EcoDesi in Hawaii Part I

Aloha, EcoDesi here, having just returned from Hawaii.  Yes, we returned from Hawaii yesterday where I enjoyed a much needed vacation with hubby.   Returning was hard to do but had to be done and I find that the best way to beat the winter chill at this point is to remember the islands and share some of our adventures with you one island at a time.  So starting at the beginning, the first island we visited was Oahu, next we went to Maui and last but not least we finished our stay in the lap of luxury at the St. Regis in Kauai.

While in Oahu we stayed on Waikiki beach in a small boutique hotel.  The balcony of our 2^nd floor hotel
room looked out over a little courtyard where we had breakfast every morning.  The courtyard was full of hibiscus plants, bougainvillea, and palm trees.   Right next to the hotel were residences whose backyards I couldn’t help peek into and got a sense of what it’s like to live in Hawaii.  It seemed heavenly.  Every morning as I looked out from the balcony I would see kayakers row by on the Ala Wai drainage canal, while the warm sun warmed me and the birds chirped all around me. 

While enjoying the natural beauty of such a beautiful place I made sure that the EcoDesi mantra was upheld.  So how did I do that?  Well the car we rented to tour the island was a hybrid. More specifically a Toyota Prius.  When we first picked it up at the airport it took a little figuring out but we were able to get it to start and drive it to the hotel.  It was the first time either one of us had been in a Prius and what we discovered is that it was so quiet that at first we couldn’t even tell if it was on or not.  The thing about hybrids is that they don’t have that traditional car sound.  In fact, all you hear is a very low hum.  So we drove it to the hotel and while giving it to the valet at the hotel we made sure he knew how to drive one.  He assured us he did.  Turns out that when the Nissan leaf came out (an electric car); Hawaii had the highest number of preorders per capita compared to the mainland.  I guess when you‘re around natural beauty you’re more inclined to take steps to preserve it.

By the end of our stay we had driven the car a total of 300 km and only used up ¼ of the gas tank.  It turns out this car’s fuel  consumption is a fifth of hubby’s BMW at home.  And when we filled up the gas tank before returning the car it only cost us $15.  So again we did something good for the earth and saved some money.  The next time I have to rent a car I’m going to definitely ask for a hybrid. 

To be fair I have to list some of the cons because nothing is perfect.  So here are the two that hubby and I came up with but in my opinion they are so minor that they wouldn’t make me reconsider this car as my next purchase.  So here they are:

1. While driving the car up an incline you will need to give the car a bit more gas
2. The rear wind shield is not just one pane of glass but two panes of glass divided by a bar of some sort which takes a little getting used to 

So all in all the EcoDesi hybrid experiment was a success and I would highly recommend everyone out there to give this car a spin.  It is seriously worth checking out.

Until next time.  Mahalo and Aloha.