Our West Maui Vacation

I was sorting through pictures trying to decide which to post, and really, there was just too many neat ones... First I thought I would do scenery shots, then I thought I would post about the bird species that we saw (all introduced mind you!), then I figured I'd do a critters post for birds & inverts & mammals. But then I figured I'd just pick a few of my favorites in each category. I tried for ten, but came up with twenty, so here are my favorite shots from our Hawaii trip, and some generic ones to give you a sense of the habitat.

Keep in mind that really all we did (apart from a drive up the west coast around to the top of the island, and a drive down the west coast to the bottom of the island) was snorkel and walk on the beach. Oh, and eat lots of great food (hello rowing machine!). So we didn't really see all the touristy sights, or really have many photographed adventures, since most of our adventures were underwater, where we didn't take the not-waterproof-at-all camera. So basically what I'm saying is that these shots are my favorite pictures from the trip, but snorkeling to see the colorful coral reefs & associated fish, turtles, and octopi, well that was really the highlight.

With that said, here are my fav shots :)

 The trees were totally different than what I'm used to, and so many of them were in bloom with gorgeous flowers!

The area we were in was fairly dry, although higher up it was often raining or obscured by clouds. There were what I assume were sugar cane fields alongside the road here, I think this one had just been harvested.

 Totally neat trees!

 The ocean! Don't let my long sleeves fool you, it was hot there the entire time, but I didn't want to get sunburned - this shirt is a spf shirt, light but sunblocking.

Little crab guy. There were lots of these guys along the beaches, they would come out if you stood still for long enough. They had little holes that they hid in most of the time.

Cool tree shot.

 Sea turtle! Our first night there were 4-5 turtles playing/eating/swimming right beside the shore where we were eating dinner. Super cool! We ended up swimming with sea turtles later, but since we didn't have an underwater camera, these were our best shots of them.

 Again neat trees, hills with clouds/rain in the distance.

Us on the grass near our resort complex.

 Out in front of our resort at very low tide. It didn't look like much from a distance, but we saw lots of cool things up close.

 Like this little octopus!

 Pretty butterfly on a beautiful tree.

 On our drive up the west coast. We came back to this bay later - amazing snorkeling! We saw our 2 live turtles here while we were snorkeling :) And another octopus, and so so many pretty fishes! :) It has a rock/coral beach, so no sand, so it was tricky to get in and out of the water, which is why the tourist ships are anchored, so that people can get in without going across the rocks. We just toughed it out. Really, it wasn't hard at all!

 More forest-y habitat up the northwest coast. Really cool little valleys, but we didn't see any hiking trails marked, and didn't want to venture into private property, so we just looked from the roadway.

 We saw the sunset every night. It was spectacular every night. :)

 Neat eel thing we saw dead on the beach one day. I don't know my eels, but this thing had wicked sharp little teeth! I would be scared to have it coming at me in the water, that's for sure!

 Anole. We saw lots of these guys, and one gecko. The anoles would come out and bask on the edge of the sidewalk in the evenings when we were going for walks. Quick, but cute! (although introduced!)

 More habitat shot. looking up into the hills. The development was really focused by the beaches/shoreline.

 Looking northwards from our resort. Palm trees & development. And big waves!

I love this shot. Tropical.

There were so many pretty flowers to be seen!

We had a blast in Maui, if we ever go back we'll go to Hana so we can explore the eastern side more. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!