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Our Hawaii Adventure

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We spent a good part of Monday with Sev, our Oahu Nature Tours Guide. Sev told us that he was born in New York but grew up in France. He became interested in the natural world and graduated from the University of Hawaii with a degree in Geography, Geology and Geophysics. As we found out, Hawaii is a wonderful place to study such things.

We spent most of the day absorbing statistics and stories about the plant and animal life of Oahu. What follows are some of the more interesting facts:

We began by talking some more about Diamond Head. As you may recall, this mountain was so named because of the mixture of limestone and coral that fooled early explorers into thinking that they had found diamonds. Sev informed us that the mountain is 760 feet high and that the lighthouse, which was built in 1799, can be seen from as far as seventeen miles away.

We visited several beaches, beginning with Diamond Head Park. As there are no private beaches in Hawaii, surfers and divers come from all over the world to practice and compete. Diamond Head Park particularly attracts windsurfers. Other beaches that we were able to visit include:
-Hanauma Bay which is nestled in two overlapping craters and is famous for snorkeling.
-Halona Bay, otherwise known as the beach from –From Here To Eternity-. This bay is now a Protected Wildlife Sanctuary. We didn’t see any turtles, but since 1979 they have been coming to Halona Bay to safely feed on algae.
-Makapoo Point, which is separated from Halona Bay by an ocean expanse making it difficult for feral animals to reach. As a result, Makapoo Point has become a Bird Sanctuary.

Much of the “sand” and “dirt” in Hawaii is actually ancient lava. Sev taught us that there are two types of lava in Hawaii. The first is called ah ah. It cools slowly and tends to crumble. The second lava form is called paoweiwei. This is slow moving lava, resembling ooze. Paoweiwei, unlike ah ah, cools as it flows.

As you would expect, there are many species of plants on the island of Oahu. We were able to study several. We began by learning about the Hibiscus. It turns out that this beautiful flower is not native to Hawaii, at least not any of the ones we saw. True Hawaiian flora lives high up on the mountains. Disease and other imported predators wiped out much of the natural plant and animal population, so most of the beauty available to tourists today was actually shipped in from places such as Europe and South America.

The wili wili, however, is native to Hawaii, though it did become endangered in the 1800’s. During that time cattle roamed wild throughout the land, consuming most everything in sight. Some of the wili wili survived and the light wood was used to make surfboards and fish nets. The waimanalo, or “iron wood” is also a tree found on the beach. The “iron wood” tree is named for its dense trunk, which is able to repel salt.

Both the wili wili and the “iron wood” tree were interesting educational tools, but the beach nel paka is a flower with an ancient legend attached to it. If you look at it a certain way, the nel paka will appear to be only half of a flower with the other half found in the mountains. The legend states that this was due to one of Pele’s jealous rages. Pele is the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes and, like the deities on Mount Olympus, often became involved in human affairs. According to this story, when Pele could not seduce a beautiful young man away from his girlfriend, she started a lava flow. While fleeing, the young lovers became separated with the girl running toward the mountains and the boy to the beach. The flowers are said to mark the place where they lay.

Pele is also credited with forming the Hawaiian Islands. According to legend, this was not an easy task. Every time she would create one land, her sister Yaka, goddess of water and the ocean, would chase her, trying to extinguish Pele’s flame. The actual originators of the island of Oahu are two shield volcanoes. Oahu is not alone in this beginning. All of the Hawaiian Islands can trace their genesis to volcanic activity.

Other plants that we saw on our Tour included the plumeria and the tea plant. The plumeria is a popular Hawaiian flower but the tea plant is the one used in religious life. It is planted both to ward off evil spirits and to warn the islanders that the area is taboo and that they should not enter. This plant was not far from an ancient Hawaiian temple or “Heiau”. Legend has it that a race of tiny people with super human strength constructed these heiaus, but the more likely reality is that the Tahitians forced the ancient Hawaiians to build them at night after working on their farms by daylight.

Another plant with a spiritual connection is the taro root. From the taro root, poi is made and it is believed that out of taro comes a connection with the ancestors. From the taro leaf cooked in tea leaves, comes a kind of Hawaiian spinach that Ken tried at our luau feast. However, eating the taro leaf without cooking it can prove toxic, so it is not recommended. Three other trees used by ancient Hawaiians include the breadfruit, the candlenut and the no ne. The no ne is used for medicinal teas and the starchy breadfruit is used in cooking, but the candlenut tree has many uses. This tree’s fruit can be made into a cream to treat sunburn, an appropriate use as the candlenut is the state tree of sunny Hawaii. True to its name, the fruit of the candlenut tree can also be formed into oil for candles. Two other uses are to eat the fruit for a laxative and to polish the outer shells of the fruit and string them together for shiny black necklaces. Two other common trees are not native to Hawaii. The monkey pod tree is used as shade for the region’s grass, while the banion tree has interesting roots. These roots look like long strands hanging off of banion branches. They grow from the top of the tree to the bottom and only upon reaching under the ground do they begin to spread out horizontally.

We saw much fruit in Hawaii. Stephanie’s orders of Sprite often came with cherries in them and Ken’s Diet Cokes were accompanied by slices of pineapple. Pineapple, it turns out, is similar to the Hibiscus in that it is not native to Hawaii either. Along with the mango, the papaya, coffee and macadamia nuts, pineapple was introduced to the islands in the 1800’s by Count Francisco Don Marin, the “Father of Hawaiian Agriculture”.

In addition to studying the plants of Hawaii, Ken and Stephanie also got a chance to learn about some of Oahu’s birds. We never did see the honeycreeper or the Pacific golden plover, but they both have interesting stories. The former is part of 150 species that evolved from one or two finch like birds. The latter spends April through August on the Hawaiian Islands before migrating to Alaska. Though the honeycreeper and the plover were shy, we did get to visit the Endangered Bird Preservation Sanctuary at Enchanted Lake. This area is located in the heart of the bedroom community of Kaelepulu, where homes go for more than the average price of $350,000. The Enchanted Lake has some connection to the ocean and is about 2% salt water as a result. Some of the birds making their homes on the Lake include the stilt (who really do look like they are on stilts), the more hen and the heron, but non-endangered species like the goose also nest there.

Two other places that Sev showed us include the Homestead Lands and the Pali Lookout, both with stories of the Hawaiian monarchy attached to them. The Homestead Lands originally belonged to all of the people. They worked in the communal system, sharing everything. When the missionaries arrived in the 1820’s, they advised the monarchy to adopt the Western idea of privatization. As a result, while some of the land remained under governmental control, parcels of it were sold to wealthy foreigners. These foreigners became successful sugar cane plantation owners, an occupation that made them even more money. Eventually however, they grew to resent the high tariffs that they were paying to the United States and supported the overthrow of the monarchy. On January 17, 1893, the reigning Queen of Hawaii was forced to surrender to the Marines threatening to destroy her city. Three years after that, Hawaii was annexed by President McKinley and the sugar cane planters didn’t have to pay their tariffs anymore. It wasn’t until 1920, however, that the land was given back to the Hawaiian people. Sev told us that the lists of people claiming land are long and that there are still some today that are waiting to take possession.

The Pali Lookout was the last place on our tour, and the most exciting. “Pali” means cliff, in Hawaiian and a cliff it was. The most famous of the Hawaiian monarchs, King Kahmehameha, he with the 21 wives and countless children, turned out to be a fierce warrior. In 1795 he forced 200 enemies over the cliff, a move that both ended the battle of Nuuanuu and united all of the Hawaiian Islands. The interesting thing about this cliff is that it is windy…very windy. Think of the scene in –Mary Poppins- where all of the prospective nannies are blown away from the Banks’ house or any time in –The Flying Nun- where Sally Field’s character begins to lift off, and you have the idea. Our tour group stood in a line to experience the full force of the blasts. We did manage to stay on our feet, but just barely. If you ever visit Oahu, the Pali Lookout is one place that needs to be on your “must visit” list. We promise that you will enjoy it.

Sev told us that lifeguards and surfers tried to build a 90 foot canoe and sail to Tahiti and back with no instruments. They accomplished this in 1976 with the assistance of a canoe builder from Tahiti.

Pictures from July 21, 2003