Maui - I'm Back!

I just returned from Maui yesterday, where I had gone with my girlfriend for a fabulous 8 day trip. I'm slowly getting back into the much faster pace of Bay Area lifestyle, and am looking ahead to a busy spring schedule. The trip overall was fabulous. This time, in addition to your standard guidebook, I made a point of asking several people who had lived on the island before for their recommendations. It really made quite a difference, as I found my favorite restaurant ever called Okazuya nestled in the back of a shopping center in Honokowai. We started the trip off with a drive to Hana, stopping off at the many waterfalls along the way for a swim.



This is a picture that Nancy grabbed while I went in. Only a select few were brave enough to hop in the surprisingly cold water...but it was a truly invigorating experience.



I also had an amazing experience scuba diving off the back wall at Molokini. This time of year the humpback whales are in the Hawaii region to raise their newborn calves. On the boat trip over I must have seen 15 of the huge creatures, often quite close. The truly breathtaking experience happened when I got in the water. There, I could hear the whales calling to each other from all directions, with each whale having a their own unique tones. It was just incredible when I joined the other divemaster on the trip and we ventured out to sea, until we were surrounded by open blue water 500+ feet deep, and waited for any whales to pass by. None did, but being surrounded by all that evenly deep blue surrounded by whale calls had to be one of the top highlights of the trip.

We also made it out to the Haleakala Volcano National Park and had a spectacular hike. While thousands make it to the crater every day, apparently very few do any hiking. Nancy and I were able to drop into the crater and have it practically to ourselves for a fantastic 12 mile hike around the martian landscapes of the crater.




And, or course there were great beaches as well for snorkeling, tanning (or at least as much of a tan as I can hope to get with my Swedish ancestry), and beautiful sunsets every evening.




So, another fantastic trip is in the books, and it's back to work! Luckily I love my job...plus I'll be heading off to South Africa in just under two months now, and have the tickets in hand for a great 4 month trip to South Africa and Botswana.