A look back: Volcano Eruptions & The Big Island & Dancing with Lava

The video and photos of the eruptions of Kilauea brings back long ago memories of summers on the Big Island. When we were growing up, we visited Grandma and Grandpa every summer in Hilo and always loved to visit Volcano National Park. During a few of our many visits we were sometimes lucky enough to see the earth open up and give us a glimpse of its red glowing molten core.

My Mom, who grew up in Hilo, told me this story, of when she was little. It was about the closest she has been to a river of red hot flowing lava. To view the flow, they walked on cooled lava that was still so hot she had to keep moving her feet up and down to keep them from burning. She also had to keep turning around like a roast, because the heat from the flow they were watching was so intense from their vantage point, that she couldn't continually face it without becoming too hot. The flow was just yards away from her! She danced with the hot lava that day.

Today, for safety reasons, the public does not get to experience the flows like that.

Sea Horse Farm, Kailua-Kona, Big Island

seahorse.com

On our last trip to the Kona side of the Big Island, our family took a very unique tour of the Ocean Rider Sea Horse Farm. To enter the farm we had to wash our hands and arms up to the elbows and clean the bottom of our shoes by walking through a very shallow rinse. After we were thoroughly sterilized, we were allowed into the wonderful world of the sea horses.

At the start of the tour, we walked down into a pit like area, where a lava tube was unearthed and naturally filled with water. In a little plastic cup our guide collected little red volcanic shrimp (Opae ula). These shrimp were the perfect food for the sea horses.

We learned later, that while at first, the sea horses would only eat live food, there was a special little sea horse named "Mikey" who was the first seahorse to eat frozen food. This pioneer among sea horses was then able to teach his frozen food eating trait, to many other sea horses, and subsequent generations became frozen food eaters too.

We were able to see the farmed sea horses in many stages, from the tiny babies, to the grown adults. We even were given the opportunity to have a taste of seaweed. The highlight of the tour was having a sea horse wrap it's tail around our finger. One at a time, we got our turn at the big plastic tub. We submerged our hands into the tank with our finger at the ready. Then, with the assistance of a guide, one of the many cooperative seahorses were brought over to meet us and wrap itself around our awaiting finger. Such a wonderful experience!

If you are at all intrigued with sea horses, this is a tour you shouldn't miss.

The photo above is a picture I took at the end of the tour from the tanks which showcased different varieties of sea horses.