Aloha to Maui. On our last and 15th day we had time before our flight back to New York City to drive to Ahihi Kina’u Natural Area Reserve Information & More (hawaii-guide.com). There are extensive old lava fields there. Warning: American Airlines does not serve food. Hawaiian Airlines does. We made sandwiches to eat.
We had breakfast at the Kula Lodge | Upcountry Maui | Accommodations and Dining after visiting Haleakala National Park. I loved the views. For dinner we dined at Pita Paradise Restaurant | Mediterranean | Seafood | Maui, Hawaii (pitaparadisehawaii.com) in Wailea. The food was good. I enjoyed it more that the more highly rated and extremely noisy Monkeypod Kitchen that we dined at previously. After dinner we caught a glorious sunset by the shore.
Our second trip to Hosmer Grove was in better weather. Some of the pictures are better and I added several new life birds to my list (see list below). The Hawaii ʻAmakihi and Maui ʻAlauahio or Maui Creeper were having a territorial squabble.
The scarcity of native Hawaiian birds in due to human impact. For instance, people brought in other birds, cats, and mosquitoes.
After Hosmer we drove up to the summit and I made some great photographs of the Haleakala Crater.
Here is my list of birds that I saw in Maui. I saw 38 species in total, 22 of those were ‘life’ birds, and 8 of the life birds were native to Hawaii (yellow highlights).
We went shopping on Market Street in Wailuku and I found a lovely little shop, Lily on Market Street, where I bought a hand painted limited edition 107/130 linen blouse from Paris. I wanted a Hawaiian style shirt with long sleaves. This one reminded me of Gaugin. I love the old style architecture on Market Street.
After shopping we drove to Kanaha Pond in Kahului then to Kanaha Beach. Before dinner we stopped at the expensive but lovely Makai Glass Maui across the street from the restaurant, the Hali’imaile General Store – Makawao, Maui Restaurant (hgsmaui.com). I had a marvelous steak there. Unfortunately, the waiter informed me that it was not Maui beef, which is what I wanted. Hali’imaile General Store responded to my inquiry saying that they can no longer obtrain local beef and will soon be updating their website. The rest of their food is locally sourced. The food, overseen by Chef Beverly Gannon, whom we briefly met, was terrific.
up in the hills above Kahului in the North Shore of Maui is the Iao Valley is Kepaniwai Heritage Gardens (mauihawaii.org). It is a Iao Valley State Park – The Park In The Center Of West Maui (mauihawaii.org) The famous Iao Needle is in this park.
A short trip to Lahaina. See Town of Lahaina Information, Tips & More | Maui Hawaii (hawaii-guide.com). There is a Lahaina Historic Walking Tour | Lahaina Attractions Map (lahainatown.com). It seemed like everywhere we went we saw rainbows. Seeing a double one was special.
The privately owned Kula Botanical Garden, Maui, Hawaii is up in the Highlands. We spent a delightful leisurely half day there.
I booked us an early mourning snorkel dive at Molokini Crater led by Maui Adventure Sunrise Snorkel | Hawaii Holidays in Wailea, HI (kaikanani.com). We used my new Olympus Tough underwater. I missed taking pictures the crater because I couldn’t get the camera out of the holster underwater. The numbers of colorful fish were amazing. The water was delightfully warm. I swam in my shorts because of the lost bathing suit.
On the next dive at Turtle Town I let Marc take the camera. I didn’t go in the water for that swim because the first one tired me out. Marc dropped the camera because the strap was loose. Subsequently, I purchased a floating wrist strap at B&H. Fortunately, the camera landed right next to the boat on sand and a staff member was able to retrieve it for us. All the pictures of the turtles are by Marc.
They kept stuffing us full of drinks and food and the staff was very entertaining and knowledgeable. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Marc was surprised at how easy snorkeling was.
After the dive we went to the parking lot and while putting things in the trunk I said, “Are you ready?” and Marc said “yes” so I shut the trunk. Unfortunately, the car key was inside the trunk. 4 hours later Hertz sent someone to unlock the car.
I also took some pictures while at Maluaka Beach where the boat leaves from and in the parking lot.
Sherry Felix - port4u 