.: evil jungle prince :.

I took so many pictures in Hawaii that I barely know where to begin in terms of posting them, but my photos from the Kona coffee farms mom and I visited seem like a good starting point. Hawaiian coffee, the only commercial coffee crops raised in the United States, grows in rich volcanic soil and is raised in optimal growing conditions on the Kona Coast of the Big Island. Coffee trees lovingly raised in this exotic environment result in the best cup of coffee you've ever tasted.

Mom and I, completely without planning it, arrived in Kona during the few days in the year when the coffee trees were blooming. Imagine our surprise to see rows upon rows of coffee trees in full flower, their gardenia-like scent mixing in the air with the smell of coffee beans being roasted: it was really quite magical. I'll hold on to this special memory for a long time to come.

Here is a typical vantage point from a coffee farm, with rows of coffee trees planted on the slopes of the Kona Coast. It is the slightly higher altitude which allows the crops to flourish. Down below near the coast, the conditions are too dry. (But perfect for going to the beach.) This view is from Kona Joe's coffee farm, specifically.

Kona Joe's farm is unique among coffee farms because they trellise their coffee trees, in the style of a grape vine.

After the coffee blossoms open for only a few days, an additional six months is required for the coffee "cherry" to form. Each cherry ripens at a different pace, requiring continual picking and selecting of ripe cherries throughout the harvesting season. Inside are two kernels, with the exception of the "peaberry" which is an accidental fusion of two kernels together. These are sold as a super-premium novelty for those with money to burn.

Here you can see some of the cherries starting to develop, still in their early stages.

Mom and I also visited a historic coffee farm -- here is a "hoshidana" or coffee-bean drying roof. After being husked , the coffee beans were set out to dry in the sun. In bad weather, the roof rolls back and forth and protect the beans from rain and humidity.

Although coffee beans must still be dried in the sun using this method, roasting facilities today are modern. Here is a view of the modern equipment used at Kona Joe's.

At the historic coffee farm, volunteers demonstrate how the coffee farm laborers used sticks to bend the trees so that beans could be picked from their upper extremities. The stick itself is made from a felled coffee tree.

Here is an actual home of Japanese coffee laborers brought to Hawaii to harvest coffee beans, preserved now by the Kona Historical Society. They demonstrated types of activities which would have taken place in the home, such as creating clothing from rice sacks and roasting coffee beans in butter, in an iron frying pan.

Visiting a coffee farm in Kona was amazing enough but accidentally arriving just in time to see (and smell) the trees blooming was really a wonderful experience. I feel so fortunate to have experienced it once in my lifetime.