Hello from Hawaii

First of all, if you think that in Hawaii you will be greeted by smiling women in coconut-nut bikinis, grass skirts, and flower necklaces, you are unfortunately mistaken. Instead, you will be expected by a critical border officer who will ask you numerous critical questions about why you want to enter the USA.

But let's get back to the main point. Hawaii was beautiful and perfectly served the purpose of a 'vacation from the vacation.' After the exhausting travels in New Zealand, we deliberately slowed down the pace here in Hawaii and enjoyed the beautiful and (humid) warm weather to the fullest. However, we didn't fly to Hawaii just to laze around. That's why we also visited some beautiful places on the four islands we visited.

The first island we explored was Oahu. On this island lies the famous Honolulu and the even more famous district of 'Waikiki'. Waikiki is the tourist hotspot of Hawaii. Countless skyscrapers and hotels line the famous Waikiki Beach. It wasn't really nice there. On the other hand, the old town of Honolulu itself had some very beautiful buildings to offer. We explored the island itself in one day by rental car. There we found various beautiful places, such as the Byodo-In Temple or the Makapu'u Lighthouse on the cliff coast of the Pacific. But the highlight was definitely the two turtles lazily lying on a beach. But just to let you know, this wasn't the last encounter with these beautiful, peaceful animals.

After Oahu, we flew to Kauai. The island was much less touristy and a true paradise. The white sandy beaches, palm trees, and blue sea were fantastic. But the Waimea Canyon was breathtaking as well. The deep canyon offered an incredible range of colors. The same goes for the Napali Coast. During a hike, we had fantastic views of the green-covered cliff coast and the deep blue sea. And in this sea, in the north of the island, we went on our first snorkeling tour. And what we found there is almost indescribable. In addition to the countless fish in all colors, we also encountered various turtles. The turtles didn't feel disturbed by us at all, so we could swim and observe them comfortably while they were being cleaned by the reef fish. Unfortunately, we can't show you any photos of it on the blog yet. We still have to develop our underwater cameras at home...

Next on the itinerary was 'Maui'. Besides the equally beautiful beaches, this island also offered a very beautiful volcanic crater. We started with our rental car at a hot 30 degrees at sea level. By the time we reached the volcano summit at 3,000 meters above sea level, it was only a chilly 15 degrees. So we actually felt cold for the first time in Hawaii! But we gladly accepted this, because the view of the Haleakala Crater was beautiful. The otherwise barren stone desert also offered surprisingly many colors. The second highlight in Maui was a snorkeling tour to the semi-submerged volcanic crater 'Molokini'. In this marine sanctuary, countless fish frolicked in front of a colorful coral backdrop. And on this tour, we could swim with turtles again. The third highlight was the drive to Hana and the discovery of this part of the island. In the middle of a rainforest, we found countless beautiful waterfalls. The walk through a bamboo forest up to 15 meters high will probably remain in our memories for a long time.

Then we flew by plane to the last island, 'Big Island'. Our shortest flight ever lasted exactly 20 minutes. A 30-second time-lapse video of the flight can be found at this link. Like on the other islands, the landscape on Big Island also changed dramatically within minutes. From the white sandy beaches, it turned into dense rainforest and ended in lush green meadows. We could have easily been in Switzerland again. The highlight of this island was definitely visiting the active volcano. On the one hand, the lava boiled in the Halema‘uma’u Crater, and on the other hand, it also flowed directly into the sea. We could observe both from close up. Although we didn't feel the heat of the lava ourselves, the columns of steam showed impressively how hot the liquid rock must be. And here too, we couldn't resist snorkeling.

Finally, a brief note about the wildlife on land. Chickens with their chicks clucking around at almost every corner, or a rooster crowing wildly. At the sight of the chickens, we admittedly thought of a delicious chicken... Besides the chickens, we also saw countless geckos. And as it is in the tropics, you occasionally come across a few insects as well. Among them were cockroaches that were up to 5 cm in size. Well, we definitely won't miss those.

Because after about 2.5 weeks, it's definitely over with Hawaii. But our journey continues. The US West Coast is waiting as our last major destination. We are excited to see what awaits us there.