Spent the day on the Island of Hawaii, or also known as the Big Island.
We have gone through Hawaii on ferry trips before and one of the things that stuck out for me this time were the remarkable banyan trees. These trees are incredible. Reading up I learned that like a lot of Hawaii’s flora, this tree is not native to Hawaii. They are actually from India. The largest banyan tree in India covers 4.7 acres and can shelter up to 20,000 people from the rain. The trees here in Hilo were planted around 1930.
I learned that this area is known as Banyan Drive and also known as the “Hilo Walk of Fame” for the banyan trees were planted by celebrities beginning in the 1930’s. These massive sturdy trees have withstood several tsunamis that have devastated the town, such as in May of 1960 Hilo Bay experienced wave heights reaching 35 feet
Today was a good day to make arrangements for the legs ahead and to prepare for another 14 hour leg. Tomorrow we plan to depart at 6 a.m. for Tarawa, Kiribati.
Kiribati is an independent republic located in central Pacific Ocean – about 4000 km southwest of Hawaii. It is part of the division of the Pacific Islands known as Micronesia. Kiribati consists of 33 coral islands and are divided among 3 island groups – Gilbert Islands, the Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands. They have a total land area of 811 square km and extend about 3900 km from east to west and from north to south they extend about 2100 km.
Today I started to do some reading about this part of the world and am curious what we will discover. One site said that Kiribati is a country that has few visitors – be prepared to rough it – and – as well- there aren’t many countries where the people are more friendly.
We will keep you posted!
Ferry Flying - Delivering Aircraft around the world for MAF 