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Hawaii

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    Aloha

    Waterfalls in HiloMore Photos
    Hawaii is about 2,400 miles southwest of US mainland. Hawaii's nickname is the Aloha State, and Aloha means love in the Hawaiian language, but it is also used as a greeting. Hawaii lives up to its reputation as being a beautiful and pleasant state with brilliant colored flowers, flowing palms, and magnificent waterfalls. On top of all that, the people of Hawaii are friendly and treat tourists wonderfully.

    Before going to Hawaii their are a few things to think about. First of all, take some time to get acquainted with Hawaii's geography. Hawaii is actually made up of 132 islands, but people usually only think about the main 8 islands (Hawaii, Maui, Kahoolawe, Molokai, Lanai, Oahu, Kauai, and Niihau) The island of Hawaii is usually referred to as the Big Island, because it is the largest. The Big Island also has the only two active volcanoes. Maui is known as the valley island because of its large canyons. Kahoolaw is a rather small island and no one actually lives their but it is used by the military. Moolokai is known as the friendly island because of how wonderfully all guests are treated. Lanai is a island with many resorts as well as the Dole pineapple plantation. Oahu is known as the gathering place because of it being in the center of Hawaii's action. 80% of Hawaii's people live on Oahu. Honolulu and Pearl Harbor are both on the island of Oahu. Kauai is the Garden Island and, in my opinion, the most beautiful of the islands. Niihau is the forbidden island and you can only visit their with an owner's permission.${QuickSuggestions} Before you pack, keep in mind that Hawaii is rather mild. The temperatures are usually in the 70s year-round. Their is regular rain and, in the highest points, you can even find snow.

    And if you haven't noticed by now, the Hawaiian language used a ton of vowels. In fact, two consonants never occur without a vowel between them. Plus, all words end with a vowel and accent of most words fall on the next to last syllable. The Hawaiian alphabet has only 12 letters: A, E, I, H, K, L, M, N, O, P, U, and W.

    A few things that you can't miss in Hawaii include: the fresh fruit, a luau (I was a little disappointed with this, but its just something you have to do in Hawaii), Volcanoe National Park, whale-watching (if in season, and I recommend Captain Dan), Pearl Harbor, Waimea Canyon, Akaka Falls, and scuba diving.

    One other item to take note of, being that so many things are shipped to Hawaii from the US mainland or foreign countries, a lot of stuff seems more expensive when compared.${BestWay} In Hawaii, their are lots of different ways to get from one place to another. We island hopped via NCL cruise ship, and loved every minute of it (see review).

    Hawaiian airports are pretty crowded because of Hawaii being such a huge tourist site plus local people do a lot of island hopping. The main airports are in Honolulu (on Oahu), Kahului (on Maui), Lihue (on Kauai) and Kona or Hilo (on the Big Island). We flew into Hilo and had no problems.

    We also rented a car on each island we visited. The roads can be narrow, twisting, or steep, but not difficult to drive or to navigate. If you're a little directionally challenged, you'll do fine driving. After all, Hawaii is part of the US although sometimes it feels like you're in a whole different country. Plus if you do get lost, the people in Hawaii speak English and are more than willing to help you out.
    From journal Aloha