Dear Conch-Lers,

I really can't believe that my dream vacations to Hawaii and Samoa ended
exactly two months ago. It seems to me that only yesterday I was there with
Don Barclay, collecting shells. BTW, Don is one of the most special guys I
ever met. A friend with capital letters. Many thanks Don, for your
hospitality and for everything you did for us during our stay in Samoa. It
is going to be, forever, an unforgettable week. I wish I can do the same to
you some day, if you ever have the opportunity to visit us in Brazil.

Back to our trip, it is important to tell you that my wife is not a shell
collector (only helps me collecting on the shore while I'm snorkeling) and
is scared to death about scuba diving. So, my vacations must be half & half,
like a pizza: half cheese, half pepperoni. Half of our vacations is "mine",
half is "hers". She always complains that the pizza always has more
pepperoni than cheese, but this is another story.

I will be also talking about interesting sightseeings since I think it would
be interesting to those who wish to visit Hawaii. At least I would like to
hear about someone else trip experiences, while planning my vacation trips.

We left Brazil on Thursday April 20th at 7:15 PM and arrived in Honolulu on
Friday at 2:30 PM, but our body was telling us not to be fooled 'cause it
was really 9:30 PM. Yeah, seven time zones! With our luggage in the hotel
room, we walked around Waikiki and Kuhio Beach and went back to the hotel to
sleep. We really deserved some rest.

Day 2: It was Saturday and since it was my wife's day we went to the flea
market in the Aloha Stadium. You will find tons of sellers all around the
stadium, but not too much really good things to see or to buy. Too much
cheap things being sold. For me, a waste of time and even my wife agreed
with it.

From there we went to Pearl Harbor and visited the USS Arizona. It is
impossible to hold your emotion while you look that wall full of names of
those young man who lost their lives there. I won't express what I think
about wars (all wars) 'cause this would open an endless discussion.

From Pearl Harbor we headed to the North shore: Waimea, Pipeline and Sunset,
world famous beaches. Don't expect to find those big waves you see in the
films if you are not in the winter. We were lucky: it was a windy day, the
waves were quite higher and the water was full of surfers. The Coltro
brothers said that shell collecting in Pupukea is good, but I didn't had
time to check.

We ended our day close to the Kaena Point, where I met my very first
Hawaiian shells. Please don't laugh, but just some Neritas, Littorinas,
Drupas and some other very low budget shells. BTW, unless you rent a "4
wheel drive", don't try to go off-road to the Kaena Point. If it is a sunny
day, you'll see a perfect sunset, but it was not the case in that day.

Day 3: A perfect day to wake up early and "climb" the Diamond Head. Every
book says "don't go without water, a flashlight and a binocular". We forgot
all these three items... and the only quite important was the flashlight,
since there are two very dark places in your way to the top. By the end of
the trail, be sure not to step in your own tongue, because you'll be very
tired... On the other hand the view in the top of the mountain is an
unforgettable prize. On the way down back to the parking lot, don't forget
to tease those who are going up, blaming themselves for the stupid decision
of climbing the Diamond Crater, and asking you how far are they from the top
of the mountain. ;-))

The fringe reef below the Diamond Head, right to the area were people surf,
seems to be good place for snorkeling and shell collecting, but I also
didn't have opportunity to check it.

From there we went to West coast, again stopping in several beaches and
almost reaching the Kaena Point on the other side. Before arriving the Kaena
Point, I made some real shelling. Don Barclay told me about a good shell
collecting area between Waianae and the power supply company. He said to
look for some black rocks, but I couldn't find them precisely, since almost
every rock in Hawaii is black.

Our first stop was the Waianae Beach Park, the best shell collecting place I
found in Oahu. When you arrive in the parking lot, go to your left, where
you'll find an almost desert beach. There, in your right there is a rock
where you will always find someone fishing. In the splashing zone you'll can
collect Littorinas, Drupas, chitons, Neritas and Cypraea caputserpentis and
it is a very good snorkeling site.

The waves can seem a little bit dangerous but they are just tricky. Enter
the water using the sand strip that you'll find in the right side. Wait the
best moment to get in and get out the water, since waves come in series. If
you choose the wrong moment it can be a real problem for you, since it is
shallow, with a rocky bottom full of urchins. You won't find rocks to turn,
but a reef bottom full of small holes made by urchins. Looking carefully,
you'll find tons of Cones, Thais, Drupas and many other species. There I
found a real big Conus leopardus. Again, be very careful when choosing the
right moment to leave the water and as soon as you reach the sand strip, get
out before the next wave.

I went also Makaha, where I found almost no shells . It is deeper, sandy and
full of surfers. A real deception for me.

Another good place was close to the Kaena Point. I went up to the end of the
road and turned back. From the road you will see several places with rocky
bottom. I can't tell precisely where I stopped, but you will find good
places to collect Conus, Drupas and Thais over the rocks and in the
crevices.

Back to the hotel to take a shower and then we went to the Ala Moana Center
for shopping. As you can see, there is always cheese in a pepperoni pizza
slice. ;-))

I'll stop the part 1 of this report for now, but I'll add some other
comments:

1) April and May is a good time to go to Hawaii, say all travel publications
about it. Good weather and "low" prices. In fact, the weather was good, but
nothing is really cheap in Hawaii. It was the most expensive place I've ever
been in the US. Maybe because it is ALWAYS full with half of the population
of Japan.

2) Do like Americans: don't be scrooge and rent a car. Without a car you
won't go anywhere. Maybe you prefer a big car, but I always reserve the
least expensive they offer. The tricky thing is that in 90% of the chances
they won't have the car you had reserved and they will give you a free
upgrade. Nice, huh!

3) Shelling is MUCH, MUCH BETTER than it is said in the Hawaiian Shell News
tips for shell collecting in the islands. I strongly suggest that you take a
look in or try to get a copy of the appendix of Ruth Fair's "Shell
Collectors Guide". There you will find an extensive list of the shell
collecting points around Oahu. Unfortunately I didn't know about it before
arriving in Oahu and bought my copy from Maldemer after my arrival.

4) Two months latter, I'm still cleaning and identifying shells from Samoa.
Up to now there are more than 10 kgs of shells and more than 110 different
species. There are some more shells to be cleaned and some hard ones to be
identified (and I count on your help). The shells from Hawaii are still in
the freezer waiting for cleaning. That is what I call a dream vacations!!!
:-)))))))))))


All the best,

Eduardo Moreira
Brasilia, Brazil