Maui 🐳🌴

On Monday morning, we went to the Honolulu Airport, where we desperately searched for our flight... until a nice staff member sent us to Terminal 3 (a small hut in the middle of the airport parking lot). There, we excitedly discovered our 'airplane' ~a 10-person propeller plane. 🛩️ However, the flight turned out to be more enjoyable than expected as we flew along the coast of Oahu (Waikiki Beach & Kokohead) and then spotted whales in the turquoise-blue sea. ⛱️🐳 In our hostel in Maui, we met Simon and Helena on the first evening, and we made plans with them to visit the 'Road to Hana' the next day (since they are both over 21 and can rent a car). Our tour started at 7:30 am the next morning, and we drove along the coast of Maui, marveling at how the vegetation changed fascinatingly every few kilometers from desert to Ireland-like landscape to jungle. After 2 hours, we reached the first stop/hiking trail through a bamboo forest to a huge waterfall wall. On the way, we stopped at a bay made of blue volcanic rock and then had Hilo Hilo Chicken on the beach, which was one of the best lunches of our trip! 🍗🍚Next, we went to Red Sandy Beach, where we saw the most beautiful seawater alongside the red sandy beach. The last stop was at Paia, a surf beach that we could only briefly visit due to the onset of rain... After 12 hours, we returned to the hostel where Philipp and Manu (whom we had met at the Waikiki Hostel) were already waiting for us. The next day, we started with the two boys at the Lahaina harbor, where our whale watching tour started at 9:45 am. Within the next 2 hours, we saw many whales/family of whales, who spend their breeding season in Maui before swimming back to Alaska in March. We even observed a dolphin excitedly jumping next to the whales. 🐳🐬 Back on the mainland, Jojo and I went swimming at the beach and unfortunately were surprised by the rain again. We spent our last day in Paia at the beach (which we discovered two days ago in the rain), swimming in the paradise-like sea. Jojo got knocked over by the waves at a depth of 0.3 meters and didn't want to go into the water anymore. 🤦🏽♀️😂 In the afternoon, we strolled through the streets of the small town of Paia and then made our way back to our hostel in Wailuku.