This series is drawn from my soon-to-be-released E-book Kaleidoscope of Travels: Making Connections in New Places.
The phrase “island life” evokes paradise with sun-drenched days, gentle waves, hammocks, and tropical fruit drinks with paper umbrellas. I can hear the steel drums now. I see flip-flops, sunglasses, and wide-brimmed hats. I smell that unique ocean breeze aroma alongside a whiff of sunscreen. Imagine a place where time ceases and responsibilities are quickly cast aside. Is there anyone who hasn’t at some point fantasized about a vacation on a tropical island?
Hawaii was our first tropical island experience. It lived up to the hype. We explored the island of Hawaii, or the Big Island as it’s called, to distinguish it from the state name. We landed on the west side of the Big Island and stayed in a condo near Kailua-Kona, a resort and vacation town. The Big Island's volcanoes, waterfalls, beaches, and diverse experiences reminded me of a real-life science fair. The island has four of the world’s five climate zones. The only zone that does not exist there is the Cold Continental Climate.
On one of our journeys, we stopped for a break at a roadside stand at a coffee plantation and macadamia farm. This farm had both crops. Samples of everything were available for tasting, and larger quantities were available for purchase. We examined coffee plants full of coffee beans and then drank samples of several coffee products.
On another afternoon, we opted for a helicopter ride to see the whole island better. We got close enough to see the lava glowing inside the national park crater. We saw many waterfalls that would have taken us weeks to visit by car alone. One of my favorite photographs of the entire trip was of a rainbow out one of the windows. It was low over the mountainous area. I was looking down at it.
After leaving the airport following our arrival, to our right was a large, rugged-looking outcropping of rock. It was lava rock and rough, porous-looking pumice. My crew and others were scrambling over the rock and wandering through the exposed arches and lava tubes. The pumice looked like a dark sponge, but it had very sharp features that scraped like glass if you brushed a shin against it as someone did. We had been traveling on this fantastic, diverse island for ten minutes and stumbled upon this alien, barren landscape. It was an apt reminder that volcanic forces formed this island. We were to see more of this formerly molten material between spots of lush tropical vegetation and other wonders.
We entered Volcanoes National Park a little before dusk one evening. The glow inside the Kilauea crater was most easily visible at nightfall when the glowing red lava below the rim shone for all to see. While waiting for darkness, we walked through lava tubes, avoided steam vents, and explored trails in the park. Fortunately, while we were there, the lava was not flowing. That made it harder to see while making it safer for us to be closer to the crater rim. The Mauna Loa Volcano was also not active then but has been the most recent source of eruptions. Both Kilauea and Mauna Loa have had significant eruptions since our visit.
We dedicated one day to exploring the island's interior and finding a few waterfalls. We
wandered and pulled off the main road to see Waipi’o Valley based on signs along the highway. There was an overlook with iconic ocean views against a forested mountain dropping straight into the sea. Another spur-of-the-moment stop was at a state park on the road. There was a beautiful old moss-covered bridge over a creek in an area dense with tropical plants. It reminded me of a fairy tale setting. We stopped at several other waterfalls as we wandered around the island, enjoying the splashing water with the exotic blooming tropical plants. The monstrous-sized banyan tree at one of the stops was as intriguing as the waterfall.
The beaches were spectacular. We visited a state park with a beautiful white sand beach just north of our condo. The water was amazingly clear at a depth of about six feet, and that depth extended for a long distance out into the ocean. Another day, we went to a black sand beach, where the girls rented snorkel gear, and I people-watched. The black sand was the product of wave-beaten lava.
Often, the best experiences are unplanned ones. My oldest daughter, Jana, had been reading the brochures in the room late in the evening, and she decided we should go to a place designated as Green Beach. That wasn’t on the radar, but much of this trip was unscripted. The trip to that beach took all day and was filled with unique experiences. The beach was called Green Beach because of a mineral in the sand that gave it an olive tint. It didn’t scream green; the shading was subtle.
There was a designated parking area three miles from this beach. The walk ahead was rugged, with many giant, washed-out potholes as deep as four and five feet. Finding a path around some of them was challenging.
The sea along the coast was visible and churning wildly against the shore. When we got to a small cove with the beach below, there was a tenuous-looking ladder to get down to the beach level. It was about two floors down, straight down. I decided to watch from a nearby picnic table as the girls descended. There were warning signs about not swimming beyond the sides of the cove protecting the beach so you wouldn’t be washed out to sea and lost forever. Jana found two sea turtles on one side of the cove and began calling her sister to see them. That experience made her day.
Meanwhile, I noted that a few vehicles were ferrying some groups out and back to parking. We walked out, but I was determined not to walk back. I arranged for us to ride back with one of the transport drivers for a minimal fee. The road was so rough that good vehicles were unused. Only old pickups and jeeps with raised suspensions could navigate the terrain.
Our driver was a native Hawaiian named Rodney. He had a banged-out jeep-like vehicle with
bars welded across the sides where the doors should have been. There was no roof or roll bar. Including the driver, four people were in the front seat, four were in the back, and two others were riding on a loose ice chest in the truck bed. We traveled around 10 miles per hour or slower, bouncing from one gouged-out hole to the next.
I was against the back door on the passenger side. At times, the jeep tilted so precariously that my face was inches from the bottom of a hole when I looked right. It reminded me of a thrill ride at the fair. This short journey was one of the best adventures of the trip. By the time we returned to the parking area, we were all friends, as happens in near-death experiences. Rodney was the ultimate cool dude and taught us how to make the Shaka hand sign that signals “Hang loose.” He took this to heart as he transported the tourists to and from the beach cove.
One of my favorite science geek experiences was our outing to Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano. More than halfway up the mountain, the visitor center was built on state land and managed by the University of Hawaii. The center is at 9,200 feet elevation. You must have reservations to continue up to the summit at over 13,800 feet. The road north from the visitor center consists of narrow, steep switchbacks. Four-wheel drive vehicles are strongly recommended. The number of cars allowed each evening is limited. We didn’t make a reservation far enough in advance.
It was cold at 9,200 feet in May and hard to breathe. I purchased a sweatshirt to wear over my T-shirt. The visitor center was an excellent location to watch the sunset. The height offered a unique view. The University provided an astronomy program and had large but portable telescopes for viewing Jupiter’s red spot and the rings of Saturn. That was a first for me. Now I want a telescope, but it probably won’t work as well here as it did there.
There are 13 permanent large telescopes at the top of the mountain. The proposed construction of another 30-meter telescope has been on hold since 2014 due to protests from native Hawaiians. The visitor center had materials and a video that explained the frustrations of the native people who viewed the summit of this mountain as sacred land. It is the site of burial grounds and shrines. Native Hawaiians believe it is home to the snow goddess, the rival of Pele, the goddess of fire, who also resides on the island. Unfortunately, the mountain’s height, which makes it sacred, is also one of the world's best locations for state-of-the-art research telescopes. The site has clear, dry air and almost no lighting around the area that would cause light pollution. There is hope that new management of the area with representation of Native Hawaiians will be able to find a path for the telescope’s later construction.
In his travel book Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life, William Finnegan said, “I was getting interested in self-transformation. I had come to learn, I figured, and not just a few things about some far-flung places and people. I wanted to learn new ways to be.” I knew we would see new things, but I didn’t realize how different this 50th state would be.
We purposely did not do any touristy luaus or Hawaiian dances, though I would have liked to have learned more about the authentic indigenous experience in the islands. Within a three to four-hour drive, the island offered an astronomy observatory; active volcanoes; waterfalls; white, black, and green sand beaches; sea turtles; tropical vegetation in riotous color; coffee plantations; leis made with plumeria blooms; macadamia plantations; windmills; and a radical ride with an islander named Rodney in a banged up jeep. That ride helped me learn to let go more often. Hawaii was a start to a new way to be.
Comments