Hawai’i – land where “Tūtū Pele” dwells…:-)

For the native Hawaiians,”Tūtū Pele”(Madame Pele) is the most well-known deity within their mythology – the goddess of fire, lightning, wind and volcanoes – the creator of the Hawaiian Islands. Volcanoes have always been “monuments” to Earth’s origin, concrete evidence that primordial forces are still at work like in Hawaiʻi(home!) aka “Big Island” that gives the archipelago its name. This is a land of ice and fire, with active volcanoes and several climate zones. It’s a relatively “young” place – about a million years old, compared to Kauai – almost 6 million! They are huge “land builders”, as they’ve created the Hawaiian island chain: Kilauea and Mauna Loa(Earth’s most massive mountain!) are 2 of the world’s most active ones, and they add land to Hawai’i every day.
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almost 13km-hike(round trip!) to watch the lava flow from afar(hélas!) – ’cause a few years ago, one could approach the spot at about 1km, but in the meantime, lots of areas have been closed for the same reason: irresponsible, reckless, foolhardy tourists!!!

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Mauna Loa is one of the best understood volcanoes that sheds light on the birth and the beginnings of our planet. Each eruption reminds us of the unlimited force of Nature to change the air we breathe, the ground we walk on, and the oceans that surround our continents. Long story, short: our planet is ever-changing, with its basic strength beyond any human control. As much as we’ve altered Terra’s face to suit our own needs, we can only stand in awe before the extreme power of a volcano. In fact, a new mountain, called Lo’ihi is currently forming off the southeast coast, and should emerge from the ocean in a few thousands of years from now. After Etna, Stromboli and Vulcano last May, I have to admit my fondness and fascination for the Hawaiian and the Icelandic volcanoes! ❤ well, "de gustibus et de coloribus non disputandum…" 🙂
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have a FFF = a fond and fascinating Friday, nā kānaka = guys! 🙂

looping around the Kilauea caldera @ Big Island-Hawaii…

via the Crater Rim drive… Kilauea is a currently active shield volcano with a large crater, typically formed by a major eruption, leading to the collapse of the mouth of the volcano; its name means “spewing” or “much spreading” in the Hawaiian language, referring to its frequent outpouring of lava. The present eruption started in 1983, and when I was there for the first time in 2000, it produced slow-moving lava with no threat for visitors, but… these past years all the areas around have been closed, and the rangers explained WHY: because of some irresponsible people who would dangerously approach the boiling crater!!!

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entourée des orchidées qui poussent sur les champs de lave et le long des routes, j’ai constaté qu’elles n’avaient jamais approché des tournesols… je me suis demandée si elles se souvenaient de notre première rencontre, et elles ont lentement hoché leurs pétales fatigués par les fumerolles, en conservant leur silence… mais ce qui était le plus frappant, c’est qu’elles recherchaient la chaleur du volcan incandescent avec un soupir gracieux… au fait, la Grande Île est également surnommée “L’île des orchidées”! 🙂
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surrounded by the orchids that grow over the lava fields and along the roads, I noticed they’d never approached sunflowers… I wondered if they had recalled our first encounter, and they slowly nodded with their petals, tired of the fumaroles, preserving their silence… but what was most striking, they still looked for the warmth of the glowing volcano with such a graceful sob… btw, Big Island is also nicknamed “orchid island”! 🙂