A volcano in Hawaii called Kilauea was spotted by tourists as though "smiling". Instantly, the uploaded pictures and videos of this smiley spewing wonder went viral. And why would it not be? It's seldom that we chance upon nature smiling back at us.
This sensation caught the attention of the media and appeared in tvlandia. NBC's Today featured this nature hottie. Kilauea, which means "spewing" or "much spreading", is an active shield volcano. It's the most active of the five volcanoes situated in Hawaii. It is believed to be in between 300,000 and 600,000 years old and surfaced above sea level 100,000 years ago.
On the crater of the said volcano, where eyes and a smile were seen are lavas. Ninety percent of the lava are younger than 1,000 years old while the oldest exposed lava 2,800 years ago. The longest period of activity of Kilauea dates back January 3, 1983 and is considered to be one of the longest durations in the world.
Kilauea and its family of mountains are revered by the Hawaiian people. They associate it with the goddess of fire, Pele. It is also a major tourist spot annually attracting an average of 2.6 million tourists from all parts of the globe. So, despite the barren surroundings of the volcano that the locals can't benefit from, Kilauea's activity has brought in the dough.
Just like the tourist pictures and videos that went viral, somehow puts the nature wonder on the map once more so to speak. And who knows this will bring in more tourists who would want to chance upon the volcano's smile. I bet those who did smiled back at Kilaeua. Well, perhaps Kilaeua's "smiley" is just a reminder that he is still active and that he won't be silent anytime soon.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
