In order to accomplish everything I was determined to do today I had to get up earlyyyyy. The alarm went off at 6:00 am (woof, that's early!). We gathered everyone up and headed off the ship. Getting on and off the ship is a real process. Getting back on is worse. To get off we are required to swipe our ID cards signaling that we have walked off the ship. In Hawaii, we had to walk a short distance to get past the port security.
Once outside of the security points, we found a taxi that would take us back to downtown Hilo. I had decided that I wanted to hit up an Internet Café to do the last few things I needed while I still had access to the Internet. I also thought grabbing a cup of coffee would help me get through the day. Lauren, Shelley, Mike, and Andrew joined me in the Internet Café doing their last minute necessities on the world wide web.
At about 8am, I had to start to make my way back to the ship. I walked over to the park where the taxi had dropped us off. Public transportation of Hilo would come past here if I waited long enough and we could use the public transportation for free with our student ID cards. Luckily, I found a taxi that was willing to take me back to the ship pretty quickly.
Once back at the ship, I dropped off my laptop in my room and scurried back off the ship so I could hustle off to my field program. Field programs are trips that people have the opportunity to purchase through Semester at Sea. They are completely separate from a field lab (a field lab is a field trip planned by a teacher). Luckily, I was able to snag a few phone calls with people from back home before my field program took off.
Larry, our tour guide, was very excited to begin the tour. He has been living in Hilo for the past few years, previously he had been living on Oahu. Larry enjoyed his job and providing our group with fun facts and stories. For instance, did you know that papaya trees live for two years? The first year of the papaya trees life is mainly devoted to growing. The tree "trunk" of a papaya tree grows really tall with the branches up at the top. The second year of life is mainly devoted to producing papaya fruits. Another fun fact: if you placed all of the other seven islands, besides the island of Hawaii, on top of the big island (Hawaii) there would still be a third of the island left.
Our first stop on the field program was to Kalapana Beach. It was a fishing village that was recently (when I say recently, I mean 20 years ago) buried by lava. We were able to walk across the lava flow to the ocean. The scenery as we walked to the ocean can only be described as breathtaking! Local residents have begun to put their lives back together. There is a local restaurant or two located right near the lava we walked across. Plants are also starting to grow again in the area. Larry told us that when the lava flow and the ocean water touch at just the right temperature it creates the black sand beaches found all over the big island.
The view was absolutely breathtaking!!
Larry then took us to Ahalanui Park. We sat under the huge trees at picnic tables eating our lunch which the MV Explorer's crew had prepared for us. We enjoyed a turkey and sprout sandwich, Doritos, and a lemon cake. They also gave us a local hawaiian canned juice beverage to drink.
Surrounded by palm trees, green grass, and the Pacific Ocean is a thermal pool. The pool is part nature, part man-made. The pool is heated volcanically and it felt like bath water temperature. A small inlet separated the pool from the ocean allowing fishies to swim in the pool. We were allowed to jump in and swim around with them. It was really cool to see schools of fish swim past you as you were looking in the water. The fish would swim all around you. (The best I can compare them to would be a tadpole). The tadpole-like fish would come up to you and supposedly "suck the dead skin off of you." I only put my feet in for fear of being really cold later and what it would do to my skin. Those stinkin' fish would swim right up around my feet and just tickle my feet! I could hardly stand it. I had to get out of the water after a short while. I walked around the park and up near the ocean. I ran into a TON of crabs. Those little guys are kind of scary looking; reminding me of a bunch of spiders.
We finished up our time at the Ahalanui Park a little bit early so Larry gave us a driving tour of downtown Hilo. I had already explored downtown Hilo on my own yesterday but it was nice to get a locals' knowledge or “city tour” on the area.
Students were required to be back on the ship by 1800 and we arrived around 1500. I was not interested in getting off the ship or exploring any more of Hilo with the time restraints. Especially since this was the first time people were going to try to get back on the ship. To get on the ship, we are required to sanitize our hands, swipe our ID cards, send our backpack and any other goodies through security, and then we are required to walk through the security. Getting back on the ship for any reason is very similar to going through airport security. It's just a hassle! If you are late getting back on the ship students, faculty, staff, and crew members will receive dock time. Dock time is like going into time out! For every 15 minutes someone is late, they receive two hours of dock time. When we get to the next port, they are stuck on the ship for two hours. And dock time does not start until the last person who is not assigned dock time has debarked. To be considered on time, you have to have your passport into the Purser's desk, ID card swiped, and through security. As if dock time isn’t bad enough, they announce the name of the individuals receiving dock time after the process ends.
I returned my backpack to my room and knowing I would lose cell phone service, I used the remaining time before the ship disembarked from Hilo to use my phone. I made phone calls, texted, and even Skyped for the remainder of the evening. When we disembarked from Hilo we knew that we were going to be making a fuel stop and mail drop in Honolulu. We were expected to arrive in Hilo on January 17 at 1200.
The postcards I purchased while in Hilo I made sure to drop off at the Purser's desk.
Surrounded by palm trees, green grass, and the Pacific Ocean is a thermal pool. The pool is part nature, part man-made. The pool is heated volcanically and it felt like bath water temperature. A small inlet separated the pool from the ocean allowing fishies to swim in the pool. We were allowed to jump in and swim around with them. It was really cool to see schools of fish swim past you as you were looking in the water. The fish would swim all around you. (The best I can compare them to would be a tadpole). The tadpole-like fish would come up to you and supposedly "suck the dead skin off of you." I only put my feet in for fear of being really cold later and what it would do to my skin. Those stinkin' fish would swim right up around my feet and just tickle my feet! I could hardly stand it. I had to get out of the water after a short while. I walked around the park and up near the ocean. I ran into a TON of crabs. Those little guys are kind of scary looking; reminding me of a bunch of spiders.
We finished up our time at the Ahalanui Park a little bit early so Larry gave us a driving tour of downtown Hilo. I had already explored downtown Hilo on my own yesterday but it was nice to get a locals' knowledge or “city tour” on the area.
Students were required to be back on the ship by 1800 and we arrived around 1500. I was not interested in getting off the ship or exploring any more of Hilo with the time restraints. Especially since this was the first time people were going to try to get back on the ship. To get on the ship, we are required to sanitize our hands, swipe our ID cards, send our backpack and any other goodies through security, and then we are required to walk through the security. Getting back on the ship for any reason is very similar to going through airport security. It's just a hassle! If you are late getting back on the ship students, faculty, staff, and crew members will receive dock time. Dock time is like going into time out! For every 15 minutes someone is late, they receive two hours of dock time. When we get to the next port, they are stuck on the ship for two hours. And dock time does not start until the last person who is not assigned dock time has debarked. To be considered on time, you have to have your passport into the Purser's desk, ID card swiped, and through security. As if dock time isn’t bad enough, they announce the name of the individuals receiving dock time after the process ends.
I returned my backpack to my room and knowing I would lose cell phone service, I used the remaining time before the ship disembarked from Hilo to use my phone. I made phone calls, texted, and even Skyped for the remainder of the evening. When we disembarked from Hilo we knew that we were going to be making a fuel stop and mail drop in Honolulu. We were expected to arrive in Hilo on January 17 at 1200.
The postcards I purchased while in Hilo I made sure to drop off at the Purser's desk.
Hilo in the background
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