Day 1: Seeing a lot of honu at the Kaloko-Honokohau National Park

Near Kona airport is the Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park where you can see so many honu (sea turtles) just chilling by the beach. Word of caution though, people are not allowed to get near the turtles. They are protected by law. As there are a lot of them, make sure to look where you're going cause you don't want to trip on them.

The Park is massive. There are fish ponds on one end, a lake and a restoration project on the middle, and a swimming area on the other far end. It was not reallt advisable to swim when we were there due to strong waves. A lot of people were swimming at the far left side of the beach though, where it was much calmer. We attended a free Geological Tour which I highly recommend if you're interested to know a bit of how the Big Island was formed.

Day 2: Snorkeling at Kealakelua Bay (Morning) and Holualoa (Night)

The one thing that I was so excited about when we went to Hawaii are the beaches. Much as we have beautiful beaches in the Bay Area, they’re too cold for my tropical body, and the idea of being able to swim in Hawaii (with a life jacket since I really can’t) drew me in. We spent our second day doing the most touristy-thing, snorkeling. Morning, we did a spur-of-the-moment decision and booked a snorkeling adventure in Captain Cook at the Kealakelua Bay, which they say is the best spot on the Big Island.

After that, we did the Mantaray Night Snorkel in Holualoa. For the activity, we held on to a floating board with blue lights. The blue lights attract zooplanktons, the mantaray’s favorite food. So it’s basically watching the mantaray munch on zooplanktons about three feet away from you. I did not see the mantaray. I had to be rescued back to the boat early in the session. The waves were very strong that night and I am not a confident swimmer. Larry was very hyped up about the adventure though (he was the guy on the left-most, bottom of the board), and it’s one of the things he remembers most about our trip.

Day 3: Hiking in Pololu Valley, Birding in Palila Discovery Trail, and Stargazing in Mauna Kea

For our third day in Hawaii, we hiked down the Pololu Valley to experience one of its black sand beaches. The trail could be a bit steep and rocky for some people so be prepared. The hike down is worth it though. Don’t just stop by the beach, walk further and discover the forested area. We saw some campers there too. After the valley hike, we braved the clouds and went hiking at the Palila Discovery Trail. There we saw endemic birds – Palila, Amakihi, and the Hawaiian owl.

We ended the night by stargazing and learning about astronomy at the Observatory in Mauna Kea, the world’s tallest volcano and mountain. There were telescopes set up by astronomers, and people were encouraged to look through them to see the stars.

Day 4: Discovering Hilo’s Akaka Falls and Coconut Island

Our fourth day was a chill day spent with our couple friend who moved to Hilo recently. They took us to Akaka Falls in the morning. It was probably the shortest “hike” that we did, 45 minutes maybe and we walked super slow. The park also has a paved path so it’s more friendly to tourists.

After that, we walked by the famous Lili’uokalani Gardens to get to the Coconut Island. The area seems to be a family favorite for swimming and having picnics as there were a lot of them when we went, which was surprising cause it was raining a little. By the way, Hilo is the rainiest city in the United States.

Day 6: Walking through a Lava Tube at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Dipping at Carlsmith Beach

It is our wedding anniversary! What best way to celebrate the La-Va (Larry + Iva) anniversary than to see actual lava! We went to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park where we saw the Kilauea crater bubbling with lava. At the Kimpuka Puaulu, we even walked through a lava tube and did a little birding.

Day 7: Hiking at the Pu’u o’o Volcano Trail

It was drizzling at the start of our hike at the Pu'u o'o Volcano Trail. That did not stop us though, and it probably made the experience even more cool (literally too!) because it was just us there. The trail was easy, mostly flat, and we didn't have to worry about having to do a lot of uphill hiking. It's also a great spot for birders, especially with the mini rain forest in the middle of the trail. Larry went all nerdy listening to birds. As for me, the trail felt like we were underwater. The plants, the mistiness, the rock formation made it feel like a long time ago, everything was submerged in the ocean. It was great.

After our hike, we went for a short stop at the Wailuku River State Park, and then we also checked the Pacific Tsunami Museum downtown. The humble museum serves as a living memorial where people can learn from the past, particularly on what to do when a tsunami strikes.

Day 8: Understanding Communities in La’akea

For our eighth day, we visited the La’akea community to learn more about intentional permaculture living. We had a great time picking fruits and veggies from their organic farm, and even helped cook the community dinner for the night. After dinner, we joined in a session on tribal technology at Lolia, and learned more about building trust-based, non-violent communities.

I won’t talk about it much as Larry had written more about it below (Permaculture on Hawaii's Big Island). It was truly beautiful, and is my most favorite experience in Hawaii.

Day 9: Slow Walking at Whittington

As we were set to spend our last day in Hawaii with another of our couple friend, we took a quick stop to the black sand beach at Panalu’u and then at the nearby Whittington Beach Park. It was beautiful and quiet there, it seemed empty compared with the other beaches. This is quite understandable as the waves seem bigger there. I guess it is better admired from the shore, for safety reasons. There is a picnic area too, if you want a quiet space to just admire the ocean.

Around this time, we did not really have anymore plans. We originally wanted to check the green sand beach, but we no longer have enough time. So our last day was a quiet night spent at our friends’ cabin at the top of a mountain at South Point.

Back to Basics

One of the interesting permaculture concepts that we saw was that the sheep grazed in the orchard. The sheep kept the grass around the trees short to give the trees plenty of air circulation and less competition with the weeds. By pooping and peeing in the orchard, the sheep also fertilized the trees!

Many of the basic concepts in permaculture are circular or cyclical rather than linear, and this is just one example. This approach lets the sheep do the work that they are good at rather than using a lawnmower and buying fertilizer. Their bodies even turn the grass they eat into milk.

La’akea also grows plenty of vegetables, raises chickens and rabbits, and uses a system of composting toilets. All of these “systems” are integrated in with the rest of the farm. For example, rabbits and chickens can eat leftover food scraps from your meals. The chickens can produce eggs and manure, and the rabbits produce meat and manure, all very quickly. The animals provide both an excellent source of protein for the people, and an excellent source of nitrogen and phosphorous for the other plants.

La’akea even goes as far as to use composting toilets to use “humanure” for fertilizer. They call them “garden pooper”. The compost bins, when full, are allowed to sit long enough for the poop to break down and for all pathogens to be killed. The “humanure” can then be used to fertilize non-food plants on the farm. This illustrates again the cyclical nature of permaculture, looking at things that we would normally just throw out or flush away as a valuable resource. Urine is collected separately because it is sterile and an excellent source of nitrogen and can be used to fertilize bananas!