Gigi Travels

Maui July 2008

• Hi, I’m Gigi Giraffe, Mrs. McKay’s traveling class mascot. I saw, did and learned a lot of things in Hawaii. On Maui they planted a redwood forest about 90 years ago to fix a problem caused by cattle grazing. Even though they aren’t very big, compared to those here in California, they are over 2 feet in diameter and 100 feet tall. Redwoods (and Giraffes) in Hawaii, wow!

• Did you know that even though Mt. Haleakala is only 10,023 feet above sea level, if you measured it from its base on the ocean floor it is more than 900 feet taller than Mt. Everest? It’s true.

This is an endangered plant, called the silver sword, This is an endangered plant, called the silver sword, that only grows near the top of this mountain. When that only grows near the top of this mountain. When the sun hits it just right the leaves do look silver.the sun hits it just right the leaves do look silver.

Here’s a picture of me in front of the Haleakala observatory. Because of the high elevation and remote location they have little light pollution and great visibility.

For a lot of my travels, I hitched a ride in Mrs. McKay’s hydration pack. We hiked a couple of miles across a lava field full of neat rocks to go snorkeling.

We went along 30-foot high cliffs with waves pounding at their base to get to a black sand beach in progress. There was some good snorkeling once you got past the surf.

The upper part of the beach and under the rocks is black sand but at the shoreline the waves are still grinding these rocks against each other slowly eroding them into sand.

We stopped to see the Nakalele Blowhole. It was awesome! The waves go into a sea cave and when they hit the end the water shoots up out of a hole in the top of the sea cave.

There were some waterfalls to see and natural pools to swim in on the wet side of the island but many of the falls can only be seen in the rainy season because they divert the water from most of the rivers to use on the dry side of the island for farming and hotels.

We visited the Iao Needle, that’s it right behind me in front of the clouds. This is the site of the bloodiest battle in Hawaiian history. Over a thousand warriors were killed in one day with so much blood shed that the river below flowed red.

While I didn’t try it, Mrs. McKay did learn to surf (and she thinks I have a hard time standing up). If you are going to go there, learn to surf and wind surf early in your visit because the wind comes up in the afternoons and makes it hard to snorkel or enjoy the beach except in the mornings.

We also drove the long, narrow, winding road to Hana, stopped at a red sand beach and another black sand beach and one morning I had time to just relax and work on my tan while Mrs. McKay went swimming.

Aloha!