Port of Call Hilo, Hawaii, the most Eastern of the Hawaiian Islands chain, was the first port of Call on this cruise, landing on the fifth day out of Los Angeles.
The morning was rainy and windy so last minute we decided to just take the tourbus into town and check out some fresh markets and stores. We got wet several times, sometimes soaking, which was not a good foreboding but pretty normal for Hilo, which is “blessed” with some of the highest rainfalls in the world. The town is pretty much what you expect from a tropical town on an island that once was invaded by the American republic and never properly inducted as the 50th state in the union. Hilo has about 45,000 inhabitants and the waterfront has been hit twice by tsunamis. In itself not a sin, but it is indicative for how little money gets reinvested.
Of course the US mainland’s influence is obvious, but there is an undertone of local resentment. Hawaii is the Big Island, cornered by two volcanoes, so naturally it was the last one to be developed into tourism, a process that is still ongoing.
The cruise line offered several day tours, but the one we were interested in to Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park (about 45 minutes south of town) was cancelled because of the weather and road conditions. The other tours were to the Kona side (the westside of the island) which is more than 90 minutes away by bus each way and just too expensive.
In all honesty, Hilo is a gateway to some of the island’s most dramatic natural wonders, primarily centered around water and volcanic activity, but primarily because of the weather, we used Hilo on this day for internet access at McDonalds. We also have this effort going on to get our ten thousand steps in for the day. The first one went fine as McDonalds gave good internet, but the intermittent rain showers were cause that only ran us up to a maximum of 6,100 steps for the day.
It may have been the dreary weather but Hilo felt a bit tired, lacking color and personality. The island is sizable, too sizable for discovery in one day. But Hilo offers two active shield volcanos, the largest active volcano on the planet the Mauna Loa and the highest point in Hawaii, the Mauna Kea (Kilauea) And a very remote Southside. I would have loved to see the volcano observatory, which is one of the most progressively forward ones in the world, but the day didn’t allow it.
Oner thing that should be mentioned is that Hilo is also home to the Mauna Loa Macademia Nut Corporation one of the world’s leading producers of macadamia nuts and one of my favorite nuts.
On the way out we witnessed some cano trials or races around the ship in traditional Hawaiian canoes, which was quite a colorful event. We learned that they were practicing for the competition during the weeklong Merrie Monarch Festival, after the Easter Holiday.
Recent Comments