Spouting Horn & Monk Seals

Packed up camp and were back on the road winding down to sea level, we head to Hale Ikena. This is a Patti's home and we've booked one room with ensuite bath for the night. This is a sweet pad overlooking the ocean, with mango/lime/banana trees. Fresh fruit! Patti, our host has boogie boards and huge beach towels that we pick up and head out for the days adventures. The first stop is at Spouting Horn. I'll let the picture describe that hot spot.

Then, the hunt is on for monk seals basking on a beach somewhere in the area. We stop and pose as guests at the Grand Hyatt to scope out a lazy seal. The seal is roped off to keep tourists from completely mauling it to death. Monk Seals are on the endangered species list and supposedly there are about 1000 in the Hawaiian Islands. After we watch and snap some pics of the seal that pretty much seems dead to the world, we stop at Koloa Fish Market for an awesome local fish lunch.

It takes some searching but we find our final stop at Maha'ulepu Beach for some boogie boarding and sunbathing. We go for a stroll along the beach and come across another monk seal. This one is bigger and looks much healthier than the last! He rolls about briefly in the surf, but seems pretty much out of it. No wonder these guys are endangered, they wouldn't move if you body slammed them. We find our beach spot in the shade, and I make like a monk seal and pass out under a tree for a half hour.

We head back to Patti's house to BBQ up some fresh fish for dinner. On the way back we shoot through the Tunnel of Trees road (pretty self explanatory). Eucalyptus trees tower over the road, if only all roads provided this much shade! Not a bad last day on Kauai, tomorrow morning we're off to Maui!