Landscape, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Fondest memory: The view from the top has always filled me with awe on many of my trips to the United States. It's inspiring & magical to realise that it's not until recently that mankind has the luxury to see magnificent canyons, awesome glaciers, towering cliffs, pristine lakes & awe-inspiring vistas from those angles. Consider this: many kings & queens & VIPs had never seen these in their entire lifetime! No Discovery or National Geographic channel either. Aren't we the luckiest people in this lifetime? It's marvelous to have the technology we have today & to have so many enjoy the convenience at a price many of us can afford!

My wish? The ability to memorize all these great moments in life & to be able to capture them as & when I need them! That'll be perfect!

Favorite thing: Ok, take a close look at this landscape! Imagine you are up there with me; seeing it for the first time & in full panoramic view too. Just feel the delight in discovering something new, rare & precious! It's beyond my limited vocabulary!

Have you ever seen anything like this? I haven't, not until this trip; not after this trip either! It's uniquely Hawaiian, I think. I have seen many images which will ultimately entice me to fly over these islands again & again... hopefully soon :)

Favorite thing: Look for new coastline constantly forming over the Pacific Ocean from the series of lava which sizzled into the ocean. If you are lucky, you may also get to see cliffs formed by vertical faulting.

Here, we see vegetation starting to grow on one of the newest land on earth.

Favorite thing: As the steaming lava cools & descends into the sea, patches of forest recover. Black shoreline as such are commonly observed. A huge undersea volcano (called the Loihi) is presently building a future Hawaiian island.

Fondest memory: If you look closely at the picture you can see what appears to be a face in the lava formation. Our guide assured us that this happened naturally. Pretty cool!