After our "once in a lifetime trip" to Kona Village, here we are again for our 4th trip in 5 years. However, this was the first time we'd found their complaint department. (Not that we were actually looking to complain about anything; we were just wandering around and stumbled upon it.)
The "staff" of the complaint department. (Hmmm...I don't think these guys are going to solve many problems.) These donkeys are called the "Kona Nightingales", who are descendants of donkeys used on coffee farms earlier in the 20th century. After WWII, the availability of surplus jeeps from the war made the donkeys expendable. Over the years, the donkeys have run wild in Kona, but have become endangered as the area of Kona Village has been developed. Kona Village has adopted some of the donkeys to ensure their preservation.
Other wildlife around Kona Village include these guys, who congregate around the fishponds. The fishponds were the home of an ancient Hawaiian village named Ka`upulehu.
Kona Village has a large field of Petroglyphs, which are ancient carvings in the lava recording the history of the people of Hawai'i. Some of these carvings date back to 200 A.D. Kona Village has built these walkways over the petroglyphs to allow people to view without walking on them and causing wear. This wild goat is showing courtesy by using the walkway!
These sea turtles are endangered species. This guy decides to head for the beach to relax after a swim in the bay. What a life!
Humpback whales migrate from Alaska to spend the winter in Hawai'i. Sometimes they get extremely close to shore, like this whale that appeared at dawn one morning. This picture was taken from our lanai of our hale.