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  3. TRAVEL: 2007 through 2011
  4. Hawaii, February and March, 2009

Hawaii (Big Island) #1

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Ancient temple platform in the background. Shrine with offering on the lower level in the foreground.
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Ancient temple platform in the background. Shrine with offering on the lower level in the foreground.

kalokohonokohaushrine

  • Well, after an amazingly odd time at the airport on Kauai (Go! Airlines either was having a very difficult day or is a business which I hope handles airplane maintenance quite differently than what it does customer service at the airport), we made it to Honolulu and boarded our flight to Kona. Of course, little did we know that our luggage boarded a flight to Hilo! Oh well, we got a great view of Honolulu and Diamond Head.
  • Totally different environment from what you see on Kauai. Kauai last erupted millions of years ago, so the old lava flows have pretty much weathered and become worn down into soil. Big Island has portions erupting NOW, and has much lava which flowed within my lifetime. So, much of Big Island is made up of very fresh, much more barren lava flows. However, Bev and I did find that the flowers on Big Island had more stunningly vivid color than what they did on Kauai. Or maybe they LOOKED more vivid because of their contrast with the gray lava landscape?
  • Our home near Kona for a couple of nights. The Rainbow Plantation. Nice location with a good view. Nice surroundings (in the trees with lots of birds and other critters). Nice breakfast each morning. The cabin was OK, except that it had a tremendously musty/stuffy smell inside (even though the windows were open) which, I found, made it quite difficult to sleep. Because of that, I would have difficulty recommending the place. How about you, Bev?
  • Banana leaf next to our front porch.
  • Hog of the grounds. He was nice and friendly.
  • The owner's pet parrot.
  • Kaloko-Honokōhau is considered a sacred and spiritual place by the natives. It is now a National Historic Park. You see Bev out on some rocks in the water. These rocks were arranged in ancient times to create fish pens, where fish were reared for food. According to local legend, the spirit of a mo'o, or water-dwelling guardian, rests on these rocks and watches to make sure that the inhabitants treat nature with respect. If they do, then the mo'o makes sure that they have bountiful fish harvests.
  • Black crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax). Guess I was pretty lucky to see this guy, since they are primarily nocturnal and we were there in the day time.
  • He looks almost like a different bird when he stands up. He would stay very still by the water's edge, and then burst into the water to get little fish. I tried to get a shot of him striking, but all of the action shots turned out too blurred.
  • Untitled photo
  • Ancient temple platform in the background. Shrine with offering on the lower level in the foreground.
  • At first, I thought that this turtle had to be dead. They just don't come up on land around here (Saipan) except to lay eggs, and then they don't sit still for long. On Big Island, however, they commonly come out and sleep on the rock (or sand, if a beach is present). I read that no one knows why they do that, and that this behavior is unique to Big Island. My personal theory is that it may have something to do with the fact that the water tends to be pretty cold around there (much colder than here around Saipan) and that the black rock and sand holds heat which they may find to be comfortable. State law prohibits anyone getting within ten feet of a turtle sleeping on land.
  • And yes, I was more than ten feet away. This is the same turtle as in the previous photo, from the other side. Totally sound asleep. If you bring this photo up to full size (which you can do by left-clicking it and then clicking on the "O" which will show up at the top of your screen {then you will need to scroll down to the turtle}), you will see a "32" either etched into or stamped on its shell. I did not notice that while we were there, but I assume that it is some kind of tracking number for the Fish and Wildlife folks.
  • Gee! I wonder why we can't have such pretty and cute geckos here on Saipan! We have some pretty neat-looking lizards, but next to THIS guy, they are all quite plain.
  • "Hey, you wanna smooch?"
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