Dunn County

First day full day in Hilo!

The environment is much different here! The climate is warm, muggy, windy, and partly cloudy most of the time. It averages 156 inches of rain per year! You can probably tell by the pictures, that it rained the whole time we were there. We stayed at Reeds Bay Hotel for two nights, not the best quality housing but we survived! To start our morning, we ate at Ken’s for breakfast. It had an “old diner” vibe and had AMAZING food!

Next, we received a tour of the Native Garden. Here, we saw a lot a familiar plants like the Banana Tree, Taro, Bamboo, etc. Our guide would explain the different uses of each of the native plants. For example, the resource of Banana Trees not only provided a tropical fruit, but also the leaves were a reliable source of shelter! It was interesting to see more Native Plants and learn more about their significance! Most of these Native Plants thrive here and regenerate to provide for the populations to come, meaning they are sustainable resources.

Following the garden, we toured the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center where we had a self-guided tour and watched a few short films. ‘Imiloa links to early Polynesian navigation history and knowledge of the night skies, and today’s renaissance of Hawaiian culture and wayfinding with parallel growth of astronomy and scientific developments on Hawaii Island. There were interesting exhibits, the ones that really stood out to me were the ones about the culture of "Working together." In addition, I found the short films very interactive and interesting!

To end the evening, we walked around the beach and watched the sunset! It was very peaceful and beautiful!Lue lisää