Finally put some pictures together.
The island is not so commercialized as some of the others, it is great as one can get out and about alone without too much trouble.
Of course there are beaches, not terribly busy.
This was a busier one but it had some fairly good snorkeling
This was about a one minute walk out the door of the house we stayed in, notice the charcoal colored sand.
The usual tidal pools full of small fish, blennies, etc.
This small creek right in the town of Lihue had swordtails, below them swam tilapia, gobies and some unrecognizable cyprinids which a person could watch.The only ones catchable with a dip net and a 1 year old in tow were the Swordtails.
The larger rivers we also saw swordtails ,small schools of good sized trout14-15 inches. In a locals net there were tilapia, what the locals called freshwater barracuda and another cyprinid which they were taking home to barbecue. The ideal thing here would to have rented sea kayaks and head into some of these rivers.
I am assuming something was living here but I never did see what.
You will find this interesting, this is a picture of one of the ponds built approximately 1000 years ago by the native people,you can still see the channel on the left built to have access to the waters of the river. This pond is full of fish supposedly 10 species of game fish alone (introduced) even from this distance one can see the amount of surfacing that went on constantly...if you look closely you can even see jumping fish in these pictures.
Other animals a one year old will run into
landsnail of some kind
I am guessing Anolis carolinensis, Green Anole
Endangered Monk seals, not many left in the world but well protected on the island, if they came up on the beach they got a large area roped off for them and woe to anyone that bothered them.
Chickens...yes as on many pacific islands there are chickens gone wild but on this island there is not much for predators so they are literally everywhere, in town,on the beaches, getting into everything and crowing at all times of the day and night.
So what becomes the favorite pastime of a one year old who decided he does not like these chickens
A drive into the back country gives some very nice scenery which these pictures do not do justice.
Erosion is the cause of this as a person climbs up into the hills.The highest percentage of automotive deaths on the island come from drownings as people try to cross flooded streams.There is an area on the island they say is the wettest spot on earth with an average annual rainfall of 451 inches(I have not double checked if this is correct).
A permit and a four wheel drive is needed to drive what they call hunting roads in the back country but could lead to some interesting areas.This is a road headed back down a steep drop to the ocean.
Scenery from the top of the ridge
This island still retains much of the endemic vegetation and they seem to be trying to retain it.
Not sure if this is endemic but it is some kind of a mint plant
Not sure what this is but I thought I would throw this in for the fungus heads,if that is what it is.
Thanks for looking
Birger
Have a great time!
Grows easily from seed. Invasive in the tropics. Safe for your area. Continuous bloom.