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| This was my favorite shot of the evening we spent in Kilauea National Park with the backdrop of the glow from Mount Kilauea. For more details from our post, please click here |
“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”
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| A baby kudu found comfort standing at the base of this tree when there was lots of action in our yard. |
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| These trees provided a backdrop perfect for taking photos. |
It was Christmas, 2014 when we rented two houses next door to one another while our family came to visit for the holiday. They began arriving in early December and the last didn’t depart until early January 2015.
Many months prior to our arrival in Pahoa on the Big Island we’d begun worrying that our planned family holiday would be challenging if we had to select a different location with space for the 14 of us, of there was an evacuation of Pahoa.
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| Smoke rising from the lava flowing in Pahoa, where we lived for six weeks in 2014/2015. We were concerned we’d have to evacuate. Click here for this post. |
It was Christmas in Hawaii, one of the most popular holiday destinations in the world. There are too many posts we uploaded at that time to fully describe the story of our time in Pahoa and the interesting and unusual aspect of living in an area with the prospect of flowing lava reaching the holiday homes.
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| Numerous power poles located in the path of the lava flow had been covered in fire-retardant materials to prevent the flow from destroying the power to the area. For this post, please click here. |
The first post in the succession began on December 2, 2014, when we’d arrived on December 1st and ended on January 14, 2015, as indicated here. Here’s a photo below of the backyard facing the Pacific Ocean from the backyard of one of the two houses we rented, located next door to one another, each with an astounding view.
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| The next-door neighbor’s chair gives a good perspective of the massive size of these waves in front of the two houses we rented on the Big Island from this post. |
As concerned as we were about the situation we were bound and determined to have as good a time as we could with the family and, if we had to evacuate, we’d figure out a solution.
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| The swirls in the moving lava were interesting to see firsthand. For more, please click here. |
Shortly before Christmas, the nearby shopping center where we purchased groceries, supplies, and gas, was closed due to fears that the lava was headed that way. It was an unusual experience to be shopping at the market with huge discounts the day before the store was closing supposedly for good, with the lava.
During this period, we discovered that many homeowners in the area had already packed and left their homes, fearful of the arriving lava flow. They moved out all of their belongings and waited, living in other areas as to what would transpire. What a hardship for all of them!
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| To see the red-hot lava between these lava rocks only required a bit of zoom. We couldn’t believe we were with our family and all of us were able to see lava flowing for the first time in our lives. For this post, please click here. |
Now, as the residents of Leilani Estates struggle with this same reality they’re more certain their homes are at risk of being taken out by the massive lava flows and/or damaged severely by earthquakes. The fate of the area is uncertain over the long haul.
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| Signs such as this were posted everywhere. Click here for the post. |
In any case, we enjoyed our time in Pahoa and now we pray for the safety and recovery of those who’ve lost so much in the wake of this violent mountain’s continuing eruptions and earthquakes.
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| This is a photo I took of a photo of when the lava crossed Apa’a Street on October 25th. See this link for the news report. |
If you’d like to read more on this, please click this link. To watch any one of numerous live feeds of the volcano, please click here.
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| A barn or garage that survived the lava flow as it crawled down the road. For this post, please click here. |
Tomorrow, we’ll share photos of our fabulous day at Frikkie’s Dam in Lionspruit wildlife area with Louise and Danie’s friends, meeting new people while sharing stories of wildlife and world travel. Although each of the braai’s participants has diverse and interesting backgrounds, we all shared a common interest in our love of the beauty and magic of Marloth Park.
See you soon! Have a great day!
Photo from one year ago today, May 7, 2017:
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| Captain Rick Sullivan chatted with us in Dizzy’s Jazz Bar aboard Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas as we made our way toward North America. He invited us to a special function enabling us to do a story. His warm demeanor and superb sense of humor have made sailing aboard this ship a sheer delight. For more photos, please click here. |