Where in the World is Jamila?: Maui Day 3

This was one of my favourite days. I had stayed up too late the night before and woke up at 6am again, so I wasn't feeling great on about 4 hours of sleep but man what a good day!

We left at about 9:30am, stopped to get more food and water and then drove up to the summit of the Haleakala ("House of the Sun") dormant volcano. Over 10,000 feet high, this National Park has some native Hawaiian species seen nowhere else; silversword plants and Nene birds (descended from our Canadian Geese).

We were dropped off at the beginning of the 12-mile (about 20kms) hike, our two guides drove the two 12-seater vans to the end of the hike and hitched back to us and we headed down into the volcano. The long, steep decline had sandy soil that your feet slip into, and then you continue on mostly flat ground for many miles before the 2+ mile razorback incline into the clouds. The view from the top and all along the hike was like nothing else. I felt like I had been to Mars, with the volcanic craters and rocks inside. Then you hike up into the mist at the end, and feel like you are never going to get to the top. Me and Drew from Seattle were each other's motivational support all the way to the top. Everyone finished within a few minutes of each other, and we completed the hike in about 5.5 hours. Pretty impressive!

Then we rested and got back into the vans to drive to the top again and watch the sunset. Bright red/orange/yellow as the sun dipped into the clouds (we were that high up!). Then our driver Marcus drove us back down the windy road to the hostel where I made white bean/tomato/avocado/onion pasta and went straight to sleep. I've included a bunch of photos, but none of them really capture what it's like the be there!