Faith, Folklore, and Friends

We booked a historical tour with Carnival when we got to Kona.  There is not a port there; we were tendered to the mainland in lifeboats.  Captian Vito was there to make sure we all got aboard safely. Our first stop was the Painted Church . Unfortunately, there were five tour buses there when we were, and there was little room to walk around or snap photos.  I didn't even make it inside the church. As a true coffee-holic, I was really looking forward to visiting the  Kona Coffee.  Their warehouse wasn't that impressive, as you can see. Kona coffee is very dark and rich, a little strong for me. Our tour driver warned us about companies marketing their coffee as Kona, when it contained only 10% Kona. Most of the coffee for sale in the gift shop was only 10%, so I passed on that.  The 100% Kona was $49 for 24 ounces.  I'll just stick with Pablo at Sam's Club. The town had lots of stores for shopping and some historic bui...

Oral tradition says that when Polynesians set out from the Marquesas Islands in search of new lands, they steered their canoes toward the fire burning in the night, toward the sign that their god Pele sent to guide them.  They may have landed on Hawaii, the Big Island, which is home to five volcanoes, with Kīlauea  being the most active.  It has been erupting continuously for the last thirty years.  On the day we were there, the magma/lava at the bottom of the crater was easy to see.   After leaving the visitor's area, we drove on Crater Rim Drive between fields of lava and craters. All the black area you can see in the middle of the photo is new land that has been created by lava flowing toward the sea. Below, you can see the steam created where the hot lava meets the water and cools.  Awesome.