This summer we were able to get away from our scorching desert heat and fly away to Kona.  We’ve been there before, some 3-4 years ago and enjoyed it so much we had to come back to explore more.

• Where we stayed.

We stayed at this cute, little eco-cottage, tucked in lush greenery that had privacy and the comfort of two bedrooms, a kitchen, a cool glass shower-bathroom (yes you can see outside) and an outdoor shower that we all had to try (it had a lot of privacy).  It was close to the southern tip of the island, about 1hr or so drive from Kona.  At night we’d hear the sounds of coqui frogs and birds and other nightly creatures.

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• What we did.

Well we couldn’t visit Volcano National Park because the volcano has been active for the last few months.  But there was a part of the park with a different entry that you could visit and it was free.

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We hiked 3 miles (each way) to a green sand beach.  The kids hated us, but they forgot all about it once we arrived at our destination.  There were pick-up trucks offering a ride in the back, where about 10 other passenger stand on the truck bed, for $20 a person.  But we were cheap and walked.

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We went inside lava tubes-tunnels.  I’ve never experienced claustrophobia before and this was IT.   There were two tunnels and the one less ventured is the one we took.  You had to crawl for a few steps and then you find yourself in total darkness.   My chest tightened.  I was trying to stay calm and breathe.  The flashlight of our cell phone couldn’t really light up a whole lot but enough to see a few steps ahead.  The walls were wet, and black and gray.  We never found out how far the tunnel went.  At some point I didn’t really want to know how deep it went.  I wanted out.  I could easily feel vertigo if I turned my flash light off (I did not dare try).

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We went to a black sand beach and saw turtles.  This beach is easily accessible and you don’t need to hike for 3 miles like the hike to the green sand beach.   The turtles were sleeping but we stayed long enough to see them walk into the ocean making a track in the send behind them.  On the other side of the beach was a large pond, resembling something from a Monet’s impressionist painting.

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Rainbow waterfall in near Hilo and it has the most giant tree I’ve ever seen in my life.  The waterfall is beautiful, but the tree is AMAZING.

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We went to Puuhonua O Honaunau Historic National Park.  Puuhonua was a place of refuge.  In the past if you committed a crime in Hawaii, and crime could be eating a forbidden food, the punishment was death, unless you reached the nearest puuhonua – a place of refuge, then you are safe.

There were many carved wooden images, and lots of lava……kind of desolate, and beautiful….really a place of refuge.

There were so many beautiful sights, bare nature, animals, chickens running around, goats, horses….too many beautiful things to describe and capture.  Enjoy a few more photos below!

How was your summer?  It took me so long to put this post together that for us it’s almost time to go back to school (well the kids).  They have one week left.  But we had lots of fun at the pool, the library, local day trips, sleepovers, movies (we saw The Incredibles and The Ant Man and the Wasp), karate class, gymnastics…..

xoxo,

Vesna