In Which We Bid a Fond Farewell to the Sea

Today is our last day in Hawai'i, with an 8:35 pm red eye home through LAX.

And this morning was our last swim in the sea. We woke up and had breakfast of local ladyfinger bananas--you can hardly get them on the mainland--and papayas we bought at a farmer's market in Hilo yesterday. Then we walked down to the beach, got our swim fins, and went in the water.

Today the sea was very calm and clear. We saw many old favorites, such as many turtles, and a few new fish.





We spotted quite a few sea cucumbers, and I got a good photo of a moorish idol.




We even glimpsed, far out, a moray eel, hiding in the coral below us.




We'll relax the rest of the day with a late check out, and then the long journey home.

* * * *

UPDATE

Looks like we got bumped... up to first class! Woot, as the young'uns these days say. We have been traveling a lot this year and built up miles, so we got a free comp upgrade. Very useful for the redeye! And very apropos, as almost ten years ago coming back from our wedding in Italy we also got a free upgrade. Hurrah!

Zippy!

Today we drove to the east side of the island, where we walked through botanical gardens, including many bromeliads, wild gingers, bananas, and other tropical plants. We saw cinnamon trees--you can taste the spice from a stem of a leaf--and cashews--very toxic, it turns out, do NOT touch this in the wild.





At the same place we took a zipline tour through the forest canopy, zig-zagging back and forth across a rainforest ravine. Lots of fun!





After the zipline, we were tired, so we drove to Hilo and had a lunch. We had thought about pushing on to Kiluaea, but were too tired to try the 3+ hour drive, so we turned back and returned to our hotel.

A dip in the pool and jacuzzi, and then a late dinner at sunset.



Tomorrow we have nearly a full day, then catch a redeye back home

Manta Chant

Last night we drove south to Kailua-Kona where we had booked a nightdrive snorkel trip to see manta rays.

Manta rays feed on plankton, which are attracted by light. So at several spots along the coast bright lights are used to attract the plankton, and thus the mantas.

We had booked a trip with a tour company, but when we arrived we found their boat was out of order--a broken starter motor. Fortunately the company arranged for another tour guide, in a smaller boat (essentially, an inflatable zodiac boat, much like the ones used by Jacques Cousteau) to take us, nine in all.

A little late, we went out just after sunset. After some preliminaries, we jumped in the water.

We were alloffered wetsuits (Calvin declined, Donna accepted) but the ocean water was warm enough that one didn't really need a wetsuit. There were at least half a dozen other boats gathered to see the mantas.

For over an hour we waited and saw nothing. Someone in our boat thought he saw the edge of a manta, but it swam away.

The water was choppy, and several of us from our boat were starting to feel slightly seasick--both of us felt slightly queasy. (The carne asada quesadilla we had for dinner probably didn't help probably.) We got back in the boat and were prepping to go back in when the chant went up--Manta ray!

So we jumped back in the water.

A single ray swam in enough loop-de-loops, scooping plankton into its mouth. It came within a couple feet of the surface, and of the snorklers floating there, apparently used to the presence of humans. It was massive, at least five feet across.

Finally we headed back to shore, our heads full of the ghostly image of the black and white ray. Manta claus had come to town!

I did take some pictures, but the best shots are in some video. I don't seem to have the best software to extract single images so that will have to wait until we return.

The Undersea World of Calvin and Donna

Another morning spent in the sea.



We bought a small reef fish guide, and have seen spotted boxfish, ornate butterflyfish (pictured), Hawaiian sergeant, lizardfish, spectacled parrotfish, yellow tang, stripebelly puffer, giant porcupinefish, convict tang, black triggerfish, lagoon triggerfish, and others we could not identify...





Just before lunch we took a walk to see the Waikoloa petroglyphs, carved into the hard basalt. It is amazing to the see the hardened lava field, where rock is folded like fudge....



For tonight we've scheduled a sunset snorkleing trip with manta rays!

The reef

Today we swam in the ocean.





One of the great attractions of this location is that, from our hotel, it's 50 yards to walk to an ocean beach where we rent fins and snorkels, and then swim 50 yards out to a reef. There are likely better reefs in the world, but this is convenient. It's why I recommended this spot to Donna.




The water is a near perfect temperature, and there are dozens of species of fish, as well as sea turtles!




I bought a special but inexpensive mask with built in camera--not only still photos but video. The video may take time to figure out how to upload.


By late morning the wind had picked up making the surf choppy, so we had lunch in our room (bought from a local grocery store) and then sat by the pool reading. That lasted about 2 hours, so then we drove across the island, where we found the viewpoint to the lush (and carefully guarded) Waipio valley.

First day on the Big Island

A beautiful day here on the Big Island. It is King Kamehameha Day, celebrating the first king of the unified islands.


Here is the view out out hotel--not directly of the ocean...


But it is less than fifty yards to walk to the ocean, and then another hundred yard swim to the reef off shore--easy with swim fins and a snorkel. Which is what we are off to do!

Hawaii

We're taking a long weekend in Hawaii, as an early celebration of our 10th anniversary. The flight out of LAX was delayed over an hour, as we waited (on board) for a cargo door handle to be fixed, but as that was our last leg it was fine, only meant that we were tired.

On the Big Island, staying at Waikoloa (the Marriott). Took a quick dip in the pool and the jacuzzi to untense from 7 hours on a plane. Tomorrow we'll swim in the ocean and then start looking for ways to relax!