Today is a special day for me. For my birthday, Karen got me a Dolphin Encounter with Dolphin Quest at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. A big thank you to Karen. This was one awesome birthday present.
We decided to stop at the Anaeho’omalu Beach to take some photos. This beach is really spectacular. Lots of palm trees, and water that is many shades of turquoise. It’s a great beach for swimming, with sandy bottom and very little undertow.
Had lunch at Merriman’s Market Cafe, which was outstanding. They actually have homemade ketchup. Have you ever heard of that? It was fabulous. Nothing like the Heinz kind out of the bottle.
We got to the Hilton about 1 hour before my encounter. Needless to say I was very excited and kept asking Karen was it time for me to go to the lagoon. Once you get to the lagoon, they break you up into groups of approximately 5 to 6 people. Our trainer was Danielle and the dolphins that we got to work with were Iwa, her daughter (I can’t remember her name) and a boy dolphin Lono. You can not imagine how cool this experience is. You get to spend about 20 minutes in the water with the dolphins. You get to touch them. They feel like rubber. We each got our picture taken holding the dolphin and giving it a kiss.
After visiting with the dolphins we headed back to Anaeho’omalu Beach for a nice refreshing swim on the ocean. We need a beach like this at home!
Next we drove through the middle of the island on a real bumpy road called Saddle Road. On the left side is the Mauna Kea volcano, and on the right side is the Mauna Loa volcano. And in between is miles of hardened lava. Plus some ranch land, and some military land.
We reached Hilo, which is the major city (40,000 people) on Hawaii. Not much happening there by the time we arrived. Most places closed at 5:00 PM (on a Friday!). Hilo is on the rainy side of the island. The scenery is extremly lush … beautiful greenery everywhere.
Drove a while, and then stopped at Akaka Falls State Park. They have two huge waterfalls, and plenty of tropical forest type scenery. Birds singing everywhere.
We stopped for dinner at Cafe Il Mondo in Honokaa. Great Italian restaurant in this little tiny town. Pizza was yummy!
Drove back to the hotel, after a very long day.
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