Wednesday morning (before the visit to the Hilton) and Thursday morning were trips to watch wildlife and explore the history of the Islands at US Historical Parks. The first park was located south of the Kona airport, and we plan to return early in a morning when it is cooler to take the hike down to the ancient fish ponds, but it has wonderful trails across a lava flow. The following two pictures originated there:
It was very hot, so we could not explore this site as well as we wished, but we will return as it is very interesting, and the trails lead down to the ocean.
The next historical place we went to was the Pu'uhonua o Honaunau City of refuge on the southern Kona coast. We went early Thursday, and were the first visitors to this lovely, tranquil place. If you were unfortunate enough to commit an act that was kapu, earning a death sentence (usually instantaneous), then you could save yourself by fleeing to this place and taking refuge for a few hours or few days, then you would not be killed. The giant stone wall was built around 1550, and remnants of these giant stone walls remain (no mortar was used, but they are tall, thick, and solid). Native canoe making is exhibited, as are many examples of long-ago life of Hawaiians.
A few pictures (in addition to the one at the top):
We also saw plenty of wildlife, starting with a school of yellow fish in the bay adjacent to the site:
Shore birds were prevalent (but no honu--turtles--were basking on the little beach):
Also, we saw the same little yellow birds as at our condo, but these birds allowed us to take some closeups:
The interior ponds also held fish, and a few were close enough to photograph:
Before we started out on this historical journey, we pulled into the shopping center above our condo to a place that mongooses are known to frequent. Here we say several, including a mother mongoose who first brought our one offspring, then went back and brought out another. I could only capture a picture of two of them, but the family numbered three:
These little weasel like creatures looked plump and healthy.
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