Hawai’i: fishponds, coffee and lava flows

Another busy week has flown past. I think this time I will write less and mostly share pictures with commentary about where I’ve been.

When I heard the words “black sand beach” I expected completely black sand, but it was actually mixed with light grains. The contrast gave a really cool effect in my opinion.

I went to see the ancient Kalahuipua’a fishponds on the grounds of Mauna Lani Resort. I think it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. It was so calm, I enjoyed just sitting in the shade and looking out at the water and trees. There’s also a historic trail close by, so I learned some new things. Fun fact: ancient Hawai’ians used to live in lava tubes.

We had a really fun tour guide at the coffee farm and I learned a lot about a drink that I don’t actually like. Nevertheless, here are some fun facts about coffee: coffee is a fruit – they grow cherries, the bigger the seed from the cherry the better the coffee, and last but not least – light roast actually tastes the most like coffee.

We went to the east side of the island – Hilo, Pahoa, Kapoho – to see the lava flows from 2018. Over 700 homes were lost and it was crazy to see how roads just ended, because they were cut off by lava. It was a bit of a different atmosphere there anyway, because the east side is known for hippies and marijuana. Early in the morning we went to a market, where we met a man named Rufus, who grew coffee, chocolate, papaya and so many other local plants. He let us walk around and told me about the different plants. I came away from that meeting with a business card and a fruit that I can’t remember the name of. It was very interesting.

At one point when we were driving there was actually steam coming from the sides of the road. It’s a little scary that there are officially four active volcanoes on the Big Island and really no where to go if they erupted. Unbothered by that, I thoroughly enjoyed the jungle feeling nature on the east side of the island. It’s incredible to see giant mango trees in the wild.

After our adventures on the east coast, we got back in time for “talk story” – a concert that happens every month on the saturday closest to the full moon. The moon was indeed very bright and we had a nice evening listening to music by the ocean.

Yesterday we wanted to go cliff jumping with Stefaniya and Nick and we did, even though we all only jumped once. I also managed to scrape my knee on the rocks when I was climbing out. The water was a little too rough, but we’ll try again next time. So after our one successful jump we went up the mountain to see some woods, an old house and some animals, after  which we enjoyed a movie and called it a night.