Hello, friends, I am back on the mainland and back from my week-long vacation on the “Big Island” of Hawaii!  It was such an amazing trip, we drove all over the island and saw some incredible sights – definitely a once in a lifetime experience!  It was nearly impossible for me to narrow down my pictures, but I managed to pick just 36 photos to share with you.  From the beaches to the rainforests and all the way to the crater of the volcano, it was absolutely an awe-inspiring trip.  There was also so much natural beauty with lush jungle, vibrant flowers, blue skies, fluffy clouds and stunning landscapes.  I will stop typing now and just get to the photos already!

We went horseback riding!  My horse was huge, his name was Papa’a, but they called him “Big Papa” or Papa for short, hee hee!  :) While on the island, we saw a total of four sea turtles in their natural environment.  It’s illegal to touch them, so we tried to keep our distance and respect these amazing animals, but of course we had to snap some photos.  And no, this turtle is not dead, he is just sunning himself on the rocks, but you can tell that he is an older guy who has been through some battles. The crater of the volcano was magnificent, to say the least, but so hard to photograph so that you really get an idea of how cool it is.  At night, apparently, you can see the lava glowing inside the crater, but you pretty much have to stay overnight in the Volcano National Park to see anything after dark.  What was amazing was all of the lush rainforest throughout the park and the island.  One of the guides told us that the Big Island of Hawaii contains 11 of the world’s 13 micro-climates, the only climates it doesn’t have are glacier and tundra – wow! Akaka Falls and the Pololu Valley Lookout (the next three photos) were absolutely stunning!  To get to the viewing area of the falls, you have to walk through dense rainforest for almost half a mile, but it is totally worth it to trek through Jurassic Park type ferns and trees and then emerge to such a beautiful sight.  Pololu Valley Lookout is a bit of a drive up some winding mountain roads, but again, it is worth it to see this pristine valley and amazing view of the coast.

I hope you enjoyed the shameless visual bragging, now it’s time to get back to work and regular daily life; luckily, I took a ton of photos that I can look at whenever I want to remember our little slice of paradise.  Thanks for reading, aloha!  :)