Sightseeing: Mauna Loa mac nut farm

Last but not least, we stopped at the Mauna Loa mac nut farm on the way back to Hilo. There are 2500 acres planted with 250,000 trees which produce 35 million nuts/year. It takes 12 years for a tree to mature to the point of producing nuts. They are harvested after falling to the ground between March and August.

A hard nut to crack: it takes 400 lbs psi to break the shell.

Recently purchased by Hershey Chocolate Company, one new product is a mac nut Hershey kiss. Not available on the mainland, they are often sold out at the visitor center store. Sadly, today they were sold out so we had to console ourselves with mac nut and coconut ice cream (my choice) or mac nut and chocolate. Delicious!

This is the end of day's tour.  Huge thanks to Dave for his generosity, time and knowledge.  We had a great time.