Denise's Hawaii - Day 2 Animals, Fish and Rain

What a wind storm. Trying to sleep last night and the wind kept throwing around the furniture on the balcony! Chairs were moving all over and one was knocked on it’s side and then dragged around. Still slept pretty well, but noises like that definitely wake you up.

When we got up it was a bit dreary, but we weren’t worried. Ha! Famous last words.

We went to Moose McGillicuddy’s for breakfast. Mmm, mmm. Darrin had the All American Skillet and I tried the breakfast potatoes. Potato skins with eggs, bacon, cheese and green onions. Perfect! When we came out it looked like the ground was wet, so we hoped that would be it for the rain.

After breakfast we were going to walk to Waikiki Aquarium and then the zoo. But, we were running behind and didn’t want to get to the zoo after lunch at prime sun time. So we changed our plans and went to the zoo first. About 15 minutes after we got there the clouds opened up… REALLY opened up. But we continued on, soaked to the bone and really enjoyed our visit. And we never did get any sun, so burning never became an issue.

The zoo is in the process of building a brand new elephant enclosure, and it looks like it’s going to be great, I think it opens at the end of this year. There were some really cute animals, like two different miniature gazelles, a fuzzy little fox with a stuffed chimp, and a group of lemurs. Unfortunately the paths don’t drain in the zoo and a couple of exhibits weren’t approachable unless you wanted water up to your shin. Because of that, we didn’t really get to see the cheetah except when he was up on a hill and looking out of the enclosure. But it was a great trip and even though it kept raining off and on we’re glad we went.

They had some beautiful birds, big cats, several different primates, a reptile house, and savannah animals like giraffes, zebras, ostriches, etc. The hippos were totally cool, and the rinos too who were camouflaged, which caused a dad beside us a bit of trouble when it took over a full minute to point them out to his daughter! My favourite part of the zoo though was Baubles. Baubles is a “special” meerkat who has some problems, the biggest being balance. But his clan look after him and he lives a happy, if wobbly, life in the zoo.

Then, after the zoo, still dripping wet, we headed over to the Aquarium. They give you an electronic tour guide and when you reach an exhibit you punch in that number on the keypad and the narrator tells you about it. They had all the usual cool stuff, coral, jellyfish, sharks, groupers, and they’re building a new coral reef. In an outside tank they had a monk seal who was content to just bob up and down in the water.

Unfortunately we got about three pictures the whole day. We snapped a couple shortly after arriving at the zoo and then the rain never really stopped. It started just as I was about to take a picture of Diamond Head and the camera never came out of the bag again.

Ha, everything in my pocket turned to mush. I had a couple coupons and receipts and they just mashed together. And while we were walking back to the hotel we stopped and shopped along the way but had to keep handing cashiers these soggy, dripping wet bills. Most laughed, but one guy was cranky and before he gave us our change he made us wait there while he got paper towels and slowly wrapped our three bills up and patted them dry. Whatever!

Now, shopping for us consisted of grabbing some snacks for the hotel room and a couple of souvenirs. But I get the feeling some people come for a LOT more.

We passed a Coach store, Ferrari shop, three Le SportSacs, and a Louis Vuitton shop. I can’t even afford to window shop at those places…

We didn’t make it to the Wailana Coffee House today, we just wanted to get home and change into something dry. Maybe tomorrow. But for now, we ordered room service again and watched the Hilton Hawaiian fireworks from our balcony.

I’m glad it didn’t rain early morning or late in the evening. There were two weddings on the beach below our balcony today, one morning and one after sunset and I can’t imagine how upsetting it would have been to have to change the day if the rain hadn’t stopped.

We have to go pick up our rental car tomorrow and it’s about a 20 minute walk, so no sleeping in in the morning. Tomorrow is the Dole Plantation. Tonight though, we grabbed some cut pineapple from the cooler at an ABC (these stores are EVERYWHERE - on some blocks there are two or three of them!) A little snack, a little TV and then to bed.