Note: From all 13 clime zones on the Glob, in Hawaii you will find 10. Therefore, it is not surprisingly to find the oddest combination of natural phenomena.
We went to Big Island, how is called the largest island of the Hawaiian archipelago, with the wild goal of playing in the snow. Yes, snow! Even if we were a bit over the tropics, I wanted one thing, and one thing only: to go up on Mauna Kea, the highest mountain in the world (10,203m) – height measured from the floor of the Pacific Ocean (from see level has only 4,207m).
We've got a monster Chevy Silverado truck, because it is allowed to drive up to the summit only in a 4x4 wheel drive. We passed the base of the mountain, actually a dormant volcano, therefore formed only from volcanic rock, which gives it an out of this world landscape. We stopped at the VisitorsCenter to get used with the altitude, and after an hour we started the trip to the summit, to the snow! It is amazing!! to sit in freezing cold, to get cold fingers instantly and to smile at the snowwoman (it had a hula grass skirt!)... On top, among the 11 astronomical observatories and hi-tech telescopes, we saw da boyz sliding through the snow on boogie boards (reminder that we are still in Hawaii!), but also snowboarding on last generation gear as they would do in the Alps. WOW! I was speechless.
The second day we dedicated it to the volcanoes. Another paradox, perfectly explicable from a scientific point of view: Mauna Loa (the long mountain) boils – on this mountain you find Kilauea, the most active volcano in the world, that flows (does not erupt!) lava continuously for 25 years, and next to it you find Mauna Kea (the white mountain) – volcano as well, but with snow on top well more than half of the year, every year. Over Kilauea we flew with a 4 seats airplane (oddly offer enough comfort), which took us over the lava rivers – small, because the volcano was taking a break that time, but we saw them!!! The pictures that I finally took represent just a second of my amazement when I did not know what to do first: stare, take a picture, or just faint of emotions. Excellent!
Going up on Kilauea, first you stop close to the top where steam gets out of the ground. The phenomenon gives you chills on any level, giving the fact that you sit on a ground that's boiling... Then you see the three craters one born from the other. On the summit you discover Hale‘mau’mau, the smallest crater, the house of Pele the goddess of lava and fire, fumigating gasses. It looks like the atomic "mushroom" and emanates sulfur in the air...
Next day we flew to Maui. As soon as we went on top of the clouds we saw a landscape I never imagined: on both tops of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, among the clouds, both crests had SNOW.
Unbelievable! On one side Mauna Loa is flowing lava, fire and boils, and a bit more up it freezes...
First was the joy of traveling to a place so far away, literary in the middle of the Pacific, and compared to Romania, exactly on the other side of the Globe, at a 12 hrs (behind) difference. Once I arrived in Hawaii I was nicely surprised to discover that this place doesn't seem to belong to US. It still has a personal note that many of the American cities lost, in the process of industrialization, the downtown Honolulu does not look at all like Wall Street, the villages have a typical specific, the roads have curves like ours have, and the volcanic landscape determined where people created their lives and settlements.
Regarding tourism segment, I was sad to realize that the city displays a mix of American '60s kitsch – with hotels built in the same style as ours were during Communism at the shore of the Black Sea, the stores are crowded like in any resort, the traffic it's outrageous, the buses are late...
Every time I was complaining that I do not understand why tourists are so charmed with the Hawaiian islands and that I don't see the fantastic of the tropical region, people explained to me that in order to find the tropical paradise, for long lost in Oahu (the island of Honolulu) due to industrialization, I would have to fly to the other islands.
Therefore, one day we went in search of the lost paradise, north of Oahu, in the island of Kauai. Early in the morning, when not even the sun was up, I met my friends and headed to the airport. Between the islands of Hawaii, for now, the best way to commute is still the air, in average a 30 minutes flight.
We checked our backpacks, tents, sleeping bags and boogie boards at the late Aloha Airlines, took off, got a round of guava juices, returned the empty cans, and landed - in exactly 37 minutes. As a comic note – our bags made it with the next flight to Kauai, half an hour later, but given the situation no one got upset because as soon as you land in the island life seems different… The waiting room of the Lihue (capital of the island) airport is outdoors, has palm trees planted around and mountains can be seen at the horizon.
The island has a circular shape, with mountains in the middle and especially at north – so you are forced to go around it, in order to see all beauties of this place.
DAY 1:
Riding on four wheels we went from the south-east of the island (where the airport is), towards west, and the first stop was Wai`mea beach. For a moment I didn't understand why all of us jumped happy from the car when we first saw the beach – though we just left the same ocean a few hours ago in Oahu?!?!... Soon I realized that we all longed for the silence brought by the sand, the sun and the sea... and this place is perfect. The currents of Wai`mea bring high waves to the shores, perfect for surfers, but not really attractive for the mass tourist. The beach is empty and the sand delicate, of a sunburned wheat straw yellow, where my steps seemed to be the first to step on it everywhere…
In the west of the island you'll find the Wai`mea Canyon – "the Great Canyon of the Pacific" as Mark Twain named it – and about whom experts say it looks exactly like the one in Arizona. The experience is amazing: the canyon is 11 km long, but going up you can stop at different altitudes to admire itsbeauty. You can see very well the layers of rock, colors of all shades of earth, as well as lush tropical vegetation and waterfalls. This is a place that attracts and rejects in the same time, that offers the calm you need and the nervousness of the wilderness, which gives you the possibility to stop as a suspended second in the Earth's history...
After a whole day of driving and pulling on a side of the road, of admiring fascinating views, and taking outrageous amounts of pictures, we finally headed to "the middle of nowhere" at the most western point of the island, where we planed to camp that night. The place turned out to be the Polihale beach park, which is actually an eeeempty beach somewhere at the end of the world. Because of the mountains in the north of the island that don't have modern communication ways, except the mountain trails, the road stops here. Surprisingly even, the last five miles of the road have no asphalt, but only dust and bumps, rarely known to the Western world... However, the experience seemed worthy because it took us to a beach that looks exactly how I imagine Vama Veche 30 years ago – away from the civilized world, where's no GSM or radio signal, where tropical plants grow up from the sand, where are no modern facilities (except maybe the beach toilets and showers), where tourists have to bring and cook their own food, to light up the fire... and where they can admire beautiful sunsets without disruption, and leave their spirit run free without borders.
From the beach you can see on the left, towards south-west the two almost inhabited islands at north of Kauai: Niihau(also called "the forbidden island" – a private island that belongs to a Hawaiian family who lives upon ancient Hawaiian traditions, and speaks integral the Hawaiian language) and Lehua(island used by the American government for scientific research). On the right, to the north-west you can see the mountains that form the Nā`Pali coast, who served as set for movies like JurassicPark and King Kong.
The night was extraordinary – clear sky, billions of stars like I haven't seen in a long while..., warm and nice. Go figure! while on the rest of the island was raining and thundering, on our side was perfect. Explanation: among all 15 climate zones on the Globe, in Hawaii you can find 10!!
DAY 2:
We headed to what became my favorite part of Kauai, the most spectacular possible place – te east and north of the island. That part of the island is considered the touristy side, but it also hosts a series of extraordinary natural attractions.
One of them is the Kilauea park and lighthouse, serving as natural refugee for indigenous birds. The north has some beautiful villages with hidden houses through tropical gardens, on large or narrow beaches, with palm trees and high or low waves… We passed little bridges, over rivers, through the water, along rise or corn fields, under the rainbow…
Then… the surprise of the day popped up when we were on our way to the north and wondered why in the world has that mountain a constant giant cloud on top of it (?!). What were more beautiful were the rivers and waterfalls that flew almost vertical on the slopes of the mountain, all the way to the base. First, I just thought it is a nice landscape of a top of a mountain hidden among clouds, but later on I realized it is the Wai`ale`ale mountain – the most rainiest point on the Globe (!) – an unusual phenomenon, but with a perfect scientific explanation: because of the Pacific ocean's currents movement, clouds are constantly gathered above this mountain, therefore it rains about 360 days/year.
Another stop on our way to the north was made at the wet Waikanaloa cave – where you can swim from one room to another, underground, and to the dry Maniniholo cave. Both look like some giant wholes under the mountains, where you can enter straight from the drive way, and surprise through the fact that they don't have stalactites or stalagmites as I would've expected to see in a cave, but just emptiness and the amazing power to sustain an entire mountain.
Close by you find the last beach of the north – Ke`e, excellent for snorkeling through the tropical fish population.
From here starts the wonderful Nā`Pali coast – literary the best place in Kauai. Unfortunately it is awfully long – 11 miles (one way), which require a special hiking permit, plus about three days of constant effort. It is hard from the start, because you have to climb through very large rocks. As soon as you pass this part the trail it becomes a walk in the park, for the next section. From time to time you pass through mud, because of the frequent rains. However, when you walk with the mountain to your left and the ocean to your right ... and you have high visibility over the curves the mountain makes in the ocean ahead ...it worth! The landscape is breath taking! This is also where I saw for the first time in my life Humpback whales!
We finished the day and the trip at the twin falls of Wai’lua – two falls formed from the same river which fall in the same pool.
Indeed, the trip to Kauai unraveled an irrefutable tropical paradise.
The locals call the island of Kauai "the garden island" and say this is the most beautiful in the archipelago. And because of this they strongly oppose the mass tourism – perhaps the old traditions, as well as the globalization made them understand that if they don't defend their own environment, this will die with the tourists' invasion on the island. Unfortunately, the authorities inaugurated a Superferry line between Oahu and Kauai in the summer of 2007. The outcome: it raised the number of tourists, it offered them the possibility of bringing their cars with them, it endangered the fragile ecosystem of the island, as well as the beauty of the lost tropical paradise.
Locals call Maui "the valley island". The Hawaii Tourism Authority considers it the main brand of advertising and the milking cow in any economic times. Tourists associate it with the idyllic place for honey moons. Yes! all the above statements are true. However, for me, Maui meant several times the perfect weekend getaway which made me say: "we went to Maui over the weekend and it was grrreat! I want to go back..."
Like any other students' trip, each time, we woke up before sunrise, grabbed the tents, blankets or sleeping bags (upon case), backpacks, and with our happy souls we headed to the airport or harbor (depending on which type of transportation was cheaper at the time). By ferry it takes three hours from Honolulu to Kahului, the capital of the island. By plane it takes 30 minutes. When we reached the destination, we always took the first trip to the rent-a-car company. Second was to the closest Wal-Mart (some sort of popular hypermarket) where as a tradition we always purchased the same 9$ barbecue, which ended up recycled at the end of each trip by a trashcan, along with charcoal and the rest of the food uneaten for other travelers. Only then we could start the trip...
The island has an approximate shape of number 8 leaned towards north-west, and attractions on all coasts. In the lower circle seats the Haleakala (3055m) crater of a dormant volcano for about 300 years. The mountain takes over 75% of the total surface of the island and displays some of the most variant scenery on each slope, from tropical forest to volcanic desert. When you go up (the main road comes from north), on sunny days you can see the rest of the island like you'd hold it in your hand, as well as the silhouettes of Molokai and Oahu. From the summit you can see as far as the snowy tops of BigIsland (Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa) piercing the sky. Up there the landscape is selenary, and when you look down into the crater you feel how unbelievable small we are, and how powerful Mother Nature is... The colors of the soil vary from yellow clay to brown bear to slag or lava rock black.
At the base, on the south-east, slides the Road to Hāna – a three hours road (one way!), where you drive constantly with the ocean on your left and the tropical forest on your right, where the curves turn along waterfalls and hallucinating tropical vegetation towards the end of the world, where the volcano dies in the ocean, soon after the hippie town of Hāna. Until there it is absolutely necessary to stop at Wai`anapanapa beach which amazes with its black volcanic sand, protected by the lush tropical forest.
On the south-west versant of Haleakala you can reach the Tedeski winery, where is produced the white pineapple Maui wine, and further down the lavender farm.
At the base of the crater, on the south-west, the road takes you to the small town of Kihei famous for its spectacular sunsets and the view over the whole western Maui coast, along with the shapes of the other islands, and the famous luxurious Grand Wailea resort.
My favorite side, due to its beauty, romanticism and amazing memories has to be the north-west side of Maui. The road goes up the coast and looks a bit like the Transfãgãrãşanul when the asphalt pierces the rocks. Out on the ocean you can see first Kaholawe island – natural reserve due to the aggressive war exploitation during the WW2 and later on to the land mining training underwent by the American military, who seriously deteriorated the quality of the soil; the Molokini atoll – heaven of colorful corrals and tropical fish; Lanai island – which in the past use to be the main domain for sugar cane and pineapple plantations; and the Molkai island - with its abrupt landscape (grace to the mountain that takes over all island's surface), used to be the place where leprosy victims were sent to die. Stories talk about the fact that when a family member got leprosy was immediately deposited on a boat, pushed into the ocean's waters, and then left to the waves... Many never made it to the island, and those who arrived definitely found their end there, due to lack of food, medicine or fresh water.
The coast leis along the Hawaiian marine `Au`au channel where Humpback whales swim down from Alaska to the South Pacific, every winter to bread and feed. This is where I had another dream come true – a mother whale was swimming under the waters, calm and hard to identify. But next to her, by the shores, the baby whale was jumping from the waves and breaching in its entire splendor. This phenomenon is so rare that in the past years I have never managed to see it. All my eye could catch was an end of a tail or a fin, far away in the deep ocean, and one evening, in Maui, next to some one hundred people, I stared for minutes, with a constant large smile on my face, as long as that new born agreed to play. Then they left. No picture was clear. Though, I bet we're all going to keep that memory with us for a very long time.
On the same coast, on Honoapiilani Highway, between mile markers 11 and 12 is Papalaua beach – my favorite camping place. It is right on the edge of the road (perfect for parking and keeping an eye on the car, even if it is not necessary), it is separated from the noise of the road through a row of trees, who also offer shade, and the soft sand replaces perfectly the absence of mattress in the tent. In the morning, the view lets you speechless, when in front of your eyes you discover the small island of Lanai with its short crests.
Lahainais my favorite town because here you meet the atmosphere of Vama Veche. Just relaaaax!... I like to call this place "Vama from the other end of the world", because it is exactly the way we like it – a small harbor, with nice terraces on docks, especially on Front St. among souvenirs shops and local art galleries, where every night tourists are walking hand in hand gazing at the romantic sunsets, the warm strip lights and the island typical music coming from restaurants' speakers.
Up from Lahaina, the road goes through Ka’anapali with its etalon hotel in regarding the display of local culture to tourists, and especially the educational activities that involve them in the Hawaiian history and traditions. Following the road to the north-east, tourists will see what actually gives the local name of the island – the famous sunny valleys, green due to so many waterfalls Maui has.
Therefore, the island addresses many types of tourists and tastes. That's why it is the pearl of the Hawaiian brand. It worth visiting for a weekend, a week, 10 day, or for months. It will always fascinate.
7:00am – my friend picks me up in a silver Volkswagen Golf and drives me to the cozy motel where we crashed for two nights. The motel was in a very shady area of LA, but it had clean sheets and clean towels, plus cable TV. All I needed for my first weekend break in the city.
9:00am – we leave the motel in our great exploration of the fabulous city.
9:30am – passed the McDonald’s pancakes breakfast and the ride out of the ugly part of LA, we drive on Wilshire Blvd. by the great UCLA. There’re banners everywhere with extraordinary students which make you think if all of them (the students) will make it in life or steer at the uncertainty like many of us.
9:40am – we’re already on Sunset Blvd. where all the starts should shine. That Saturday, they were all hiding in the shade of their imperious residences. Still, I appreciated the clean neighborhood streets, the freshly cut green high fences, and the last generation hi-tech surveillance systems.
10:00am – we drive through Beverly Hills 90210. No Brenda or Brandon; though, the same houses style on both sides of the road.
10:50am – parked the car and begin walking on Hollywood Blvd. The smile from my face starts fading after the first 50 steps. Disgust appears along with reading tens of celebrities’ names under the golden/gray stars encrusted in the tiles of the sidewalk. Hope starts dyeing in front of the mall. One more wince at the glance of the Hollywood sign from the hills. And then…, in front of the tourism information center of the mall…, my LA heaven for tourists hope goes into cerebral death, when the associate shows me a map of the city with no attractions – just shopping places…
11:50am – start walking on Rodeo Dr. 20min into the promenade I have to express my disgust for splashy, exorbitant fashion. The Coach store looks by far the most acceptable. The only thing that totally impressed me: the fact that in an intersection you can get green light on all four corners and pedestrians can cross the street in any direction, including diagonal!
1:00pm – Pasadena, CA – “The city that feels like a village” – nice southern Californian combined with Mexican atmosphere, finally nice shops, kind ppl, lovely rose mosaics, good food, and the heaven of parking meters! This is one of the highlights of California: the genial solution for one thing I was wondering for ages - when will authorities implement parking meter credit card payment methods?!!? And… YES! they have it in Pasadena, CA. I love this place!
3:00pm – Venice Beach, CA. For a long time now seagulls have not been in my life on the beach… therefore this one was a remarkable encounter. The area… gave me chills.
8:00pm – Long Beach, CA (this time). One stop for a walk and an Italian dinner in the harbor where you can see the greatness of the city lights.
If you had the privilege to be born and raised somewhere in the East of Europe, in a former Communist or recent developing country, it doesn’t mean you are stigmatized for live, that you cannot understand the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution, or that you cannot understand what democracy means for “privileged” Westerns; it means you’ve learned a lesson more important for your existence – how to defend yourself wherever your steps might take you in no matter what frame of thinking!
Flashback: After traveling, living, and studying in 15 countries, in less than 4 years, I ended up on a Saturday night, in Señor Frogs, in Honolulu. Finally! After several months of hard work I got the chance to taste life, as a young student, for a few hours, with my friends.
Fine! The club was full of tourists and a few students re-experiencing the Waikiki night fun. We loved the place, we knew some waiters there, plus we felt like regulars, and we knew the place very well. We’ve got the table, some rounds of free drinks from our acquaintances, and we started dancing. Not for the first time, my purse was laying in the middle of the table and my roommate’s on a chair. Even if I never had a bad incident in US, I kept an eye on them, just in case. “Bad” habits never die… One of my buddies was getting friendly with some drinks – so, I considered him an extra protection for our ‘assets’. We were dancing right next to the table and there were not too many people close to it.
The plot: Because my buddy refused to dance (he is my favorite dance partner) I started to make fun and introduced some girls to him, so they could keep him company. Then I left... At one point, I realized that my friendly buddy was not at the table, and that my purse was not there anymore. I concluded that he hided it just to make me worry. I didn’t stress. When he came back I ask him to drop the joke, ‘cause I needed my phone. Of course he denied. I laugh. I checked everybody, I asked again, and things started to get serious. I realized it might not be a joke after all. My purse was missing for 5-10minutes.
In action: I told my waiter friend from Peru that my purse is missing. He assured me he will tell his colleagues.I didn’t see anything happening. I grabbed a cell phone and started to call myself. It was ringing!I went to Security. They all said they will take care of the problem. Only that I realized that nobody moved a finger. They were all preoccupied like the club was on a ticking bomb and my purse was the last thing on their minds. I kept calling myself. It was ringing and then going to my voice mail. My phone was somewhere. So, my purse was somewhere, too. I finally got to the chief of security – Mexican guy. He listened to my story: “It’s a black small purse. I have my ID, my cell, some money, my house and car keys in.” Nothing irrecoverable, but I wanted them back. I kept hearing in my mind: “You don’t steal from me! I’m from Romania! We invented the whole concept!!!” The chief of security called the chief of waiters – another Mexican. He heard my story, too. Said that he will inform his men. Hope was that somebody would bring mypurse to Lost & Founds... But my phone is ringing!! He told me to send a message to my cell asking the person who took the purse to return it to Lost & Founds. Let’s do that, too! though… experience taught me is not the best idea… My phone was ringing!! I left them and I started to look around, on my own, under the tables and in garbage bins. It was a pretty funny image of this young lady, all fixed up, paying so much attention to the garbage in a club… and not even being drunk. Well…that was me, keep looking. At one point one of the handsome waiters saw what I was doing and approached me to make sure I am ok.
Here’s our conversation:
“Are you looking for something?”
“Yeah, my purse is missing, but my phone is still ringing!” (makes sense, isn’t it?!) I’ve got “the look” again, so I felt that I had to explain my logic: “My phone is in my purse and it is still ringing. You know? When you steal a cell phone…”
And here it is where he innocently said: “… I wouldn’t know…”
“Right! Well… I am from Europe and I know. When you steal a cell phone…, the first thing you do is to take the SIM card out. Or at least, you turn it off! Then when I would call it, it would go directly to the voice mail. Mine is ringing! That means the phone is still on, and it is somewhere!” I believe this is a perfectly Romanian logic…
So, I continued my search by looking into garbage bins, in Señor Frogs, in Honolulu… I went around the club, and when I finally looked into the bin next to the restroom… GOOOOOOLLLLDD! There itwas!!! My pretty black purse, purchased in Madrid, Spain, in the winter of 2006, was reigning over the empty beer bottles and plastic cups in that garbage bin! I was looking for my purse for over 20 minutes, and it was still on top of the pop like it was just dropped… Inside there were my car and house keys, my cell phone, and my ID. No money. Whatevah! I considered I’ve been buying drinks on my account for some other people all night long. After all, my friends and I were having free drinks that night, too.
Chief Ali’i Tour is not a very well advertised attraction. There are no brochures, no website, no ads in magazines or even guides. It has a good reputation especially among international tourists, only due to word-of-mouth. They say the tour is an authentic local experience and that it worth trying. Indeed, as soon as we got there – at the Macadamia Farm Outlet, up on Ka’a’awa, Oahu – we were nicely and warmly greeted in a truly Polynesian way, by young local men in malos that talk with a specific accent, and who invited us to a nice, free cup of Kona coffee, before the beginning of the tour.
This is a tour about the ancient Hawaiian culture, about the local agriculture, and about the modern preoccupations of the people that live and work there.
The white group (no joke!) embarked on a mini bus that use to be the star of “Jurassic Park” movie set and the driver turned up to be both the tour guide and the ‘chief’ of the “local village”. The bus ride started through the farms’ fields where he explained all fruits and vegetables that are traditionally planted in Hawai’i, answered all questions, and served some of the crops (macadamia nuts, star fruits, tangerines, guava, etc.). Next stop was at the “local village”. First, Chief Ali’i showed how locals used to make fire by using only two pieces of (same!) wood. Than, he demonstrated the multiple and total use of a coconut: the shredded body of the nut is used in alimentation, the juice and milk are drinkable, the husk helps starting fire, the nut can be decorated, and if the milk is left in the sun for a few days it transforms into coconut body oil. At the end, he performed a fire dance, and offered flowers (yellow hibiscus – the state flower of Hawai’i) to the ladies in the audience.
Next, the group was taken on a canoe on an ancient man made fishing pond where the tourists have the opportunity to see the Ko’olau mountains, the artificial island and the fields used as filming sets in different movies: “50 First Dates”, “Gilligan’s Island”, “Jurassic Park”, “E.R.”, “Lost”…
The tour ended with a last ride on the farm, some more fruit tasting, other stories, and Mahalo! (Thank you!). Everything was very intriguing because Chief Ali’i is able to give much agricultural and historical information, which seem accurate enough for an American tour. For tourists that come for the first time to the islands is a must – they get the chance to have an accelerate history/culture live class right on the spot at a reasonable price ($15/person).
Address: 49-227B Kamehameha Hwy. Ka’a’awa, HI 96744 Phone: 808-781-2474
Hours of Operation: Wed-Mon, 10:45 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Tour begins every hour. Tue, One tour only begins at 10:45 a.m.
What does an American when he shuts down a farm (so he can move it to South America)?
He makes it a MUSEUM !
… The word for pineapple in Hawaiian is “halakahiki” which means “foreign fruit”. The pineapple is not even an indigene fruit of these islands. It is believed that it first originated in Paraguay or Brazil, and that it was introduced in Hawai’i by a Spanish shipwreck in 1527. But in time, the pineapple became the expression of hospitality and today, one of the symbols of the ‘rainbow state’.
James Dole – the “Pineapple King” arrived in Hawai’i in 1899 with 1,000$ to invest in horticulture, bought land in Wahiawa, O’ahu and started to grow pineapple. He wasn’t the first to do this here, but he certainly was the most successful and influential man who ever did it. Soon after he started to mass produce, he came up with the idea of packing and sealing the pineapple in cans, so that it can be exported on the international market.
From 1900-1990 in O’ahu, Hawai’i, USA functioned the most important pineapple plantation in the world, and in Honolulu the most profitable cannery ever (now, they do business in over 90 countries).
Later, when Globalization had a more heavy word in this business, too, and Dole saw the opportunity of moving the production to cheaper places – first form O’ahu to Lana’i (converting it from a cactus-covered island with 150 people into the largest pineapple plantation in the world with 20,000 pineapple-producing acres and over 1,000 pineapple workers), then from Hawaii to Latin America (Colombia and Ecuador), where labor force is much more cheaper.
The properties shrunk to the official buildings and some little land which were transformed in a tourist attraction. The main building on Dole plantation is today, an expensive souvenir shop where tourists can buy logo items and delicious pineapple based sweets (especially the world-famous DoleWhip). The court yard is divided in the part dedicated to the independent fruit vendors, and the one dedicated to the Dole Maze, to the Plantation Garden, and to the Pineapple Express.
No 1 attraction of the Dole Plantation is the 2001 World Largest Maze (according to the Guinness Book of World Records) – about two acres with a path length of 1.7 miles of labyrinth! It is exciting when you think about it, but not so much when you actually get there… Unfortunately, the maze has no actual logic, or continuity, or organization; and this gave the owners the idea to invent a game, in order to keep attracting visitors, and to add value to their trip all the way to the middle of O’ahu. Well… you have to go through all bushes and find nine stations, then come back to the gate, and register your time. The record now is 6min (~ that person cheated for sure!). Fee: 3$
No 2 attraction is Pineapple Express – a two-mile, 20 minutes train ride on the fields. The good part of this short trip is that you get the chance to hear the history of the pineapple, of the agriculture in Hawai’i, of James Dole and his business. The bad/booooring part is that the train goes around some fields with plants in different stages of their cycle and abandoned tools once used for agriculture – nothing spectacular! More than that you have to pay a 7$ fee… it doesn’t seem a good deal for me…
No 3 attraction is the Plantation Garden – where tourists can learn, with the help of an audio guide (!!), about different native and traditional plants from Hawai’i (pineapple, bananas, coffee, cacao, mango, papaya, etc.). Fee: 4$.
Admirable is the fact that they’ve got innovative. The idea works, attracts tourists from all over the world, and it is enough for one time visits to reach profit. For tourists this is an opportunity to go deep into the island of O’ahu and get to know this beautiful area, too. It worth even if is not as spectacular as the rest of the places.
How to get there?
By TheBus: From Ala Moana Shopping Center take the bus 52 “Wahiawa-Circle Island” and get off at Dole Plantation. The bus ride takes 1-2 hours. Fare: $2 (ask for transfer to save money!) By car: From Waikiki, take H1 West to H2 North. Continue to Kamehameha Highway (99). It takes approximately a 40 minute drive from Waikiki.
Dole Plantation is located at 64-1550 Kamehameha Highway, Wahiawa, island of O'ahu, Hawai'i, USA. Phone: (808) 621-8408. Web: www.dole-plantation.com Hours: Daily, weather permitting: 9:00am–5:00pm; Summer months: 9:00am–5:30pm. Closed: Christmas Day.
The Hanauma Bay lies on the southeast shore of O’ahu, on an old crater which formed tens of thousand of years ago, through a volcanic eruption. In time, the waves and wind erosion forced one wall of the crated to fall and the crater was invaded by the ocean’s water. The current bay formed on top of the cooled lava, and today, at 10 mile from Honolulu, Hanauma is housing various types of marine life.
Formed from two Hawaiians words hana whichmeans “bay”, and uma which means “curved”, Hanauma Bay attracts some 1 million visitors per year. They come there for the clear waters, for the large variety of tropical fish, for the beauty of the reef, and for the opportunity of encountering a sea turtle.
According to the official website of the city of Honolulu, the first time when Hanauma came into the public eye was in 1918, when a magazine presented the bay as an indicated place to stop for people traveling in those parts of the island. In 1929, the City and County of Honolulu start the long management of the area, after it bought it for one dollar from the Bernice Pauahi Bishop.
Through the years the management took some good and bad decisions which affected the bay indefinitely. In the 1950s the Hawaiian Telephone Company who was in charge of installing the trans-Pacific undersea telephone cable, blasted a wide swath through the reef, destroying the central portion forever. Unfortunately this was not seen as an ecological disaster at the time, but as a sacrifice for progress. In the 1960s Hanauma declared a Marine Life Conservation District. Fishing and any removal of any coral, rock, or sand was prohibited. In 1970s surfing activity was stopped in the bay. And the place became tourist oriented. In the 1980s the management enlarged the parking lot, thus the number of visitors reached 10,000/day. Those visitors, in order to make their activities in the bay more exciting started to feed the fish bread, peas, and snack. This attracted more and more fish into the area – fish that normally wouldn’t live there, that would endanger other species existence. The beach and water became overcrowded, because the commercial tours were monopolizing the area. The bay was suffocating.
Today, the bay is managed by the City and County of Honolulu on the part of Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve lying above the high tide line, and the State of Hawaii Dept. of Land and Natural Resources manages the underwater portion. And what they decided, after realizing the imminent danger of loosing one valuable natural resource, was to rebuild the ecosystem and to minimize the human impact for the future.
What we have learned so far:
Hanauma Bay is a natural preserved park, with spectacular natural resources.
Since 1929 it has been managed by the City and County of Honolulu.
During the 1980s the bay was heavily abuse by tourists and commercial operators’ supra exploitation – the number of visitors reached 3 millions/year.
In the 1990s the authorities started the environmental restoration of the bay.
From 1999 to 2002 Hanauma Bay was closed down for public, in order to leave the reef to come back to life in a natural way.
Today, the management takes serious measures towards protecting the natural habitat of the marine life in the bay: reduction of visitors number – every Tuesdays visitors access is closed, educational programs and one mandatory video which are teaching the tourists conservation, supportive restrictions – most commercial activities are banned, protection and preservation of the bay, tourists safety warnings, and volunteers who can attend in any moment to visitors.
Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is about 10 miles east of Waikiki just off the main coastal road (Kalaniana'ole Highway, Route 72, Hawaii, USA)
The park is closed on Tuesdays. Every second Saturday of the month tourists have the chance to snorkel at night.
We went to Big Island, how is called the largest island of the Hawaiian archipelago, with the wild goal of playing in the snow. Yes, snow! Even if we were a bit over the tropics, I wanted one thing, and one thing only: to go up on Mauna Kea, the highest mountain in the world (10,203m) – height measured from the floor of the 
allowed to drive up to the summit only in a 4x4 wheel drive. We passed the base of the mountain, actually a dormant volcano, therefore formed only from volcanic rock, which gives it an out of this world landscape. We stopped at the 
every year. Over 
Going up on 
to be born and raised somewhere in the East of Europe, in a former Communist or recent developing country, it doesn’t 
