EXCURSIONES EN TIERRA

Rise in the wee hours to travel from sea level to 10,000 feet and the top of Haleakala, Maui's massive volcano. At the summit is a vast crater seven and a half miles long by two and a half miles wide, and 3,000 feet deep. It last erupted in 1790 and has slumbered ever since, though that does not mean it won't one day wake up. The Hawaiians revere it as a sacred site, and tell tales of Pele, Goddess of Fire and Volcanos.

You'll be perched on top as dawn breaks and the sun begins to rise, spreading a glow across the landscape. Once it is light enough you'll marvel at the crater's eerie landscape of cinder cones and ancient lava formations. If the day is clear, you may even make out two other towering peaks - Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on the Big Island.