Watching the Whales

The boat for the whale watching cruise

So many touristy things to do in Hawaii.  And, oh by the way, I am a tourist.  So that means:  it's time to do something else touristy.  A whale watching cruise.

The plan was to meet the cruise boat in the harbor south of Kona Town.  There were a lot of boats so it took awhile to see the sign for "Hawaiian Adventures."  But then there was our boat for the next three hours. 

Yes.  A three-hour cruise.  On the Artemis.  Seats about 30 or so cruisers.

We did see whales.  We did see dolphins.  Dolphins are easier to photograph for multiple reasons.

The fin for one thing.  Part of the dolphin is usually above the surface.  And they travel in packs.  And they come out of the water more frequently and more completely.  And, this next comment is a matter of perspective, they swim closer to the boat or else the boat can get closer to them.  Not sure which is which.

These are what are known as "spinner" dolphins.  Sometimes when they jump out of the water, they spin in the air.  It's brief.  It's not every jump out of the water.  But we did see if multiple times.  See:  yes.  Photograph:  no.

This wasn't prime dolphin time, but plenty were out and putting on a show.

Yes.  The water really was that blue in parts.  No special filters being used here.

End of the dolphin show.  Off to hunt some whale.

We did see three sets of whales, which, as I understand it from talking with people who've done whale-watching cruises before, is typical.  Apparently tour operators only have the funds to salaries of three sets of whales per tour to go out and perform and entertain.

We saw a mother and baby humpback whale very quickly after we left harbor.  Then we saw a pod of males likely duking it out for mating supremacy.  It's that time of year.  And, right as we were approaching the harbor to return, we saw another mother and baby.

This time I was attuned to how you photograph whales moving through the water in such a way as to get a photograph of a whale in water instead of just water.

Thar she blows.

It was a quick three hours.  We got to see sea mammals up close and personal.  Humpback whales and spinner dolphins.

But it was time to return to harbor since I paid only for three hours and I got about three hours and five minutes of sea mammal watching.

Back to harbor.

Where we saw a boat that identified as a shark.

And, one last animal species was sighted in these waters.

A sea turtle!  With a bunch of barnacles on his/her (not sure of the pronouns here) shell.  Something we did not see at the Sea Turtle Sanctuary on the Big-Population, Small-Size Island.

Late lunch was at a local brew pub.

I had, of all things:

Hawaiian pizza.  In Hawaii.  It actually was billed as "Hawaiian Luau" pizza, with kalua pork, pineapple, onion, and -- for some reason -- I did not see this at my luau the other night -- goat cheese.  All on a layer of BBQ sauce.  The goat cheese took over on the bites that had goat cheese.  The pineapple played well with the pork, as pineapple often does.  For a beverage, I had a Lavaman Red Ale.  A nice dark color.  Locally brewed Hawaiian beer, like beer in Latin America, is generally pale and weak.  This had color and flavor.  Enough flavor to at least fight to a draw with the goat cheese on the Hawaiian pizza.

Country #32 Is Now in the Books and It Is Guatemala

Plaza España is only a short walk from my hotel, which was a short cab ride from the aeropuerto

I can now add Guatemala to the list of countries I've visited because that's where I find myself tonight. By design, of course.

This begins a very, very much, much needed vacation holiday. This is my first international trip of the COVID era. I have two nights, but only one day, in the Guatemalan capital, then it is off to the Petén, to traipse through the Mayan ruins at Tikal, then it is a few days of R&R in Antigua, Guatemala.

But, first, it is time to enjoy Guatemala, Guatemala, Guatemala, the city so nice they named it thrice. Yes, they did. Guatemala City in Guatemala state in the Republic of Guatemala. Top that New York, New York. 

That's the view from my room. If the sky were clear and not completely cloudy, I could see a volcano from my room. But the clouds are thick so, alas, I see only a parking lot.

This is my hotel in Guatemala City, the Hotel Barceló:

It's late and the sun is going down, so I only had time for a short walk around the neighborhood of the hotel. First observation: Guatemala City is a very green city, with lots of trees. It is not unmitigated concrete.

This is evening rush hour traffic in Guatemala City. Not bad at all, anyone would say. Except the people in Guatemala City, who are apologizing for (and complaining about) the "bad" traffic infesting their city. I'm guessing everybody everyplace thinks their traffic is the worst. And only people in D.C., or Bogota, Colombia, or Lima, Peru, would be right. Well, yes, New York and Boston, too, but why would anyone be in a passenger vehicle in either of those places?

Then I reached the nearby Plaza España, which has those big letter things happening that are all the rage in all the cool places:

It has a monument in the middle, with horses perched on exercise balls spitting water out of their mouths.

The big snake on the west side likewise was spitting water, but the big snake on the east side was dry-mouthed.

I did learn one thing about Guatemala City that really makes a lot of the horror stories you may have heard about this city ring true:

Hawaiian pizza (the kind with pineapple on it) is HUGE here. It's everywhere. People think it's actual pizza. And for awhile this seemed like such a nice city.