Capturing the Moment

  How do I describe the magical feeling you get when spending time with a family of mountain gorillas. It is a bit unnerving how human-like their facial expressions and actions are. They let us get, and stay very close, seemingly undeterred at the daily one hour visit from a small group of humans. The trekking groups are limited to six paying tourist, a guide, and a small entourage of porters. A group of armed trackers spend longer with the gorilla family, tracking their movements through the day and noting their nightly nesting places...making them much easier to find the next morning. The experience is pure magic. Knowing that we are the only tourist they will see all day makes the experience, and the cost of a permit, even more special.  Looking back at Mount Sabyinyo, where we trekked to find the gorillas   The gorillas living in the Virunga mountains were not even known to the international scientific community until 1902. Since then the gorillas have seen their habi...

   How to see the Lava Ocean Entry on the Big Island of Hawaii    One of the best nature spectacles on Earth has just gotten a lot easier to see. Checking the USGS Kilauea Volcano eruption update page show the lava is still entering the ocean. This is something worth seeing. It used to be difficult, and at times illegal, to make your way out across the fresh lava fields to see the active flow cascading over the cliff into the sea. I went two years ago in March, and had to sneak out past the county guards who were there to make sure only those that went out with a tour group gained access (check out that story here ). Now it is a whole different story. Where did this come from!?    Guards are still at the end of the road, where the far reaches of the lava flowed across the town and beautiful black sand beach of Kalapana in the early 1980's. But now the guards are there to help you park, point you to the bike rentals, and remind you to sunscreen up ...

Kilauea Volcano The Kilauea Iki Crater hike   After a long driving day from Kona to the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii the gang slipped into the hot tub at the Kilauea Lodge.We finished the day with a glowing dinner at the Volcano House. A visit from Heidi's parents all the way from Vermont sparked this getaway for Heidi and I to the Big Island. Us four, along with local legend Dave P., Becky, Leslie, and John set out to experience as much of the volcano national park as we could. It even turned out to be a surprise free National Park weekend because of presidents day! Must be a sign of good things to come. Active vent Descent into the crater   The lodge we were staying at was first class all the way, from the hot tub to the private fireplace in each room. A symphony of bird noise erupted each morning out our window as the endemic honeycreepers called in the new day. Streaks of bright red darted from treetop to treetop through the o'hea tree's. Th...