Hilo, Hawaii

 Hilo is the fourth largest settlement in Hawaii, with a population of 44,186. It has two well-known volcanos, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. 

The latter is active and I was looking forward to at least seeing where it was. 

I have heard a lot about the October surprise during the election period, but mine was terrible.😭.

For we stopped at Hilo on our family cruise in October 2024, but I could not go ashore as a unknown disease I had contracted in the last two years, struck.

I think it's either long COVID or effects from the damn COVID vaccine. It started about eighteen months and I have been to just about every doctor, urgent care, plus an emergency room, and they can't find a thing wrong with me.

It messes me up just about every two months or so and the symptoms include, dizziness, cold sweat. shortness of breath. 

The thing is, if I lie down for about two hours, it just goes away by itself so I have learned to live with it and stop wasting my time seeking medical assistance!

This disease has however always been considerate in that it has never bothered me when traveling.

Until we arrived at Hilo!

Then it struck just before breaksfast.

As the tour we arranged to go on started at 10 am, I had to go back to bed and miss that sightseeing tour.

Anyway, Michelle was good enough to take these pics and share them with me.

No pics of volcanos, but it looks pleasant enough.

Hawaiian trek

We left the more populous Honolulu at nightfall, for the smaller Maui.

Maui depends solely on tourism and everyone buys into it.

The island is clean and well kept and the people are extremely nice and accommodating.

I can't say I agree with their version of white sand, though. It's not as white and powdery as I am accustomed to. It's more of the order of what we have in places like Treasure Beach and Great Bay in St. Elizabeth, in my homeland, Jamaica. 

It's beige sand, not white sand

And the water is colder, too.

Naturally, we had to take in a luau too. This is a feast put on to celebrate a special event. They put them on regularly for tourists, apart from their private ones. 

The luau includes food and entertainment. I really enjoyed the entertainment, but the food was not Hawaiian enough for me.

Hawaiian music tends to be soft and serene,

and generally tells a story.

 

Some music is used to bolster warriors and that is more robust. The 'warriors'  pretend to be heroic and daring, using weapons and fire to demonstrate their courage.

The males dance in grass skirts and do not appear to have anything underneath!😊

While the male dancers are robust and aggressive, I found the females seductive and gentle.

Nice place to hang out but not for too long. 
 

Zipping away

 I never knew I would ever go zip lining, as I hate heights. So much so that when we were in Ghana and took an excursion which included walking on 7 swinging bridges over the tree canopies, I did only one and turned back. 

My granddaughter did all seven.👏

There were 4 lines. This was the highest and longest.

Anyway, zip lining is fun.

 On 3 we had to run and swing and that was no problem. For the fourth, we had to climb up about fifty feet to the landing and I couldn't start off. It wasn't fear. I just never knew how to step off so I asked this young lady to push me off.

Lost my one of my slippers but a man climbed down and got it for me.

My granddaughter did it upside down!😲

It was really exhilarating.

This was in Kauai, Hawaii.

There was a final one called zip and splash. This is a short one like at our oun YS Falls where you hold on to a rope , slide to the middle of the river and let go. 

I wasn't interested in doing that in Hawaii, as the river looked dirty and cold. Besides the sun had gone in so I would have to contend with cold breeze on my body. 

That's ok. Been there, done that in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, where the river is much nicer and the falls inviting.

Yup. Would do it all again.😊

Polynesian Culture

 If a Hawaiian tells you he/she does not eat pineapple, it's because it's usually because the person still associates it with the evils of colonialism. For can you believe that Dole, the company that basically symbolizes pineapples, was one of  13 American companies led by Caucasians, which organized the coup against the Hawaiian Royal Family  led by Queen Liliuokalani, in 1893. 

And can you believe that once the Americans colonized the island, for over a hundred years, the teaching or practicing of Hawaiian Culture and language were not allowed!

I missed my trip to the Polynesian Cultural Village today  (https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-maximum-disappointment.html?m=1) and took a Hawaiian cultural cruise instead. 

Thankfully, we learnt a lot about Polynesian culture there.

This was aboard the Kamoauli, a catamaran on which interesting, educational excursions are held to teach young people about their culture. 

On board, they explain and demonstrate cultural traditions, poi pounding, food preparation, their musical instruments, teach you the hula, how to make the lei and go in depth about the real meaning and origin of the now touristy word, aloha.

Really good stuff and enjoyable too. We even  saw Diamond Head crater from a different angle and caught a beautiful sunset on the way back.

The Kamoauli

A typical Hawaiian dish

When we got back to shore, we took in a fireworks display on Wakaki beach which hotels put on to draw visitors to see craft items made by local people.

The household staff at the Hilton Hawaiian hotel has been on strike for weeks and some attended the fireworks event  with their bullhorns,  to draw attention to their cause.

Hope had an impact.

These chopsticks not for me😬

                        Michelle made me a lei.❤️