Big Island Introductions, Bra

 

We would technically spend the next two nights docked on the big island of Hawaii, but we would be at two different ports, on opposite sides of the huge island.  Around 7:00am on Tuesday, we pulled into the city of Hilo, on the eastern, windward side of Hawaii. The town holds the dubious title of "wettest city in America," and averages 211 days of rain a year.  With its geography on the windward side, it gets 10 to 40 times more rain that the other parts of the island.  We would later visit the wettest spot on the entire globe, which is on the island of Kauai.  

We had originally booked a car for Hilo, but in the end, based on recommendations from folks on-line, we elected to book a tour through an outside vendor.  "The" thing to see while in Hilo is Volcanoes National Park, and we were anxious to do just that.  It is another national park that we were relieved would be open for us.  

Welcome to the Big Isle of Hawaii

Example of the Industrial Port.

As our tour didn't leave until almost 9:30, we had a very leisurely morning and had a proper sit down breakfast (rather than going to the buffet on board) in the main dining room.  I was again impressed by the great service on board.  We walked off with no lines or anything and met our tour operator in the huge arrivals terminal.  I wasn't sure what to expect with this tour, as we saw a lot of people in line for our company.  We ended up being separated into groups of 24, which matched the size of the mini-bus.  Our driver and tour guide was named Gino, a native Italian who has lived on the island for the last 15 or so years. Over the course of the day we would learn that he is an artist, and that is how he made his living most of his life; that is, until 2018.  It was in that year that the volcano for which Hawaii is famous -- Kilauea -- had its most recent deadly eruption.  At that time, more than 700 homes were destroyed, including Gino's home and studio.  While trying to get back on his feet, he is now working as a guide on the island, though it is not his passion, needless to say.  Before he lived on Hawaii, by the way, he lived in Lahaina on Maui, which was recently destroyed by wildfires.  Gino was clear, however, that despite the dangers of living in Hawaii, he would live nowhere else on earth.  About that, he was emphatic.

In hindsight, I would have preferred if we had rented a car and done the Shaka tour of Hilo, but this tour served its purpose, as we saw the highlights.  As morbid as it might sound, too, I would have preferred to have been fortunate enough to visit during an active (non-deadly) eruption of Kilauea, but it was not to be.  We missed one by less than a week, but I don't begrudge the visit one bit.  I should note, too, up front, that the geography of Hilo was far different than both Maui and Oahu.  In fact, all five of our ports on this tour were completely different from one another, and I did not expect so much diversity between the islands.  We lucked out, too, as we had only a few sprinkles of rain all day, which given the odds, is quite rare for Hilo.

After visiting a few beaches, including a black-sand public beach, we toured the largest Japanese ornamental garden outside of Japan.  Hawaii as a whole has a very large population with ethnic ties back to Japan, as large numbers of Japanese (and Chinese, Koreans, and Filipinos) were brought in to work the sugar cane fields in the 1800's.  Those immigrants, along with Americans and a large Portuguese minority, intermixed with the remaining native Hawaiians, who themselves were already interrelated with multiple races from across Polynesia.  We learned, too, that after Captain Cook "discovered" Hawaii in the late 1700's, leading to an influx of Europeans, nearly 90 percent of the native Hawaiian population was killed by disease, as they had no natural immunity to most viruses.  With so few indigenous people remaining, they were left to intermingle with the influx of settlers and workers from across the globe, and that has led to the very diverse native population today.  

While on Oahu and Maui, I had seen long, slender animals running across the roads a few times.  K had not yet seen them, but I could not figure out what they were.  After doing some reading, I realized they were mongooses, a non-native animal introduced in the 1800's.  In hindsight I felt stupid for not realizing, but Hawaii has no native non-sea mammals of any kind.  All of the birds and insects that populate it today came in from elsewhere, with many evolving into unique species only found in Hawaii.  The national bird is the Nene, which evolved from Canada Geese who were blown off course centuries ago.  Their plumage evolved to better camouflage them with native plants, and their feet lost their webbing, so they can walk on lava rock.  Anyway, while at these gardens, I got my first upclose look at several mongooses, who had dens among the rocks and ponds.  Mongoose were introduced from India by plantation owners who wanted to control the population of rats, which themselves had been inadvertently introduced into Hawaii from merchant ships.  The rats were feasting in the sugar cane fields and the thought was that mongooses would kill the rats but not eat the cane.  They soon learned, however, that as rats are nocturnal and mongooses are active during the day, they did nothing to control the population.  To this day, Hawaii faces a problem with rats and mongooses on most islands, with the notable exception of Kauai (more on that later).  As there are no natural predators for either the mongoose or rat, they are left to thrive.  There aren't even snakes to help counter them, as Hawaii and Alaska are the only two U.S. states without snakes.

Japanese Gardens in Hilo -- Largest Outside of Japan

Banyan Tree -- Roots Grow on Top of Lava Rock

Mongoose

We visited the so-called Rainbow Falls, but as the morning mist had already cleared, we did not see any rainbows.  Following a short drive through the small downtown (which itself has been wiped out twice by tsunami), we started to drive up the Kilauea volcano.  The so-called big island is comprised of six different volcanoes, with Kilauea being the most active, but not the largest.  Unlike Maui, there are a lot of trees and vegetation as you ascend the volcano, and the road is pretty much a straight line up, as the elevations are not as extreme.  At the top is Volcanoes National Park, which sits alongside the largest "lava lake" in the world.  Hearing the term "lava lake," one could expect to see a volcano crater full of molten, bubbling lava.  Alas, the lake -- aside from relatively frequent eruptions -- is now cooled, solid lava stone.  In fact, you can hike across the surface, and the crater is humongous.  We learned that most of the eruptions that happen today occur outside the cauldron.  Lava rises beneath the cooled surface, and the floor is raised as a whole.  When the pressure gets to the right point and the weight of the lake surface counteracts that, the lava will escape through other routes, usually breaking through underground tubes and then erupting elsewhere on the mountain, often with no warning.  It was such an eruption that destroyed our guide Gino's home.  There was also the eruption earlier this year, which threatened to flood the sole highway that crosses the center of the island, which would have isolated thousands of residents.  As it was, that lava flow ceased only a 100 yards or so from the central highway.

Rainbow Falls on Hilo

We had time at the excellent visitors' center, including being able to watch a great film on how plants have adapted in Hawaii, to include dealing with the geothermal heat created by the volcanoes.  Though random facts, I found it fascinating that mint on Hawaii has evolved to lose its smell and taste, as that famous mint flavor is actually a mechanism to deter rodents from eating the plants.  The same goes for raspberries, which have evolved in Hawaii to lose their outer prickles, as they're unnecessary.  The birdlife on Hawaii, too, is simply amazing.  Scientists have determined that from an original small flock of finches blown off course from Australia to Hawaii, 42 unique species -- found only on the islands -- now exist.

Our tour brought us to several vantages over the crater, to include visiting active steam vents and a long hike through a lava tube.  Though quite old now, it is an example of something through which lava from a previous eruption would have sought the point of easiest escape.  We learned from one of the rangers, too, that even though there were no active eruptions at the time, if we visited at night (which is possible), you can see orange glowing through cracks all over the surface of the lava lake.  I would have liked to have seen that.

One of the Many Steam Vents Around the Park

The "Lava Lake" -- You Can See the Hiking Trail Across It

See People Below...for Scale

Approaching One of the Lava Tubes

Into the Lava Tube

On the ride back down into Hilo, we passed the absolutely massive macadamia nut orchards owned by the famous Mauna Loa company.  They are the largest grower of macadamias in the world, and I can believe it.  Before returning to the ship, we visited a small candy company, famous for the cookies and chocolates they make with the nuts.

In the "Big Island Candy Company"

Our ship left Hilo around 6:00pm, and we didn't get back to the ship until almost 5:00pm.  We had booked the steakhouse for dinner this night, and our reservation wasn't until 7:45, so while we had plenty of time to enjoy some cocktails before supper, we were more than ready for bed as soon as we were done.