Here are some basic travel warnings:

• Use a really reputable, well-known travel agent.
• Use a charge card, but pay attention to the 60-day grace period for contesting charges.
• Check the travel packet carefully for errors.
• Verify all airline reservations, car rentals, and accommodations by phone, especially to make sure necessary deposits have been made.
• Consider getting a portable car alarm (usually available by mail-order only) for the rental car, since it is not always feasible remove all valuables.

Travel arrangements to Maui for mid-February really should be finalized by the first of the previous October.  In the end, procrastination led to a lot of problems.  Sunscapes Travel, an internet-present company based in Bellevue, Washington, had among the most enticing ads.   However, in the end, their final quote was actually higher than average, but time had run out.  We should have used COSTCO or Boeing Travel instead.  In a late-breaking development, Sunscapes Travel may not only be capricious but also criminal, since there is an indication they are illegally using their customer's charge numbers.  Scam artists Maureen and Richard Cheal appear to have fled to London, after buying a plane ticket with someone else's credit card number.

Hardly a week before it was time to leave, and infamous letter arrived in the mail. Sunscapes Travel had declared bankruptcy on they day they sent out the packet!  They had cleverly let the sixty-day VISA grace period expire.  After firing off letters to the credit union and the State Attorney General's office, telephone calls were made to determine the state of the travel plans.  It was embarrassing to be scammed again, after being scammed earlier in 1998 by a home business venture, from which we received a full refund.  We lucked out again, because the credit union has just reversed all the charges.

Hawaiian Airlines said they would honor the tickets; however, when it was noted that the inter-islands flight (on the itinerary) were not properly filled in on the tickets, they were vague about what would happen.  Of course, we had to pay for the inter-island flights.  Alamo had canceled our car reservation (without explanation) and rudely said they could not get us a car, so a more expensive reservation was made with Hertz.  By telephone, the Maui Hill condo said the rate set by Sunscapes was good, but when we got there, they not only increased the charge, but would not give us a two-for-one luau coupon as promised.  After being contacted, Aston Hotels and Resorts  (the Maui Hill parent company) has graciously refunded the overcharge and offered to compensate us for the luau. This was one unexpected bright side to our vacation problems.

We went 497 miles in our rental car.  Maui has a lot of attractions that are a ways apart, and there are usually only one (or two) ways to get anywhere on the island.   Our rental car (a Mercury Tracer) was really not suitable for the trip up to Haleakala National Park.   Careful braking everywhere was always necessary, since the brakes were partially  glazed from all its trips down the mountain.  Yes, there are warnings to stay in low gear, but running at 5500 RPM gets nerve-wracking after a while, and the automatic transmission would not stay in second gear.  An Audiovox car alarm was adapted as a portable alarm.  This worked, though the sensitivity never did get adjusted right.  Whether the sight of arming the alarm (it chirps) deterred any potential thieves is not known, but Maui is known for a high rate of auto break-ins.

Traffic on Maui roads can be slow and or congested at times.  Going North on the Piilani Highway (H31) toward Lahaina, there is an especially inconvenient intersection with the Honopiilani Highway (H30).  Negotiating this intersection, shaped like a broken triangle, can require creative driving, and it was once backed up for half a mile.   H30 becomes four lanes at Lahaina, but it becomes a real pain when it turns back to two lanes at Kaanapali.

Our first Maui adventure was a snorkeling and then a whale watch trip on the Ocean Spirit, owned by the Pacific Whale Foundation.   The crew are knowledgeable and courteous, but the boat gets a little crammed with 100+ people on board, and the lower deck is poor for clear observations.  Watch the bow of the boat while it is is motion, because there is a lot of salt spray.  The first stop was Molokini, and the second stop was a place called Turtle Beach off of Makena.  Dennis managed to go snorkeling at Molokini, but he (and others) thought the water was too cold at Turtle Beach.  Note: a rubber surf top may be desirable for extended snorkeling.  The whale watch was in the afternoon.  Distances are vast in the inter-island channel.  It was one of the best whale watch days of the year. While a whale did surface close-by to another boat, we were not so fortunate.  For a single lens reflex, a 400 mm or more telephoto (which Dennis did not have) is in order.   Do not expect automatic focusing to work well over water, and do use ASA 400 or 800 film.  Also, take along a can of compressed air to clean the inside of the camera (and prevent scratched negatives) between changes of film.

On the third day, we went to The Maui Ocean Center Aquarium and the Marriot Luau at Kaanapali Beach.  The aquarium allowed us to see and photograph captive fish and turtles.  The luau featured the famous Samoan Fire Dance, a tricky event to photograph.

On the fourth day, we went to Haleakala National Park and The Iao Valley.  There is a shortage of personal at Haleakala, so they do not always have a ranger at the admissions gate.  The summit of Haleakala is incredibly desolate and colorful, and we got there just before the clouds rolled in.   There is a research and tracking station at the top which is closed to the general public; however, employees of the contracting companies (i.e. Boeing) can get tours. In contrast to Haleakala, the Iao valley is a lush, green rain forest.  It was heavily raining in the area around the parking lot, but not everywhere else.

On the fifth day, we went to Big Beach Park before heading up to Lahaina for shopping.  Puu Olai, the cinder cone seen from the second snorkeling site, marks the Northern end of Big Beach Park.

The airport and major malls are located on the Eastern side of the island in the Kahului area.  Interestingly, both the airport and the malls are open, not sealed from the outside.  The birds love it.  Sadly, we saw not one inland native species of Maui bird.

Here are some other helpful Maui Links: