I Think Not

Ah Maui! Well, 2 weeks in Maui makes for a lot of pictures. I had such a great time in Maui. I expected to have a good time, but mostly because I'd be relaxing on the beaches alone. I never expected to meet such genuinely cool, fun people! It was really the people that made Maui the experience it was. Thanks especially to Mango inc!

This is the Banana Bungalow Hostel I stayed at for the first week. It was a bit dirty, and the
socializing got cliquey very fast, but they offered free tours of the island everyday, like the trip to Haleakala which only cost whatever tip I thought it was worth. They had dinner every night for a decent price, and free BBQ and keg party every Friday. Definitely a party hostel.

A hammock area for relaxing and reading

The common area had foosball, pool, kitchen, dinning tables, board games, books, and tons of surfboards.

(not bad of 'em to have a hot tub)

Mariana (Mexico/LA), me, and Mango (LA) losing at foosball against Rob (UK)

Baba-G, Guru, and Homie

It doesn't rain much in Maui, but when it does, it really does.
So there are flood routes that turn into raging rivers when a storm comes.
This is one such route.

The first day I spent there was with 18 people from my Hostel on a trip to the volcano in Maui, Mt. Haleakala.
It's 3000 meters up (9000 feet), so e were way above the clouds. An 8 hour trek was fun, but sunny...
I got scorched!

Volcanic rock is SO sharp!! I just brushed up against it, and cut my leg deeply!

Just waiting for the group to gather.
Kim (Japan), Rob (UK), and Virginia (New Zealand)

There was no doubt that this volcano looked an awful lot like the recent pictures from Mars...
some found it suspiciously similar.

Not much wildlife exists in this harsh environment

Lunch... so comfortable!

I think we had all just about gotten sick of the never-changing scenery, so it was a welcome relief to find grass in this lower section of the volcano. We took our second rest here in the shade of a hikers-hut, and found the national bird of Hawaii which is a not-so-interesting goose.

Now, this was the brutal part. After 6 hours of hiking through the relentless heat, we had to hike straight up for another 2 hours!!!
This is were the group really spread out.

But the views were awesome!

I do believe this is my first shot of Mango... in his lunar suit. Though scary at first, he turned out to be one of the
funniest and most unique people I've ever met. His non-stop banter up this exhausting climb was a feat in and of
itself, but at some point he decided to run instead of just walk, so we lost him until the top.

The first of the group at the top

And the reward. A stunning sunset from 3000 meters!

From the scorching heat of the day, to the bone chilling nights at high altitude.
It was getting very cold and windy, so we took cover as best we could.

The already red rocks turned this magnificent color at sunset.

CLASSIC MANGO! Out of his lunar suit, making commentary on anything and everything.

The next day we took a load off and relaxed at the beach. I was sunburned, but it was overcast.

The cloud forest hike
This was the 3rd day of free tours. We went to the western side of the island which also has mountains,
but not as big as Haleakala. These ones were enshrouded in rain forest.

This tunnel wasn't part of the trail, but I couldn't resist making it part of my hike

Mango... cheering us on...

The first of the swinging bridges

The Texan couple, with Virginia, and Rob

The reward at the end was a splash in the crystal clear water of the rainforest

Mango double jumping! With someone's mom!

The road to Hana
On the 4th day, we took a ride to Hana and the bamboo forest. The ride was most of the trip because
it takes 2 hours each way. But what a road!! This road is in the Guinness book for having the most turns. 600 or
something! All along the cliffs under Haleakala! Wow!

The best banana bread ever!! Good of the driver to know about it.
Mango screwing around and Jodi playing it cool

One pit-stop was serving up fresh coconut milk and a variety of other Hawaii staples

Grilled fish, and bread fruit!!!

The black sand beaches of Hawaii!!

And the hike to the bamboo forest

Banyan trees are everywhere in Hawaii. This is a big one, but the biggest is in
Lahaina, and takes up a whole city block.

The Seven Sacred Pools... Hawaiians say they aren't sacred at all.
Never were. It's just a tourist gimmick.

This waterfall at the end of the bamboo forest was huge!
It couldn't fit in one frame, but you get the idea.

The red sand beaches

West Maui and Lahaina town
The next day we took a trip to Lahaina, arguably one of only 2 real towns in all of Maui.
The group went snorkeling, but I headed into town to do some shopping.

This was the Sheraton beach. Good for snorkeling around the black rocks to the left there.

Like any wealthy resort town, Lahaina was swamped by art shops.
But there were a few that really had cool art. This was one of my favorites for realist still life... of wine.

Definitely playing the beach-bum role, Lahaina reminds me a lot of Martha's Vineyard, with palm trees.

The old prison that drunken sailors were thrown in

This is the banyan tree I was talking about. Supposed to be biggest in the world.

After snorkeling we all met up in Lahaina for drinks

And here's the other real town. Paia. This is much more of a locals town. And if you're not local, you're a beach bum.
All the surfers congregate here because it has some of the best surfing on the island, though not at this time of year.

Silly, but I really like this sand. It was just big enough not to get stuck all over you.

I have no idea who these people are, but liked the image. Very "Hawaiian".

Loved these little surfer dudes on their skim boards having a crazy time of it.

North road to Lahaina
On one of our last days, Ali, James, Rob and I rented a car and drove all around the island on our own.
We started on the north-bound route to Lahaina. It was just as crazy as the road to Hana, but with the added adventure of land-slides!!

James's favorite pose. Flipping the bird.

Some very Hawaiian names cut into the clay cliffs

Our objective was to get the white rental as dirty as possible. Mission accomplished.

Rob and James paying homage to the Luau queen, Baba-G

Yeah, I wasn't joking about the landslides!

Big Beach and Little Beach
Big beach was the one we went to with the Bungalow on my second day.
Right next to it over a small cliff is Little Beach, the island's nude beach.

Little Beach

Ack! The Boxing Priest! On the road to Paia, there's this crazy local who wears a priests outfit,
and mimes something at cars driving by. No one can agree, but he's either shooting cars, or boxing cars.
Who knows, but he's been there for years, and will probably be there 'till he dies.

The Northwinds Hostel
After a week at the Bungalow, I had taken all the free tours. That's the only reason I was there actually.
The party atmosphere wasn't that cool, my friends were all leaving, and their prices were a bit higher than other hostels.
So I switched across the street to Northwinds Hostel. They were new, and a lot more quiet and relaxed.

Some guest had brought his projector for some reason, so we watched a slide show on the balcony.