Ocean Safaris

A beautiful day in the tropics.  Our resort had a bountiful buffet breakfast which we enjoyed.  Not your normal run-of-the-mill buffet.  This had rice and fish and salad, and pastries; all very yummy! I tasted my first strawberry papaya, which is now my most favorite fruit!  Today we planned our kayaking safari adventure.  We drove to Keauhou which is south of Kona.  We met a bunch of people who were going on the tour with us.  A sweet, sweet elderly lady was with her 15 year old grandson (who reminded me of my eldest offspring) and together they were vacationing on the big island.  I wanted her to adopt me right there on the beach!  Can you imagine snorkelin' with your granny??  Oh, my heart be still!  Her name was Rose and she takes each of her grandchildren to vacation around the world!

We paddled to The End of the World and saw the Dragon's Throat which was a cave that you could kayak into but we opted not to go in because the water was particularly rough there.  We saw a bunch of dolphins, about 15 of them, all surfacing at the same time.  I was actually out of the kayak at the time snorkeling around and swam toward them but they quickly dispersed.

The sea turtles are huge and the tropical fish are so colorful.

This is hubby jumping ( yes he is mid-air here in this photo) off a cliff.  We learned the art of getting in and out of the kayak from the open water.  Some of us are more graceful at it then others ;).  Leui got punched in the Adam's apple by the gunnel trying to get back in the kayak.  We were in the middle of the pacific ocean taking in all the cliffs and sites from the water, it was beautiful!

                                                                                 Then we went to lunch at Bubba Gump's Restaurant. Do you see our view from the table?  The blue foamy waves came right up to the wall.  The whole theme was so fun, Forest Gump everything.  The menu was on a ping pong paddle.  There was a sign that was blue that said 'Run Forrest Run' and that meant you were fine and dandy.  IF you flipped the sign over to the red sign that read, 'Stop Forrest Stop', that meant you needed something at your table.  The waitron's did not want the sign to be red!!

After lunch you got quizzed on your knowledge of the movie and if you answered the trivia questions correctly you won something from the gift shop.  Let's just say we need to watch the movie again...

Stupid is as stupid does!  Love that line from the flick!  The food was really delicious.  We had shrimp salsa that I can't wait to try making.  It had fresh tomatoes, cilantro, red onion, garlic, hot peppers, lime and shrimp served with warm tortillas chips.

Then we went to the Farmer's Market.  Exotic fruits and flowers.

                                                                                              
 Hubby tried a Rambutan that looks like a hairy strawberry, it tastes like a grape.  He will try anything!






After the market we drove up and down the zig-zaggy coast to Captain Cook Cove.
















There was the prettiest red-roofed church sitting in the middle of a field that I fell in love with.

There was a monument on the cove with this inscription:

This is a view of the cove 1200 feet up.

  We grabbed a bite to eat and went to see the manta rays feed when it got dark.  You can take a tour boat and scuba with the rays (I am NOT that adventurous).  We only saw one huge black one that did a flip under water.  Our days were very full!  So much to see in only a week!

Blessings,
E.W.