Dream trip to Hawaii 2018 - Island Hopping Part 5 Big Island

big, bigger, Big Island

The island carries the name rightly. It is not only the largest of the Hawaiian Islands, but also the one with the highest mountains, the volcanoes Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

After a short 37-minute flight, we reached the final destination airport of our trip, Kona on Big Island.

The stay or days here required planning and flexibility.

When I had booked the excursions and programs, it was possible to attend all events on any day of the year. Then an organizer suddenly realized that due to Thanksgiving, no excursions could take place on one day. Oops. So what do you do in such a situation when you hardly have time - you make a phone call.

Fortunately, we could exchange 2 excursions, so our program for Big Island looked like this:

- Thursday: island tour

- Friday: traditional luau with Hawaiian dances, songs and food

- Saturday: visit Kona and go up to the summit of Mauna Kea

- Sunday: return journey

We quickly found a favorite place in the new hotel:

But let's start with the first excursion:

When you have to drive around the entire island once, you can surely imagine that you have to get up early again. :-)

Our first stop was a coffee roastery in Kona. The variety of flavors you can try here is incredible. I would never think of mixing such a coffee. But everyone in the group liked the taste, no matter what we tried. There were also really exotic varieties.

The next stop was at Punalu'u Black Sand Beach Park. I found this beach more interesting for surfers, but not really suitable for swimming. We didn't have time and weather to swim, so it wasn't a big deal.

We continued to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. When we arrived, we had a little over an hour to explore the area and walk to the edge of the crater. Unexpectedly, we heard words in our language and so we started a conversation.

It rained a little on that day, but with the temperatures at the crater and the hot vapors rising from every crack in the ground, the clothes quickly dried again.

Unfortunately, we couldn't see the liquid magma from the viewpoint, and the circular path around the caldera was closed for safety reasons due to the current eruption. Thinking about the power that was beneath our feet, we became somewhat awestruck. In the visitor center, you could track the individual eruptions, including the current one, very well using visual material.

The Rainbow Falls were our next stop. The water plunges into the basin with a true roar. Unfortunately, there was no rainbow to be seen that day.

But a sow and 2 piglets suddenly ran out of the thicket. We thought that there weren't many piglets, but in the end there were 8. Our tour guide said that he was surprised that they were still running around freely despite Thanksgiving. Apparently, you can help yourself to the free-ranging chickens and pigs on the islands???

We could try fantastic delicacies at Big Island Candies.

And at the Punalu'u Bake Shop, we stocked up on sweet supplies for the rest of the day.

In Hilo, we had a short drive through and a stop at the King Kamehameha statue. As expected, it was raining too, which is part of the weather on the east side of the island. The clouds accumulate at the high mountains.

We were able to enjoy the Friday calmly in the hotel, meaning the pool, the restaurant, the beautiful weather, and the view.

In the evening, the luau took place. We were also allowed to dance a little hula again.

In addition to traditional dance and music, we could enjoy numerous Hawaiian dishes. The fish, the kalua pig (a pig cooked in an earth oven in banana leaves and on hot lava stones for hours), and the sweet dessert made from 'haupia' (coconut) were particularly delicious. We have cooked the latter at home several times already, it's quite easy ('wikiwiki').

Before, I had never seen a purple sea. The whole atmosphere and the evening were simply magical.

As you can imagine, the event didn't end until late.

Fortunately, we weren't picked up early in the morning again. But Saturday was still going to be eventful.

From the hotel, we took the bus to Kona around 10 o'clock and explored the city.

We took a break under a tree and heard wild chirping. Above us, a dozen small yellow birds were frolicking and singing at the top of their lungs.

A few curiosities later, we heard a siren, but luckily not a tsunami warning. It was a police car. The gentleman at the wheel let the siren wail irregularly and grinned from ear to ear. He was followed by well over a hundred motorcycles decorated with Christmas decorations and the typical American sleds from earlier times - simply amazing. It reminded me a little of carnival back home, with candies flying through the air.

We then took a taxi to the starting point for the Mauna Kea Tour, from where it started at 2 PM.

The route took us past various landscapes:

At an altitude of 2,000m, we were able to have dinner and acclimate at an old shepherd's station.

However, we hadn't noticed anything yet. That changed later with the altitude. Our tour guide kept telling the group that if anyone noticed anything, they should report it immediately. For safety reasons, the whole group would have had to go back down then. And he said, drink a lot, especially when we are at the top. We noticed the altitude up there, but drinking really helped.

For me, this day was a true highlight of the trip, as I had always wanted to see the telescopes and the night sky on Mauna Kea at 4,205m as an amateur astronomer.

Our organizer provided us with thick coats, hats, and gloves. A few crazies, that's the only way I can describe them, who drove up themselves, stood there in snow and cold with flip-flops, shorts, and a t-shirt. I'm still freezing when I have a mental picture of them.

The night sky was simply a dream. I have only seen so many stars without light pollution at the star park in the Rhön. Our guide also had a small telescope with him - fantastic.

Around 2 o'clock, we were back at the hotel, exhausted but still unable to go to bed. On this day, our return flight was scheduled. So first we had to pack our suitcases again before we could finally go to sleep.

In the evening, we were taken to the airport. At midnight, with a 1-hour delay (because apparently Americans only travel with carry-on luggage and there was somehow no space left in the luggage compartments after 50% of the passengers), we flew towards San Francisco. There we had to kill about 9.5 hours somehow until the second plane took us back to Frankfurt.

Conclusion:

A beautiful trip, but also exhausting. We have fallen in love with the islands, we can't deny that.

If you ever have the opportunity, experience Hawaii! It's worth it!