Day 4: Beauty of the Dark by Gibson Lopez de Huehls

 

Today was a moving day. In the morning, we made our way from the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel to the Hawaiian Preparatory Academy, stopping at sites along the way. We saw Rainbow Falls and the Boiling Pots, beautiful pools, and surging waterfalls formed by the Wailuku River. We learned that in Hawaiian, the word "wai" means water, and "luku" means destruction, which gives this violent river its name. After the river, we drove over to the Kaumana Caves, part of an over 20-mile-long system of tubes formed by the 1881 eruption of Moana Loa.

The caves were already spectacular from the street, sprawling ferns and lava rock lining the rim of these massive holes in the Earth, but the real beauty for myself and everyone else came from within them. The 20 of us split in half and took turns venturing into the tunnels. To my surprise, being inside the lava tubes was one of the most transformative experiences I have had for myself and this group of people on the trip. Walking together over slippery and sharp rocks, each sharing one another's light, we guided ourselves deeper and deeper into these ancient magma formations. Breaks in rock lining the tubes signaled the depth at which lava once flowed and told a story about the power and significance that the processes of nature can bring to the environment.

We continued deep into the lava tube, aiming to reach the end. A few friends turned to head back to the opening. Once the last of us had reached the furthest we could go, our group of six sat in a circle and turned off all our flashlights and phones to be in complete darkness. With zero natural light seeping that deep into the cave, our other senses heightened, and I truly felt in my body and with others. While considerably the most important sense, sight can also be highly distracting. Being in the complete dark with other souls around me was the first time I have ever really gotten to feel, listen to, and be in my surroundings. The lava tubes made me realize how beautiful all aspects of life are, not just the pretty views of nature I can see but also the feeling of being with others, listening to nature, and being in my body.



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