Trip Update Mar-May 2023 Part 2 Hawaii

Sunset in Hawaii

Grey Crowned Crane at Panaewa Rainforest Zoo

We flew to Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. We picked up our Turo (ride sharing business) car and we were on the road in a jiffy, while our fellow passengers were boarding rental car buses. We drove over the Saddle Road to Pahoa, a suburb of Hilo and checked into our AirBNB. The next day was kind of nasty so we checked out a couple of free museums in Hilo. (WOW something FREE in Hawaii!). We also toured the local zoo.

Mushroom explosion on Puna Trail

Pat on trail down to the volcano

Kalij Pheasant looking for a handout

We went to Volcano NP and hiked into the crater.  When we stopped for lunch, we meet a local Kalij pheasant who was also looking for lunch -from us! There was no significant volcanic activity on the island while we were there.

Volcano NP

Lava Tree Mold

Flowers from the Gardens

Colorful leaves too

The highlights of the Hilo area are the gardens. We spent a couple of hours at the HI Tropical Biosphere and Gardens. From here we drove back to Kona, stopping to take a rain soaking hike along the way. We checked into a timeshare on the coast near Kona. We took a snorkeling tour boat to Captain Cook Memorial. It was a nice trip, but the snorkeling was a bit disappointing. We spent the rest of the week at the beaches or on the trails. One resort charged us $20 to park in their public access parking lot. These lots have always been free in the past. We did see a lot of turtles while beachcombing.

Shark bait at Captain Cook Monument

Flower on the Big Island

Next, we flew to Kauai and after a night in a hotel, we checked into a great timeshare, the Bali Hai in Princeville. You could say we did the same thing here as we did on the Big Island; hike, visit gardens and go to the beach. True, but each island is different and has its own characteristics. We got married at the Coco Palms Resort on Kauai in 1982. A few years later, the resort was demolished by a hurricane. Some 35 years later, they are still talking about reconstruction.

Green Sea Turtle

Sunset from our Kona condo.

Blowhole on Kauai

Pat at Limahuli Garden

A change we found from previous visits were high entrance fees for tourist to some parks that used to be free. I guess Hawaii is trying to make up for the loss revenue from COVID. Overall, the higher prices we expected to pay because it is Hawaii, were even higher.

Wildflower on Kauai

Cliffs of Lanai

Spiner Dolphins

The last Island we visited was Maui. Here we had a condo in Kihei. From here we took a snorkeling trip out to Lanai. We ended up on the far side of the island due to the wave action. The snorkeling was OK, but at least we saw Spinner Dolphins on the trip in and out. After that trip, we decided to stick to sites we could access by swimming. Oddly enough, at an old deserted boat harbor, we saw better coral and more fish than we did on our boat trip! We did see about 7 green sea turtles a day while on Maui. After 5 days, we flew back to Albuquerque[DJ1] .

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 [DJ1]

Sunset from our Maui condo