The first thing you notice about Kauai is how lush it is. It's called the garden island for good reason.
The second thing you notice is all the free range chickens. When hurricane Iniki came through in 1992 all the chickens on the island were blown out of their coops. Ever since then there has been a large population thriving on the loose. They are literally everywhere.
Once again we had to pick up our rental car. It was a short walk to the Kauai Marriott, where the rental office was. The grounds at the hotel were beautiful.
From there we set out for another wildlife refuge. This one we were sure was open. The road going north (pretty much the only road going north) goes through lots of small towns. When we got to the town of Kapaa, we discovered that the road was closed for a parade. Fortunately, there was a bypass road, so we were able to get past it. It was actually a nice country road, so we didn't mind.
We finally got to the Kilauea Point lighthouse, where the refuge is. It was a beautiful spot.
The big attraction is the nesting site of hundreds of red-footed boobies. If you look really closely at the photo you'll see lots of white dots on the hillside. Actually, you probably can't see them. Those are the birds.
There is also a colony of Laysan albatross, but not at this time of year. But we did see a baby bird in the brush next to the trail. He was all fluff, so we were unable to tell what it was.
Just as we were leaving, we saw a red-tailed tropicbird, which was gorgeous.
Our trip back was uneventful. By the time we came back the parade mess had been cleared. This had been a thoroughly enjoyable day. The weather was nice and the scenery was spectacular. We returned the rental car and walked back to the ship.
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