Maui - Turtles and Such

Those of you who follow my posts will think that all we did in Maui was watch whales. Actually there were a lot of other things to see and do and watch--like turtles. Our condo was on the fourth floor and we looked down on an area that was a mix of sand and reef. The reef was green with delectable turtle delicacies and, throughout the day, we could see them scrambling around the rocky areas and chomping on the sea salad.

Honokowai, the area where we stayed, is noted as the spot to see the Hawaiian green turtle. They, as are many of their counterparts throughout the world, are endangered. We were amazed at how large they were. From our perch on our lanai they didn't look very big but once we were in the water snorkeling, we were startled by the size of them. The shells had to be almost 5 feet long! They weren't bothered at all by snorkelers and one time even swam up to us making me take quick inventory of what I had on. Was anything green?

Along with the turtles, we had some friendly birds to contend with on our lanai. They had a beautiful red coloring and seemed to be begging for a tidbit with their cheerful chirps. A notice in the condo asked residents to not feed the birds.

On a walk through a bird refuge, we happened upon the other birds seen here. I'm really not good at identifying but one resembled a kildeer and the other looks like some type of heron. He seemed to be fishing. If he had been in the right place at the right time, he could have had crab for dinner.