip to the Thurston lava tube. According to our guide, a lava tube is formed when slower flowing lava hardens and forms a roof above the still-flowing lava stream. When the lava stream stops you get a long tunnel — pretty amazing. That part of the hike was pretty easy, about a mile and a half with relatively smooth ground and no steep climbs.

The rest of our hike, about 6.5 miles along the rim of Hilina Pali and the down across the crater. Parts were very steep and the entire trail was rocky, rough and uneven. However, we got to see a volcano up close and personal, something you can’t see anywhere else. Fortunately we had a very good guide who brought water, energy snacks and hiking sticks. After finishing the hike we went by van to the Jaggar Museum overlooking the Kilauea caldera which is closed to visitors because of deadly fumes.

As we drove back to the ship, our guide pointed areas that had been affected by law flows. He also explained that the area was divided into four zones for insurance purposes. Zone 1 was the safest and I expect it would be very difficult to get insurance in Zone 4.