Blogs from Big Island, Hawaii, United States, North America - page 3

HEALING IN HAWAII KONA APRIL 2022 In early 2022 I began thinking about my next trip and I started reading tours offered on a travel site called Rosie’s Responsible Travel. A 21-day camping trip on the African continent caught my imagination. I began working on the required visas and immunizations. Africa is so diverse and so big and I felt a little shaky about organizing my own trip, but an ordinary packaged tour felt too tame. I backpack so I have tenting experience and guests on this journey are expected to contribute and help prepare meals, and set up and tear down our own tents. The tour company changed my proposed trip to one that starts on my birthday. It is a big one…my 80th. So the company announced my age on the paperwork, not that ... read more

We started our day birding, but first went to the Paradise bakery for coffee and fresh malasadas (Portuguese donuts) to take with us during this arduous time (just joking). Mine was filled with guava jelly. David had the toasted coconut. Sadly, we saw few birds at the end of our usual mountain road. We finally figured out the name of our mountain: Hualalai, the 3rdyoungest of the 5 volcanoes of the Big Island. It means “shy,” as it often hides behind some clouds. Actually today was so clear again that we could see Maui’s Haleakala and coastline. Driving on some alternative roads down the mountain, we stumbled across the Mountain Thunder Kona Coffee Farm, just 10 mins before a tour, so we finally found out quite a bit about coffee: 1) The beans started in Ethiopia ... read more

We “set sail” for Volcanoes National Park today, and it was a bright and sunny day. We went due south of Kailua-Kona along route 11, passing by our favorite snorkeling area Two Step, stopping at a few pull-offs, buying some Kona Coffee (all beans are picked by hand, hence the price) from Miranda’s, a Christian family business. We stopped at a black sand beach – evidently with very rounded lava, and saw our first 2 nene geese next to the lovely grass of a golf course. It took us almost 4 hours to get to the National Park – once again using our “get in for free because we are old” membership card. We did about .5 mi hike to get to the Lava Tube area, and another .5 through and around it – it was ... read more

Is it possibly only Tuesday still? We have packed in so much yet again. Yes, we woke up with sore muscles – shoulders, arms, chest – but last night was great. I’ll try to attach some photos taken by phone too. Well, not surprisingly, we went snorkeling again, as mornings are always best here. We were in the water by 9:30, driving over 45 mins to get there. Evidently the weather is picking up swells and waves all the way from Alaska, so we need to get our snorkels in. We considered a new place, but couldn’t see how to enter or exit, so returned to Two Steps, which was just around the corner from there. Got a free parking spot this time too and had a great time. I only made 1.5 hours this time ... read more

This morning, we got up early to make the drive to Waipio Valley, on the north side of the island. We were going on a horseback tour through the valley at 9:30. It's about a 1.5 hour drive from Kona, and we didn't want to risk being late, so we left at 7am. The plan was to stop at the Hot Malasadas Truck on the way to the valley. We arrived at the location at 8am, but the truck wasn't there yet. So, we continued on our route. About 5 minutes later, we passed it on the road! It appeared to be heading to the location for the day. We thought about doubling back, but we worried the extra drive time and waiting for them to set up would be too much. So, sadly, we skipped ... read more