Big Island, Hawaii (d)

Mo 30.09. On our first day in Maui, we decided to explore the shield volcano Kilauea. In advance, this volcano is considered one of the most active on Earth. It awakened in May 2018! Therefore, a large part of the national park was closed and inaccessible to tourists. Nevertheless, we had a nice day. First, we took a round hike in and around the crater. The trail led through the rainforest down into the crater and then back up. It was very impressive to walk on the frozen lava lake from 1959. The landscape is naturally shaped by the dark stone, and several plants have already grown on the mineral-rich soil. After about two and a half hours, we reached the starting point again. From there, we drove to visit the 'lava trees' by car. The trunks of these trees were overflowed with lava during an eruption and preserved. Thus, we concluded the excursion and looked forward to the whirlpool waiting for us at home.

Wed 02.10. Unfortunately, the weather is not really cooperating today. But it must be said that we were lucky until then. Therefore, we made a short stop on the other side of the island on our way. We visited Rainbow Falls and also took photos in the Banyan Tree Forest. Then we started our two-hour drive towards Kailua-Kona. Finally arrived, we had lunch first. We opted for regional burgers. That means, Silvan had a burger marinated with coffee straight from Kona! And he liked it ;) In the end, we dipped our feet in a small beach and enjoyed the remaining rays of sunshine.

Thu 03.10. We spent most of the day at the beach. We chose the Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park. As it turned out, we made a good choice. Because we saw several Hawaiian turtles sleeping on the beach. While snorkeling, we saw some different fish. Due to the murky visibility, the pictures didn't turn out well :( On land, near our beach towels, I got two cardinal coats in front of my lens. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something scurrying past a wall, and behold, a marten-like animal looked into the camera.

Fri 04.10. Today we booked two tours. The first one was a dolphin snorkeling tour. At 09:00, our small dinghy started with 'only' 14 people. When we spotted the dolphins from a distance after about 30 minutes, we approached the animals and jumped into the water. There were an estimated 20 animals, including young ones. It was beautiful to watch them jump out of the water and then suddenly disappear into the depths of the ocean. Both of us enjoyed the sight of these free animals in their natural habitat very much.

In the evening, our second tour started after sunset. The goal was to see manta rays. This time our group consisted of about 60 people. After a short safety briefing, we were told to lie flat in the water and not to touch the mantas under any circumstances. After this short ride, the crew threw floating platforms into the water and turned on the lights. The light attracts plankton, and the mantas come to feed on it. Suddenly, we saw a bunch of mantas below us. It was an absolute spectacle! How gracefully they move in the water. From the depths, they swam towards the surface with their big open mouths to feed, and then disappeared back down. I would estimate that we spent 2 hours in the water, after which most of them started to feel cold, and we returned to the boat. We were back at the port at 22:30 and drove home.