Hello Hilo!

Hello Hilo! by Mrs. Harrison

Today we drove to Hilo by way of the Saddle Road. Hilo is on the opposite side of the Big Island from Kona, where we are staying. The Saddle Road is a highway snaking between Mount Kileaua and the Mauna Loa volcanoes. When we first turned onto the highway we noticed a strong odor of sulphur which is the gas emitted for the volcanoes. If you have driven around the paper mills in Arkansas, you are familiar with the smell! After a stop at Rainbow Falls to view an impressive waterfall, we stopped for a quick bite to eat in Historic downtown Hilo. The buildings of this quaint coastal town took you back in time because history was evident in the architecture such as the Pacific Tsunami Museum. The museum holds pictures and many artifacts from tsunamis that have affected many Pacific Islands. I instantly made a connection to the tsunami that slammed into Laupahoeoe Point on April Fool's Day 1946. As many elementary children were arriving on a Monday morning an earthquake off the Aleutain Islands was creating a massive wave that would come ashore with a great force. The waters receded way beyond the norm and students ventured out to see the fish left behind only to be swept away by the next wave. A monument stands today to commemorate the 24 students who were killed. In the museum a colorful quilt can be found hanging that was made by local students in 1997 to remember the event. The story took my breathe away as I couldn't begin to comprehend such a catastrophic disaster occurring to my students.

Hawaiian Monk Seal

One of our many adventures led us to Rabbit Island in Honolulu, HI. As we arrived at Rabbit Island, we interviewed an officer with the Department of Conservation. He informed us that there was a monk seal born on the island about three weeks ago. This is very unique because only one out of five monk seals make it to adulthood. Scientists believe it may be from competition for food from sharks. Wildlife scienctists say there were over 15,000 in Hawaii in the past and the population is declining with only about 1,500 remaining.

Our Typical Day

Several students have asked what our typical day has been like in Hawaii. The answer is.....nonstop. We leave the hotel every morning around 7:30 and don't return until 7 or later at night. Katie asked about how many times we had been swimming at the beach. The answer to this is none. Actually, we did swim when we went snorkeling. Well, I don't know if you could really call it swimming. It was more like floating while trying to hold on to all of our snorkeling equipment. And, for someone like me, it was a bit frustrating. I couldn't seem to get it all together, which is normal for me.

We have seen some really amazing sites and learned so much. However, we do come in at night extremely exhausted and begin working on Facebook, twitter, and our blog. We want to make sure that we get pictures, information, and video footage for you to see as soon as possible do you can too experience.

We have been able to Skype with two of our students so far which was so neat! As you know, yesterday we skyped with Zach Jones and today we skyped with Mason Morgan from Rainbow Falls. Rainbow Falls was a stream fed waterfall that flowed into a river and ran east to the Pacific Ocean. At the top of the waterfall was a massive Banyan tree. You could climb and climb and never reach the top. The branches kept going and going, just like the energizer bunny!

We "LAVA" Hawaii!!!!

We "LAVA" Hawaii by Mrs. Grimes

Just when we thought we couldn't go any further, we arrived at South Point, the southern most point in the United States. It was here that the massive waves crashed against the shore. Just around the corner, it was said that waves reached 40 feet and would pull you under if you were standing on the rocks overlooking the ocean. Words nor pictures could explain the beauty of this place. Although we weren't soaking up the rays in our swimsuits relaxing, it was a gorgeous place to be. It seemed like the world stood still. 

We couldn't stay here forever, because there were many more places to visit and not enough hours in the day. We were off to the black sand beach known as Punalu'u. ( Wow, that was a tough one to spell.)  Here, we received a chemistry lesson from Dr. Bramlett,  dean of the math and science department at UAM. The black sand is made from iron silicate. As we walked up to the sand, a rather large sea turtle was basking in the sun on the shore. He was very friendly and allowed us to take pictures up close and personal. We were planning to bring some black sand, but it was prohibited. Just up the road, there was a green sand beach. We were not able to visit, but we did get a sample of green sand at a local restaurant. The green sand is made of magnesium silicate, or the mineral olivine. 

Conveniently located near the black sand beach was an amazing lunch stop. We ate at the southern most bakery in the United States. Here we sampled a new yummy treat for dessert. It was called a Malsada, a Portuguese doughnut. Faddie the Food Critic ( videos to come) found the strawberry filled delicacy to be wonderful. There were many flavors including guava, passionfruit, taro, and chocolate. These are not as sweet as a doughnut, but very filling. 

Because we had many things to do, we hopped  into our vans and headed to what we had been waiting for all week!!!! We were off to Volcano National Park. Our trip through the park had to change a little due to high 
levels of sulfur dioxide. We walked along the rim of the craters at Mt. Kilauea and saw steam  vents.  This was the main crater and lava would flow into the field and drain into the lava tubes ( resembling a straw like underground cave) heading into the Pacific Ocean. This is how Hawaii is growing, creating new land even today.

Our next stop was the Jagger Museum. This stop gave us a closer look at the crater. As we walked up to the front of the museum that overlooked the crater,  the steam was rising. We were able to share this with one of our MIS students, Zach Jones. We skyped with him allowing him to see exactly what we saw. Upon visiting with the park ranger, we learned that the lava flow was about 400-500 feet below the caldera. When asked how they knew this, he said they have a camera that took still photos every 15 minutes. While we were there, it showed the levels of lava were rising and the photo looked like the lava was active and bubbly. Tonight, they hoped the embers would glow and would light up the night sky. Man, we wished we would have been able to stay around to see this! 

The journey was not over yet. We kept driving along on the coast of the ocean to a lava field. This was one of our coolest stops of the day. It was here we walked about a mile atop layers and layers of lava to reach a sign that said, " road closed." This was a fitting sign for this location because it was impossible to pass. In the early 80's, lava flowed across the road closing the road forever. Piles and piles of lava covered this  area, some very smooth and some very jagged and rough.

On to the next stop on our marvelous journey through the national park. The next stop was a very unique sight. It was a forest overtaken by lava. The trees were green, but the lava covered the trunks of the trees. Imagine that, more lava in the Volcano National Park. The lava cooled so quickly that it didn't kill the trees that grew there.

Boy! We have learned a lot today. But, the excursion is not quite complete. We had one more stop. We actually got to walk through a lava tube. Wow! That was really cool and we shot some video footage that we will be sharing with you later. To get to the lava tube, we had to walk down steep steps through a lush, beautiful rain forest, leading to the entrance of the tube. A cool experience in so many ways. It was cool in temperature, not what you expect being connected with lava. It was also cool in appearance. It was a dark, cool, man-made looking cave with ferns hanging from above. As we exited the lava tube, our attention was directed to a native Hawaiian bird, the apapane. This is a red bird, somewhat resembling our cardinal, however appeared smaller, more like the size of sparrow. 

 Who knew we could take in so much information in one day? This day was an awesome experience and we wanted to take in every moment. However, we are sitting here extremely exhausted! We have just arrived back at our room, dragging just a little, but working very hard to keep everyone back home in Arkansas informed so you can experience this journey with us. If you notice, many of our posts appear to come in the middle of the night. For instance, it is almost 11pm here and in Arkansas, it is almost 4am. 

 Be sure and check out our pictures that will explain some of the sites we visited today.  For now, we must sign off to get ready for our adventures tomorrow. We will be departing bright and early to visit a botanical garden. 

I think I found Nemo!!

Yesterday afternoon we boarded a large catamaran and set out for Kealakekua Bay! The trip across the Pacific took approximately 45 minutes to reach the bay. During the trip the crew brought around snorkel gear and swim fins. This was my first time to snorkel and I wasn't sure how to feel. Mrs. West gave us a quick lesson on how to wear the mask....we all looked like aliens! As we approached the bay we saw several Spinner Dolphins playing in the water! It was amazing! Once we reached the bay, the crew gave us some rules to abide by...yes even teachers must follow the rules! Once we had been given instructions we made our way to the lower deck to take the sea stairs to the water. Before entering the water, the suggestion was made to put dishwashing liquid inside the mask, swish it around and then rinse it out. This would keep our mask from fogging up.
As I prepared to enter the water, one of the crew members handed me a ski belt (sort of like a life jacket), I put on my fins and slipped quietly into the water. The shock of the cold water nearly took my breath away. Once I warmed up, I clumsily made my way toward the shore. Taking all the instructions Mrs. West had given me, I put my mask on, put the snorkel in my mouth, inhaled, closed my eyes and put my face in the water. It took a few attempts before I was able to breathe through the snorkel, but I finally figured it out. When I opened my eyes I was so moved by what I saw below the water. The undersea world was teeming with life! The coral created a landscape unlike anything I had ever seen. A variety of coral was present including "cauliflower" coral. The colors were breathtaking! As I began to get more comfortable with the whole idea of snorkeling, I was able to concentrate more on I what I saw and less on the exercise itself. The fish were plentiful and vibrant. I saw a Parrot Fish and learned that they eat the coral and excrete sand (yes that does mean poop). Amazingly, each Parrot Fish excretes some 3 tons of sand during their lifetime! WOW!! While I did not see a sea cucumber I did learn that they take the excretion from the Parrot Fish, consume it and grind it up and then excrete a finer sand. Think about that when you stick your toes in the sand! More to come.....off to the volcanoes.

Mrs. Norton

The Unexpected by your MIS Hawaii Team

As we embarked upon our journey down the scenic route in route to Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, we immediately realized things were not as they seemed...the foliage resembled that of what you would see in the tropics with beautiful, brightly colored flowers, large trees, and lush lawns. The reason this is so unexpected is because we are on the dry side of the island with an average annual rainfall of 10-20 inches a year much different from the wet side of the island with an average rainfall of 200 inches a year.

When we arrived at the National Historic Park, it was the first day of summer and our admission to the park was free. We were at first not excited about the day's activities. Immediately our ideas changed and it was not at all what we expected. We thought that this was to address only the historical part of out field study, and to our surprise it was so much more. The vegetation was as it was before European influence. It was sparse and the native plants were indigenous.

This area is also known as " the place of refuge." Tall royal palms surround the temple complex that sits on a 20-acre finger of lava bordered by the sea on three sides. The only access to the pu'uhonua (temple of refuge) was by swimming across a bay known as the shark's den. If you managed to survive, the kahuna (priest) was required, under pain of death, to offer you sanctuary and absolve you of all wrong doing.  Here in the national park you can walk through an ancient Hawaiian village and see firsthand how the kings of Hawaii once lived.

Some of the interesting facts we learned today were regarding punishment. If you were to get into trouble, children 12 and under, your parents paid for the crime. If you were older than 12, you paid the price yourself. However, the most interestig fact was that if you saw someone commit a crime, you had to administer punishment. If you didn't, you were punished. Wow! Things sure would be a lot different if these same rules applied today.

While we thought the morning's events would only be historical based, we were pleasantly surprised to find that we could also walk among the lava fields, peer into tidal pools, and get up close and personal with some sea turtles. While peering into a tidal pool we found a very unusual little crab. While the crab appeared black as it scurried across the lava as soon as it hit the water it turned to the color of whatever was beneath it. AMAZING!!! That was animal adaptation at its finest. While examining the crab, we noticed that a long and slender creature swam by us. Much to the relief of Mrs. West it was quickly identified as an eel, rather than a snake. Mrs. Longing and Mrs. Norton tried to lure the eel out of its hiding place while Mrs. West stood nearby filming the event. Meanwhile, Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Grimes searched for and found the Hawaiian sea turtle. Mrs. Harrison even wadded into the water to take a closer look.

Zach Jones by Mrs. Grimes

We would like to take this opportunity to give a personal shout out to one of our most loyal followers coming to third grade next year, Zachary Jones. He has followed the blog everyday and given us several questions to answer. As a matter of fact, we are planning to Skype with him as well from Hawaii welcoming him to MIS. It is so exciting for us to come in at night and read what our students have written on the blog! Keep it up!

Hannah, Mrs. Harrison said hello too!

This is a question posted from an anonymous reader...

Mrs. Grimes,
How much is the price of gasoline in Hawaii? Are autos the main source of transportation or something more economical? Have a great rest of the week!!

The average price for a gallon of gas is $4.30. People travel by cars, mopeds, taxis, the city bus, and ride bikes. However, many people walk. It really depends on what island you are on as well. Honolulu was a lot busier and it was easier to walk than drive. However, we rode in a taxi and bus in Honolulu. In Kona, the traffic was not near as busy and we rode in a car everywhere we went.