HILO (September 25- Oct 2)

One 45 minute plane ride, and we have gone from the big city of Oahu to the remote Hawaiian rainforest jungle of the Big Island. We are staying on the Hilo side of the Big Island, which is known in Hawaii for it’s rainy weather. It rains everyday here (Many of you know I love the rain, so of course I'm thrilled by this weather). The air and nature is so unpolluted; it’s the best rain I’ve ever felt or smelled.

Our rental house is about 10 miles past Hilo in a little town called Pepe’ekeo. I use the word “town” loosely, for as far as I can tell, the town consists of houses, a community center/church, an outdoor basketball court, and a mom and pop style convenience store.


The store (pictured above) is owned by the same family we are renting from, and is conveniently located on the corner right next to our house. The family has owned it since 1925. It’s a small store, less than the size of a tennis court, but has everything from fresh fruit, to laundry detergent. It even has a deli that serves local foods such as plate lunches, chili and rice, and shave ice. I found it really neat and refreshing to see such a small independent business thriving, un-threatened by the big supermarkets and Walmarts of larger towns. The store is integral part of the local community; everyone in Pepe’ekeo goes there.

This is our house for the next week:

This is the view of the sunset from our house:

We literally are staying on a jungle farm. It’s a jungle, because our backyard is filled with orange trees, avocado trees, tropical flowers, even sugar cane. And it’s a farm because there are chickens running everywhere (the rooster likes to crow at 5am….), AND because we have a goat.

Look at our very male goat!!!

It’s a really cute goat. It stays in the yard, eating grass, but it likes to bleet at us whenever we come home, much like how a dog would greet us. Sadly, whenever I go to pet it, it tries to butt me with its horns. It likes an Daryl though. I think it’s because he gave it guavas and I only tried to give it grass.

Adding to the ambience of our jungle abode are the incessant night noises of the koki frogs (also known as Caribbean tree frogs). As soon as the sun starts setting, these tiny frogs start to sing. To me they sound like something in between a cricket and a bird. This is what it sounds like: http://www.hear.org/AlienSpeciesInHawaii/species/frogs/lotsafrogs.wav from about 5pm to 5am. Believe me, it’s way loud, and can get kind of annoying. Some people like them; I’m ambivalent. I’m just glad it hasn’t interfered with my ability to fall asleep at night.

This is our house from the inside:

The Kitchen

The Dinning Room

The Living Room

The Hallway

A Spare Room (The ones we used had Queen beds)

The Sun room - with a foozeball table!

It’s a bit creaky, and much to our dismay it does not have a wireless Internet connection, (we have to share the one cable connection outlet), but overall our jungle abode is a lovely place to stay for a week.