Jaunted

Tags: Volcano Travel / Volcanoes / Science Travel / Active Travel / Hawaii Travel / → All Tags

Hawaii Introduces Volcano Awareness Month Since Erupting Is So Hot Right Now

Thanks to a proclamation from the Hawaii County mayor, January is officially Volcano Awareness Month. Throughout the month the US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park—among other local organizations—are teaming up to share their knowledge and understanding about all things lava.

In addition to the usual offerings within the Big Island’s national park, there are going to be loads more programs, talks, and hikes focused on better understanding what the heck is happening both above and below the earth. Volcanologists will be on hand every Tuesday to answer questions about Kilauea and probably anything else you want to throw at them. On Saturdays, groups can meet up with a park ranger to head on a hike into the Kilauea caldera—it’s just shy of three miles round-trip. For those that are a little more into entertainment, January 16 is the day to learn all about a special hula that tells the story of Pele—the goddess of fire, not the famous soccer player.

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Tags: Obama-Around-The-World / Presidential Travel / Barack Obama / Hawaii Travel / Northwest Flight 253 / → All Tags

Obama Says 'Mele Kalikimaka' From His Holidays In Hawaii

You know what we love most about Christmastime? The fact that most of the country gets to enjoy a long weekend, including the president and his family. On Christmas Even, President Obama, Michelle, and his two daughters hopped Air Force One to Hawaii for their traditional holiday family vacation.

Since they come to Hawaii every year, they don't go about doing the touristy sightseeing anymore, but instead hole up in a rented vacation home in Kailua on Oahu, conveniently neighboring an Air Force base. He plays golf, he plays basketball, and he swims at one of Hawaii's highest rated beaches.

But he is not to be completely envied, since he is the President of the United States after all, and duty calls even when he's on a much-needed island vacation. The news of the attempted terrorist incident onboard Northwest Flight 253 kept Obama chained to his desk for most of Christmas day as he upped the security threat level to orange and issued reviews of security procedure and of the terrorist watch list. We hope, for everyone's sake, that the rest of his vacation will be uneventful.

Related Stories:
· Obamas in Hawaii: First Family Arrives In Oahu for Vacation [HuffPost]
· News interrupts Obama's Hawaii vacation [CBS News]
· Presidential Travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: Huffington Post]

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Find Out Where 'Avatar' Filmed The Non-CGI Scenes

As those of you who rushed to see Avatar this weekend know, the movie is hard to summarize in a few sentences. According to IMDb, James Cameron's epic tale is about Jake, a paraplegic war veteran of the future, who is brought to another planet, Pandora, which is inhabited by the Na'vi, a humanoid race with their own language and culture; then those from Earth find themselves at odds with each other and the local culture. What the summary doesn't tell you is that the 3D movie looks really cool thanks to new CGI techniques developed just for Avatar.

But even though the movie is a technological showpiece, there was still some old school location filming that took place in New Zealand and Hawaii. First, Cameron, who has always been an unconventional filmmaker, brought the movie's stars, Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana, to Hawaii where he dressed them up like aborigines and had them running around half-naked while acting out their scenes before actually filming in front of a green screen in the studio. The technique was suppose to give them all a taste of how the scenes would feel if they were being shot in a real rain forest.

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Tags: New Year's Travel / Hawaii Travel / Travel Deals / Hawaii / → All Tags

Helliday Madness Has Us Dreaming of Waikiki to Kick Off 2010

With the holidays in full swing, we're spent. Finished. Dunzo. We surrender. Quite frankly, if we have to brave one more packed-like-sardines parking lot or feign full-on merriment, some of us might have an aneurysm.

Melodramatic? Perhaps, but don't tell us that you, too, aren't feeling the seasonal crunch. And then there's New Year's to consider, party and/or travel planning which is a task in and of itself. Here's an idea, though: doing up NYE staycation-style and planning a Hawaiian getaway to kick off 2010, not to mention cleanse yourself of fruitcake nightmares.

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Sleep Under The Stars of Hawaii In A VW Camper Van

Traveling over the holidays is definitely expensive, and the prices really start creeping up when you head somewhere warm and popular like Hawaii. However, there’s a way to cut down on your lodging and rental car costs while increasing your vacation adventure quotient—just rent a Volkswagen camper van. Happy Campers Hawaii and GB Adventures are more than willing to hook you up with a vintage—yet restored—VW Westfalia van for all of your explorations around the Big Island.

You’ll be able to wake up in a different location each day and totally take advantage of the island’s parks and campgrounds. Most of the vans come with everything you’ll need including a sink, stove, and running water. Just swing by Costco to stock up on snacks and you’ll be good to go. Just make sure you pick up a blender, because a couple blended beverages are a must for evenings back in the van.

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Tags: Airline Mergers / Airline News / Airlines / Hawaii Travel / Mokulele Airlines / → All Tags

Passengers Feel The Merger Pains Between go! and Mokulele In Hawaii

There’s trouble in paradise now that go! and Mokulele Airlines have merged. Within the last couple of weeks the two airlines have shacked up in hopes of doing some damage to the market share owned by Hawaiian Airlines. The new combined airline aims at bringing low cost cutthroat interisland fares for tourists and locals looking to hop islands for different adventures or just to get to work. Well, things have been a little bumpy as the new combined service tries to work out all the kinks quickly.

The combined effort go! Mokulele reported a lot of minor delays, and most of them were related to passengers that they couldn’t talk to about schedule changes. There were a couple travelers that complained about waiting a couple hours to take-off even though they spoke with the airline regarding schedule changes. Apparently the law says until a merger is complete, you can’t share passenger information. So they only had a few days to cut and paste all those new reservations into the new systems. It didn’t help much that the combined airline now only uses go! planes, as the old Mokulele jets aren’t going to be used in the islands.

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Tags: Dunkin' Donuts Alternatives / Donuts / Hawaii Travel / Honolulu Travel / Food Travel / → All Tags

Portuguese Culture Mixed With A Hawaiian Bakery Makes One Tasty Donut

No matter what donut is your donut—we know many people who can't go without ordering a Boston Creme or strawberry frosted—when you're in Hawaii, you've got to get down with the local flavor. In Honolulu, the donut of choice is Portuguese confection called the Malasada, first cooked up at Leonard's Bakery after it opened in 1952.

While they are very similar to the Polish pączki in that they are sweet, filled donuts traditionally consumed on Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent, a true Malasada however is not supposed to have any filling. It is a solid ball of fried dough, coated in granulated sugar and fed to the drooling patrons who flock to Leonard's. Because of the popularity of the Malasada in Hawaii, Leonard's has also begun serving Pao Doce (Portuguese sweet breads) and Malasada puffs.

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Tags: Hawaii / Hawaii Travel / Movie Travel / Film Festivals / Film Festival Travel / → All Tags

Hawaii Heats Up the Film Festival Circuit

A scene from Noriben, playing at this year's Hawaii International Film Festival.

Though the time for Tribeca, Cannes, and Toronto has come and gone, the film festival circuit hasn't screeched to a halt. There's Sundance to look forward to, of course, but a welcome alternative to similar large-scale hype galas are festivals held far away from Los Angeles, New York, and other metropoles.

Hawaii may not be Hollywood, but there's still creativity abound on the big island. And while it may not attract as much attention as, say, Berlin, the Hawaii International Film Festival has earned a well-respected reputation among cinema's inner circle, with people like Roger Ebert praising its East-meets-West sensibility.

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Tags: Hunting / Big Island / Hawaii Travel / Mancations / → All Tags

Hawaii Is A Regular Fantasy Forest For Hunters, Wild Boar Included

If sitting on the beach and having an adult beverage in tropical paradise is too boring for you, then we’ve got an alternate adventure for your next trip to Hawaii. Parker Ranch on the Big Island welcomes one and all for a unique hunting opportunity. Just in case your true travel dream is to kill something in all 50 states. No ducks here, they are all about the big game hunting.

Year round hunters are able to chase after wild pig, wild goat, and wild cattle. Organizers claim they maintain a 98 percent success rate on these types of hunts, so if this is your thing you should be good to go. For those who prefer feathered friends, turkey and pheasant hunts are open during different times of the year. Gobblers are only available in the spring, so bringing a fresh one home for Thanksgiving isn’t an option.

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