A soft pink bloom of Jungle Queen.

DAY 3 @ The Big Island, Hawai’i

Shallow blue water of Ho'okena Beach Park in Hawai'i.

Our AirBnB host offered to feed us this morning, and we accepted. She had prepared fresh goat kefir from the goat she kept on the off-grid property, along with mango, ground flax seed, and ashwagandha. In addition to hosting, she also sold a number of health products she made herself – the goat kefir, magnesium oil, fermented Noni juice, onion juice, and many more. I decided to try the onion juice, and was instructed to apply it liberally to my scalp for glowing hair. It was supposed to moisturize my hair, but I mostly just noticed it dripping onto my shoulders. Thankfully Tom likes onion dip, so it didn’t totally ruin my appeal to him.

Octopus mural outside a local tattoo shop.

We still hadn’t received our second bag from the airline, so we hadn’t been able to do some of the activities we planned. We decided to go into town and replace some of the supplies we were missing, so we could enjoy some of Hawai’i’s stunning beaches.

Wow, what a great spot we found, thanks to the recommendation of our host! Ho’okena Beach Park had limited parking, but we arrived early and nabbed one of the few spots left. The ratio of the shoreline for this park to the number of parking spots was high, meaning it didn’t feel very crowded. We eagerly got in the water for our first swim in Hawai’i! As we were swimming we saw many tropical fish like yellow tangs – all without snorkel gear!

Jeep with open door at Ho'okena Beach Park, Hawai'i.

We left the beach park in search of lunch, and decided to try another free public beach afterwards.

We still hadn’t heard anything about our missing luggage, so we decided to go back to the airport to resolve this issue in-person. Finally, our bag was there and we were able to claim it!

Walmart was nearby the airport, so we stopped in and bought snorkeling sets so we could see some more Hawaiian fishes!

It was a wonderful day for wildlife viewing. In addition to the countless fish we saw, we also spotted a herd of goats, a consortium of crabs, and several mongoose.


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