Next day we woke up and the ship was anchored outside Kona on the southside of Hawaii, the big island. Kona is were they grow and make the Kona Coffee which is considered one of the premium specialty coffees of the world and is home of the world-famous Ironman Triathlon. We had planned to go on an excursion, Rainforest & Waterfalls, with Beth and Lewis. We got to ride in small groups in SUV's around the western/north parts of the island. On the way out from the city of Kona we got to see big lavafields from past eruptions.

The first stop was to get a snack, Malasadas, in the village of Honoka'a. They are gooood.
Next stop was at the Umauma falls inside the World Botanical Gardens. As seen in the pictures Umauma falls is a tripple fall.



After a walk in the rainforest we drove to the site of the Akaka Falls which is 445ft tall (135m).
After the spectacular views of Akaka we drove to a coffee plantation for some tasting and a picnic above the Rainbow Falls that we had seen the day before. Now it was time to drive back to Kona and the ship.

The drive was across the "saddle" of the island formed between the 2 volcanos, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.


It was foggy foggy up there but we made it back just in time to stand in a long line to get back on the little boat to the big boat. :-)