Halema'uma'u Crater on Kileau Caldera

Pele, goddess of Hawai'i's volcanoes - painting of artist Herb Kawainui Kane

The firepit of Halem'uma'u Crater

The firepit of Halem'uma'u Crater

The firepit of Halem'uma'u Crater

Fissure eruptions

Chains of Craters Road

Holei Sea Arch

End of the road...

Kilauea erupting

Thurston Lava Tube entrance

Kilauea Iki

Kilauea Iki Trail

Kilauea Iki Trail

Sulphur Banks

elevation = 4,000 feet.

According to tradition, Halema'uma'u crater is home of Pele, Hawai'ian goddess of fire.

Maona Loa in the background.

Site of most of the eruptions at the summit of Kilauea Volcano. Between 1905 and 1924, a dazzling lake of molten lava circulated within its walls. Then, in 1924, the lake drained away, allowing ground water to penetrate deep inside the volcano : enormous steam eruptions resulted, showering the landscape with rock debris, still visible around the rim today.

Since1924, 17 eruptions and 4 collapses have occured in the crater, causing a slight increase in the diameter and a 85-meter decrease in its depth.

Dany and his Daewoo Leganza.

Eruptions of Kilauea Volcano typically begin when long fissures open in the ground, allowing lava to foutain out as "curtains of fire". This fissure opened during an eruption on July 19-23, 1994.

Here's a lava flow from Mauna Ulu, which continuously erupted from 1969 to 1974, thus adding 200 new acres of land to the island.

Kilauea Caldera is a still-steamin crater (look for steam plume in the background, caused by molten lava boiling just beneath the surface).

Lava tubes are formed when the outer crust of a river of lava starts to harden but the liquid lava beneath the surface continues to flow on through. After the flow has drained out, the hard sheel remains. Thurston Lava Tube is a typical example - tunnel-like and big enough to run a train through...

It erupted on November 14, 1959 : lava created a 414-foot deep pool...

Dany "in" the pool !

Just from its name, you should be able to smell the rotten eggs odor !! This is one of many areas where Kilauea lets off steam, releasinf hundresd of tons of sulfuric gases daily. As the steam reaches the surface, it deposits sulfur around the mouths of the vents, giving them a froth of fluorescent yellow crystals.