Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historic Park

This is a bit late but . . . eleven months ago, I visited the Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historic Park. Here’s the weird thing . . . I have fewer photos than I remember taking. I am sure — sure, I tell you — that I snapped photos of the shallow lagoon where people go and swim and snorkel in waters protected by a rock barrier. If we ever do go swimming while here, that place ranks high on our list of possible immersion sites. 

Be that as it may, let me share what photos I do have. 

This looks HUGE . . . but it’s only three or four inches tall and sits atop a natural fence by the visitor center to the park (something else I neglected to photograph). I was on my own for about an hour and a half while Melisa was at an appointment. 

Braving the heat — and lugging my 15+ pounds of pre-P900 photo equipment — I stepped onto the unpaved Ala Mauka Makai path to the Ala Kahakai path leading to the beach and the Aiopio Fish Trap. Little did I know that I could have parked at the marina and taken the much shorter Kiʻi Pohaku path and saved me about a half mile of walking in the hot sun amid black lava fields. Here’s the walking I did for these shots. 

At the far end of my walk, I got a message that Melisa was getting done early, so I had to double-time it back the way I came. By the time I got back to the car, I was drenched. I should have checked the map ahead of time. 

At least for a short while — near the shore — there was some cover.

Also, a number of dead tree trunks — something that always captures my attention. 

I clearly saw the goat face, but some might miss it. 

I even saw a flower; yes, only one . . . but I took two photos of it. The other is in the gallery at the end. 

Now, the identification has this flower being of the Guava plant . . . but the leaves don’t look the same, so I don’t know what to make of it. 

Edited To Add: my thanks to WandaFaye for the correct identification of the above as a passion flower. 

Once I got to the shore, I got lucky . . . 

That is a Brant goose. While not rare here, they are uncommon, so I consider myself lucky to have seen it. 

But, I was actually here for these . . . 

Yes, turtles, but not just any turtles . . . 

Honu is a big part of Hawaiʻian culture. Depictions of the turtle can be found all around the islands and go back all the way to petroglyphs carved onto lava. It’s typically depicted something like this . . . 

Obviously, not always in those colors. 

I’ll add a few more shots from the series, but the rest will be in the gallery. 

I always have the polarizer filter with me . . . and seldom remember to use it. It would have been useful for the underwater shots. 

It would also have removed some of the shine from the shell so as to better see the pattern. 

Anyway, that was it for my visit to the park. I’ve been meaning to go back there, but you know how time-consuming resting can be. One of these days . . . 

For new readers, all of the photos are linked to larger versions (1280 pxls for the longest dimension); click on a photo and the larger version will open in a new window or tab. The originals can be seen in SmugMug HERE.

Here’s the gallery of the above photos.

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

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