One of the highlights of my trip to Maui was seeing
TONS of whales! Beginning in the fall of each year, North Pacific Humpback Whales
migrate to Maui so the females can give birth in the warm, shallow Hawaiian waters. (And away from their only natural predator, the Orca ~ killer whale.)
2008 was a record setting year in Maui, with over
1700 whales counted during the
2008 Great Whale Count. Even though we could see whales easily from land, we wanted a chance to get up close and personal with these magnificent creatures - so we boarded a large catamaran operated by the
Pacific Whale Foundation (an awesome non profit organization dedicated to protecting whales and their ocean) at Maalea Harbor
(picture above)...and set out to meet the whales!
After only a few minutes, we encountered three whales ~
a mother, her baby, and a male "escort."
The curious baby breached again and again right along side our boat ~
~ and put on quite a show for us!
Mama slapped and waved her big ol' tail...
...and made quite a SPLASH!
Even Flipper dropped by to say "hi!"
(Actually, it was more like "Eee-ee-ee-ee-eeee!")
Check this out: Did you know that the adult whales cease to eat during their 4 to 6 months visit to the Hawaiian islands? They live off of their blubber and as a result, can lose up to 1/3 of their body weight. I don't believe any human tourists can EVER claim doing THAT!
Additionally, the mother whales must produce a nutrient rich milk for their growing offspring...who, weighing in at about 1 ton at birth, are steadily gaining about 10 pounds per HOUR! Whoa baby!!!
The male whales spend most of their time following the females around, trying to impress them with their unique
singing ability. Hearing the male escort serenade us with his beautiful
song was an unexpected treat!
(And somehow left me feeling strangely aroused...)If you listen carefully, you can hear him singing on this video
that was shot by my blog-mistress' son.
(Click here to listen to more live whales singing right now!)
And now... 
...how about ending this whale of a day with a little whale humor?...
Two whales, male and female, are swimming happily around in the ocean when they come upon a boat. On seeing the boat, the male says, "Hey, I've got a great idea! Let's swim up under that boat and blowout really hard through our blowholes!"
The female says, "Oh, I don't know..."
"Come on," the male begs, "it'll be fun, come on...just this once!"
The female agrees and they swim up under the boat and blow out, capsizing the boat and sending hapless sailors into the briny blue.
As they are swimming away, the male says, "Wow, that was fun, wasn't it? Hey! I've got another idea! Let's swim back there and eat all the sailors!"
To which the female, exasperated, replies, "Look, I agreed to the blow job, but I'm not swallowing any seamen."
...I'd only dreamed doing of before!
...and I think it's safe to say that 
Apparently Maui, the sun god, was a bit of a prankster in his youth...here, at the Kahului Airport, he's depicted pulling the sun from the sky because he wanted to slow it down and give his mother more daylight. I'm thinking "Wow-wee Maui! Those are some pretty big...umm, aspirations! How 'bout a loin cloth?"
Upon arrival at our Ka'anapali Beach hotel, I was given a traditional flower lei greeting by this friendly native...Ms. Kamanawanaleia
Here I am (feeling a bit like a fish out of water) in front of the famous Humpback Whale Statue at Kalama Park in Kihei. Oh, and I saw tons of whales in the ocean too! (Stay tuned for more on that!)
Venus is even older and definitely hotter! 
But this is the pretty lady I woke up to every morning in our lovely little beach cottage by the sea ~ isn't she a beauty?
On my recent trip to Maui, we packed up the car one afternoon, drove on over to historic Lahaina town...
This famous tree, located in courthouse square in the center of Lahaina, was brought to Maui from India when the tree was a mere eight-feet tall. 
The tree is now about 50 feet high and extends over 200 feet from side to side! (It dwarfs ME!)
shell...calling us to come to The Feast at Lele ~
Oh yeah...and Mai Tais! 
Among other things, we ate imu-roasted kalua pig from Hawaii, Maori fishcake from New Zealand, poisson cru from Tahiti, and beef with breadfruit from Samoa.
With so many choices, even the less adventurous eaters had a great time!
And they call this drink a Lava Flow! (aka: Guaranteed Hangover)
Yikes! Mai Tais + Lava Flows = Heat on!! 
Phew! Even our servers were HOT!
And... 
I thought 
the entertainment 
especially
uplifting!
Mammories of Maui
I dunno, for some reason I just thought these would look really nice with your collection of phallic rocks and penis clams.
Howz this grab ya?
I have NO IDEA who this guy is! 
Yum! 
And for YOU...
I had such a great time...whether I was simply hanging out...
