Hilo is on the Eastern side of the island. It's an old plantation town turned tourist town. They don't grow much sugar cane if any. I never found a working plantation on the Big Island. The town people are friendly and there are several beautiful waterfalls near town. I open this set of pictures with some shots from the open air Farmer's Market. I followed up with Waterfall shots all within 15 miles of the downtown area. I took a helicopter ride from the Hilo Airport to the Lava field. I was never more that 500 feet above the ground. Some of the Lava field shots look like I was only a few feet, it was always a bit more, usually between 300 to 500 feet. I have several pictures from the surrounding country side including some from the "Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden".