Maui, Hawaii – January 27

Maui, Hawaii – January 27

It was as cold and windy as yesterday so I wore jeans and a fleece over my t-shirt. I was still cold all day.

Like Honolulu, we have been here a few times. We have enjoyed snorkeling Molokini Crater, but I couldn’t find tours that worked with our timeframe. (with the weather I‘m glad I didn’t find one) We have driven the road to Hana and driven up to Haleakala Crater and most other sites.

We tendered to Lahaina and right near the Banyan Tree Park. Huge Banyan Tree.

 Banyan Tree Park

 Banyan Tree Park

Java Sparrow

 Java Sparrow

 Command Post of Kamehameha

 Gray Francolin

 Gray Francolin

 Gray Francolin

Gray Francolin

We didn’t have much of a plan here, so we rented a car to visit Iao Valley State Park, Kepaniwai Park & Heritage Gardens is near Iao Park – Iao park which has short hiking trails. 

We got the shuttle to the rental car company and there was a lady really giving the driver a hard time since they waited a half hour for the shuttle. She just kept going on and on. We felt bad for the driver and Greg gave her a big tip and she was so surprised and happy. Not her fault since she said her usual job is cleaning the cars and the office got the call they had a pickup and she stopped cleaning to pick us up. They routinely pick up every half hour. (not at your beck and call) 

sign in the rental office

It was cold and windy as we climbed to the viewpoint to see the needle at Iao Valley State Park. Since it was cloudy the views were not as spectacular as we’d had hoped. We did a couple of the short hikes before moving on to the next stop which was Kepaniwai Park & Heritage Gardens. It was a nice park, but more just for picnics not really any hiking trails.

 Iao Needle

 Common Myna

 Common Myna

 Kepaniwai Park & Heritage Gardens

Our next stop was closed due to the government shutdown. It would open again on Monday. It was Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge which has a boardwalk – It is a habitat for the Hawaiian Stilt, and Hawaiian Coot. We birded along the road but couldn’t get close to the ponds. 

I woke up pretty sick this morning. (reaction to a cold medication) I stopped being nauseated, but really needed to eat something, so we went in search of food. We found a place close by that had good ratings and we had a great lunch at Coconuts Fish Café. I had the coconut shrimp and Greg had the Fish tacos. Both were yummy!

 Coconut's Fish Cafe

 coconut shrimp

fish taco

We had a couple of more birding hotspots to check out and the last 2 places were really great. We saw tons of the stilts and Black-crowned Night Herons. There also was a pair of Nene (Hawaiian Goose and national bird) with a young one. The male was very protective of the baby and came hissing at us. The next spot had quite a bit of wildlife as well. 

 Hawaiian Stilt

 Hawaiian Stilt

 Nene (Hawaiian Goose)

 Nene pair & young one

 mother & baby Nene drinking water

 Hawaiian Stilt

 Night Heron, Hawaiian Stilt, female Mallard & Hawaiian Coot

 Pacific Golden-Plover

 Pacific Golden-Plover

 House Sparrow

 House Finch

House Finch

 House Sparrow

 House Finch

 House Finch

 House Finches

 House Sparrow - female

 Japanese White-Eyes

 gelato stop - YUM

It was getting to be time to get back to the ship and we found a fantastic gelato place. It was billed as the best gelato on Maui. Can’t attest to that, but it was very good gelato. 

We got back to take the last passenger tender to the ship. When we got back to the cabin, there were a lot of whales and we stayed out on the balcony to watch them for quite a while. We finally tore ourselves away from the whales and the sunset and went upstairs for dinner. (we missed our early dining seating tonight) 

 tender

 whale

We then caught the evening entertainment which was Noodles Levenstein, a comedian that we have seen before and hope to never see again. Stereotypical “first time cruiser” humor. We have heard his exact same show many times, nothing had changed. 

After the show we went upstairs to play along with the Hawaii trivia. We didn’t play and we wouldn’t have won if we had. Exhausted from early mornings and still both of us are fighting off the throat colds. I have had laryngitis for 2 days. We both actually feel OK, just this annoying cough and now I can’t talk. (I croak more than anything)

Now, for 5 relaxing sea days and hopefully we will be well before we hit Polynesia

https://photos.app.goo.gl/p7sbVxnazFD2wZWMA