Hawaii is also called the Big Island. This mountainous island is a merger of 5 volcanoes, 2 of them still
active. Earthquakes, landslides and lava flows are on the
daily menu here.
In 1778
Captain Cook was the first
European to discover Hawaii but when he returned in 1779 he was killed at
Kealakekua Bay after trying to
kidnap the local
chief.
A simple monument commemorates this dramatic event.
Kamehameha was born in the Kona area around 1760 and, after many bloody
battles, forcefully united all the Hawaiian Islands in the early 1800ths.
Tourist
industry, including diving, is concentrated at the dry West Coast around
Kona, while the wet and rural East Coast
features lush rainforests and mighty waterfalls.
Hilo is Hawaii's largest and economically most important city.
The area here is prone to
Tsunamis.
Each
year the
Iron Man World Championship is held in the Kona area, where only the best athletes from around the world are allowed to compete
in a grueling triathlon.
We visited Hawaii several times, lastly in July 2001.