On the big island, we were fortunate enough to go on a bike tour of Volcanoes National Park. It was the only part of the islands we visited where we got to see plants native to the islands that weren’t brought by the earliest settlers. Invasive plants cover most of the islands, so seeing the native forest was haunting and magical. Plus, we saw lava spurting out of one of the volcanos, and it’s not every day that you get to see earth being born.

This day was so great, that the whole trip would have been worth it for me on its own.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

In case you want to get a better look at any of the shots in the slide show here they are below.