.jpg)
For those interested in eco-tourism, but who have no interest in staying in a yurt, riding a bike for miles or living on wheat gluten and lentils, there are ways to have a positive environmental impact during a Hawaii vacation without having to abide a monastic asceticism suited only to the most devoted earth warriors. There are many community groups that conduct cleanups in different parts of the islands. KAUPA is just such a non-profit group. The Kalihi Ahupua’a Ulo Pono Ahahui is dedicated to restoring the Kalihi Stream to its rightful and vital condition.
Kalihi Stream is a true urban oasis, a verdant swath that runs from the depths of Kalihi Valley through downtown Honolulu to the ocean. Due to residential and commercial development over a period of over 100 years, the area has been degraded by pollution and invasive species. The problems Kalihi Stream faces range from simple litter to industrial waste. On the second Saturday of each month, KAUPA conducts a stream cleanup that seeks to remove litter, eradicate invasive species, make walking path improvements and reintroduce native plant species that once characterized the natural environment around Kalihi Stream.
In its two years of service to the community, KAUPA has removed many tons of solid waste, things like plastic bags, cigarette butts and engine blocks. Tons of green-waste, items ranging from carelessly chucked yard clippings to great bundles of invasive California grass. Native species have regained a foothold along KAUPA’s area of stewardship, with several varieties of staple food plants now being lovingly tended.
All of this work has been done by an army of volunteers who have thus far donated thousands of hours to efforts to clean up Kalihi Stream. KAUPA Executive Director Barbara Natale reports that many of those hours have been donated by visitors to the islands with an interest in helping mitigate environmental problems in the places they visit. These aren’t people who drive hybrid cars and live “off-grid,” they’re simply people who care enough about the condition of the planet to get dirty trying clean it up. Groups from Oahu schools, the University of Hawaii, and dozens of other institutions and organizations have participated.
There’s nothing quite like working up a sweat for a truly good cause. The cleanup of Kalihi Stream has important cultural impact by educating people about the original condition of the stream, and how it was a crucial resource for native Hawaiians who lived in the area.
Recently awarded a new grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, KAUPA is poised to step up its efforts and increase to positive impact it has clearly already had along Kalihi Stream.
For more information go to kaupa4kalihi.org.
Posted by: Jamie Winpenny
On Twitter: @doolinjamie
Follow us on twitter
See our latest videos
Book your Hawaii vacation here
Follow us on Facebook
August 24th, 2009
When I packed for my first trip to Hawaii, I had no idea what shoes to bring. This is not just a girl thing, so guys don’t stop reading. I was going to a business conference, so I brought a pair of dress shoes and I figured sandals would be good for a warm climate. I bought a new pair because I didn’t really wear sandals in Colorado. I brought my flip flops (called "slippers" in Hawaii) for the beach. Every one of those decisions was wrong.
I wasn’t alone. I remember watching other conference participants slog along the Honolulu beach-walk from conference sessions in one hotel to another in closed-toe shoes. Flip flops were too casual for the meetings but dress shoes were inappropriate on the beach. After the first session, I gave up on dress shoes and wore sandals. That was a reasonable compromise for the meetings. But they were new and I walked a lot more than I thought I would at a conference. My first stop on the second day was at an ABC store for band-aids for blisters on both feet.
The weather was so perfect and the scenery so beautiful that I wanted to walk a lot, both around Honolulu and later on a bus around Oahu. But blisters, and inappropriate footwear, made that unpleasant. I wasn’t even hiking, just exploring the island on foot. Dress shoes were not good for walking long distances or on the beach. Same for the sandals, which were also too new to be comfortable. The flip flops might have worked but they had a closed toe that is very good for not stubbing your toe on rocks in Colorado. However, sand got stuck in the toe when I wore them on the beach making them uncomfortable and impossible to clean.
NOW this is what I would bring for any trip to Hawaii, whether business or pleasure: one pair of comfortable walking shoes that are really broken in. That’s it. They would work for most conferences — even business conferences are more casual in Hawaii than on the mainland. They are also essential for some attractions (such as visiting Pearl Harbor) that involve standing or walking. And they make it possible to experience an impromptu hike on one of Hawaii’s many enticing trails.
I would buy slippers for the beach after I got here, either a cheap pair to use and discard (sold at every convenience store) or a better pair to take home as a souvenir (I now have an expensive pair with arch support that I have worn pretty much every day for a year without a single blister.) After all, who knows slippers better than Hawaii?
(See Hawaii in One Bag)
Posted by Cindy Scheopner Follow me on Twitter @Scheopner
August 20th, 2009
More and more people are wearing tattoos these days, all over the world. The social stigma is far less than it’s been over the years, and “body art” has come to be admired in most circles.
In Hawaii, tattoos have a significance of their own.
Early explorers noted that both men and women wore tattoos in old Hawaii, and there was a variety of reasons. Some men were heavily tattooed on only one side of their bodies. One explorer noted that they looked like men half burned, or daubed with ink, from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet. Such tattoo treatments were commonly applied to warriors in the Marquesas as a disguise, and it is now thought that such tattooing may have set apart Hawaiian warriors as well.
Oral history tells of warriors defeated in battle who were taken prisoner, then beaten, then tattooed. As an added indignity, their eyelids were turned up and tattooed on the inside. Some outcasts born into the slave class were permanently marked with a curved line above the bridge of the nose, or a circular spot in the middle of the forehead, with curved lines like brackets on either side of the eyes.
It was Captain James Cook who introduced tattoos to the western world, and today “tattoo” is among a very few words to be used internationally that have a Polynesian origin. The word comes from the word “tatau” used in Tahiti, Tonga, and Samoa. In Hawai‘i the word became kakau. Hawaiian tattoo designs usually depicted squares, triangles, crescents and figures of personal gods, such as the lizard or shark.
After Western contact, tattoo designs evolved to include more fanciful shapes such as figures of birds, goats, fans or guns. When King Kamehameha died, many Hawaiians had “Kamehameha, 1819” tattooed on themselves to show their respect for the king.
Tattoo needles sometimes were made of beaks and claws of birds, but more often they were fashioned from the knife-like barbs on the sides of the tails of certain fish. Some bones were split to form double pointed needles. Still others were grooved from the base to the point of the barb with the dull upper end wrapped in fiber to hold ink in reserve. Ink for permanent tattoos was made of the burned soot of the kukui nut.
Historians think that anyone could have a tattoo, but often it was the ali`i (upper class) who were the most extensively adorned because skilled tattoo masters were expensive. Hula dancers, both men and women, were usually generously tattooed. Women often had tattoos on their fingers, hands, and wrists.
Today, there’s a resurgence of Hawaiian pride. Tattoos are becoming increasingly common in the islands. Tattooing is one of the few ancient art forms that are truly Polynesian.
Hawaii is loaded with tattoo parlors and artists. The better ones are pretty expensive.
If you’re interested, pick an agent from the Hawaii-Aloha Web site (hawaii-aloha.com, or call 1-800-843-8771. We’ll put you on the right track.
More links:
Follow us on twitter
See our latest videos
Book your Hawaii vacations here
May 8th, 2009
You’re aware that a whole lot of exotic movies have been shot in Hawaii, as is the TV series “Lost.” You might correctly assume the most exotic locations would be found on the island of Kauai with its amazing verdure, or the Big Island with its other-world-like terrain.
But imagine you were location scouting for the first “Jurassic Park” film, looking for dense rainforestation; broad, open valleys and rich, green cliff faces through which the producers’ fantastic prehistoric creatures could roam and scamper.
Well, they found exactly what they were looking for on the island of Oahu, less than an hour from Honolulu.
Kualoa Ranch is a 4,000-acre working cattle ranch, spread between steep mountain cliffs and the sea, on the northeastern side of the island. More than just a pretty place, it’s truly a great setting for outdoor recreation, accessible only by horseback, on an all-terrain vehicle or by hiking. And, far from being remote and unattended, it’s one of the ten most popular visitor attractions among all the islands. There are two major areas of the ranch. The northern half includes K`a`a`awa Valley, which contains many of the movie location sites, and the southern half that includes Hakipu`u Valley, the 800 year-old Moli’i fishpond, and Secret Island. If the ranch’s views look familiar, you may have seen them in other movies such as “Windtalkers,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Godzilla,” “Tears of the Sun” or “50 First Dates,” or in other TV shows such as “Hawaii Five-O” or “Magnum P.I.”
The ranch offers one- and two-hour horseback tours, on which riders take different trails beneath the cliffs and overlooking the ocean. Vistas of the famed "Chinaman’s Hat" island and ancient Hawaiian fishponds combine spectacular scenery with the old saying that there’s nothing as good for the inside of a person as the outside of a horse.
Or you may choose to take it all in by navigating an ATV through trails deep into the scenic valleys and to remote areas rarely visited by others. The ranch’s tours go out in all weather, through the dirt and crossing seasonal streams. One- and two- hour tours are available.
Kualoa is one of the most historically significant destinations on Oahu. In ancient times, it was considered sacred land. In 1850, Dr. Gerrit P. Judd purchased the land from King Kamehameha III and the property has remained in the family since. The current family owners strive to be model stewards of the ‘aina (land) by preserving and protecting it from development.
If you’d like to learn more, or to work a visit to this wonderful place into your vacation plans, pick an agent from the Hawaii-Aloha Web site home page, or call 1-800-843-8771.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
Related Links:
Discovering Kualoa Ranch Moli’li Fishpond
Indiana Jones 4 Filmed on Big Island
Ride a Horse on Your Hawaii Vacation
More links:
Follow us on twitter
See our latest videos
Book your Hawaii vacation here
February 27th, 2009
We get the question a lot: Is there really a lot of marijuana in Hawaii?
Well, yes and no. Marijuana is pretty accessible throughout Hawaii, which is considered a “national leader” among states in the production of high-grade marijuana. Homegrown marijuana, either harvested from sophisticated indoor grows or from outdoor grows, remains a staple for the local demand and for export to the mainland.
Medical marijuana certificates are distributed on the islands, where local users are permitted to grow plants at their residences for personal consumption. That’s actually the only way medical marijuana can be used legally. (Selling marijuana — even for approved medical use — is illegal under any circumstances.) Hawaii’s medical marijuana law allows certified patients to keep three mature plants, four young plants and an ounce of marijuana for each mature plant.
The availability of marijuana is perceived by our local population as normal. Small, mail-order marijuana operations from the islands to the mainland apparently exist and survive by shipping small quantities through air parcel providers. Marijuana may be shipped to the west coast in shipping containers marked “household goods,” as growers allegedly move to the mainland, although this has not been confirmed. While marijuana and crime are not related with great concern in the state, marijuana is frequently encountered in the public schools among students as young as sixth grade. A recent survey of high school students indicated that 70% of the respondents have easy access to marijuana.
Five states (California, Tennessee, Kentucky, Hawaii and Washington) had marijuana crops worth over $1 billion last year.
From time to time, controversy arises because local police bust people who are “distributing” marijuana to seemingly needy recipients. Earlier this month, a man was arrested because he was found in possession of more than the permitted number of marijuana plants and was allegedly selling marijuana for profit. The man, who holds a state-issued medical marijuana permit, was released, but the case will be referred to the county prosecutor’s office for possible prosecution on charges of commercial promotion of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and promotion of harmful drugs.
Back in November, seven men involved in a medical marijuana advocacy group were arrested on suspicion of running a drug-trafficking ring. The group admits selling or giving away marijuana to patients who might not otherwise be able to obtain it. Police have said they are not targeting patients who comply with the medical marijuana law.
You may have heard the term “Green Harvest.” About 30 years ago, an effort, both state- and federally-funded, targeted growers with the use of low-flying helicopters searching for marijuana. The choppers disrupted rural life and invaded the privacy of residents. Some claimed that the program did little to eradicate marijuana and even promoted the use of other, more dangerous drugs. Green Harvest is no longer funded.
If you’d like to know anything more about marijuana – medical or otherwise – don’t come to Hawaii-Aloha Travel. That’s about the extent of our knowledge, and interest.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
More links:
Follow us on twitter
See our latest videos
Book your Hawaii vacation here
February 25th, 2009
You may be familiar with Twitter. You may already be a Twitterer. Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (otherwise known as “tweets”), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.
In the relatively short time the service has existed, Twitter has exploded in popularity. Twitter users are connected through dozens of social networks and other online communities in more than 150 cities around the world.
Now, on Thursday, February 12, beginning at sunset, Twitterers in Hawaii will join all the others worldwide on the same night to raise money for a good cause. It’s a global party for global good, yet individually and distinctly local. (Of course, it will take place in different cities at different times, depending on time changes.)
It’s TWESTIVAL — a fantastic evening of fun, food and entertainment. Tickets are sold to TWESTIVAL events, but 100 percent of funds collected go to charity: water. The event itself — with food, drinks, and music — is possible only through the work of passionate volunteers, and through the support of sponsors who see the potential of “social media for social change.”
Honolulu’s TWESTIVAL will host at least 200 guests at Oceans 808 in Restaurant Row, on Ala Moana Boulevard between Waikiki and Downtown. The event’s going to feature great food and a lot of Hawaii’s top music performers. Surely, TWESTIVAL will draw people beyond Twitter and “the social web.”
And consider this: Honolulu’s will be the last TWESTIVAL on earth that night, meaning you can watch online along with thousands of other TWESTIVAL supporters as the day-long event draws to a close.
If you’re going to be in Honolulu on February 12, consider joining the fun in person. Give us a call at 1-800-843-8771, or pick an agent on our Web site . We’re one of the event’s sponsors and will tell you anything you need to know.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
Official Honolulu Twestival site
More links:
Follow us on twitter
See our latest videos
Book your Hawaii vacation here
February 3rd, 2009
It happens. The old standby gets accused of being trite, boring, no longer fashionable.
Compared to the other islands, Oahu is still holding its own, but now it seems to be cool to downgrade it. Waikiki is too “touristy.” Honolulu is a big city now, with the inevitable traffic, industrialization and loss of the Aloha Spirit.
Okay. Maui has been called “the world’s greatest island.” It has the amazing Haleakala, the charm of Hana, the history of Lahaina, the lure of the Iou Needle and the resorts of Kaanapali.
Kauai has an abundance of natural wonders and great resorts. The Big Island has its volcanic action, enormous variety and even greater resorts. Molokai and Lanai have their intimacy and peace.
They’re all terrific. But never shortchange Oahu. Oahu is a big island, too, stretching ‘way beyond Waikiki and Honolulu. And Waikiki and Honolulu embody most of the things you envision when you first consider Hawaii for a vacation.
Waikiki is where the action is. The entertainment is first-class. A lot of the acts have been at it for a quarter of a century; newer ones are laced with high tech and imagination. World-class performers appear in Waikiki or Honolulu regularly. The beaches in Waikiki are everything you’ve seen and read about. The shopping is top-drawer.
Honolulu is almost as historical as (and perhaps more interesting than) Boston or Philadelphia. Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial should not be missed if you’re going to come to Hawaii.
The outer areas — the North Shore, Windward Oahu, East Oahu and the emerging West Coast with its “Second City” of Kapolei are all worth your time.
Seasoned visitors to Hawaii would offer you a suggestion like this:
On your first visit, do Oahu. If you have time, then take in a neighbor island or two. On your next visit, do a day or two in Waikiki to see what’s new, then do the neighbor islands.
When you consider the entire picture, spending your entire vacation on a neighbor island can be restricting. Think of a smorgasbord and spending the entire evening at the salad bar. However much you might love salads, there’s a whole lot more for your table.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
Related blog posts:
Your Most Important Vacation Decision
Visit Honolulu’s Art District
Oahu Beach tourists don’t know about
For Non-touristy Hawaii Vacation ideas on Oahu, Look East
Related Video:
Planning a Multi-island Hawaii Vacation
Top Beaches of Hawaii
More links:
Follow us on twitter
See our latest videos
Book your Hawaii vacation here
February 2nd, 2009
Kailua is a bedroom community on the windward side of Oahu. It’s not touristy (although nearby Lanikai Beach is considered to be among the world’s best), and the residents go about life well insulated from the attractions of Waikiki and the clutter of Downtown Honolulu, which are "over the hill" from the Windward communities — a 40-minuute drive at rush hour.
Kailua is where President-elect Barack Obama is staying during his family’s Christmas vacation. Although his accommodations can hardly be considered "modest" (It’s a $7 million estate on the ocean), his vacationing lifestyle is notably ordinary. He has, indeed, been spending the bulk of his time with his family and visiting with old friends. Throughout his stay, Obama has kept his profile low, although he has moved freely though the community — visiting with his family the Sea Life Park attraction and stopping at a local shopping center for a little shave ice . He spent an hour or so with Marines at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Christmas night but he hasn’t held any public rallies or spoken to any groups. No public events of any kind are scheduled.
Mornings (except Christmas) he has worked out at the Marine Corps Base and gone golfing with friends from Punahou School and visiting from Chicago. He golfs at local Windward courses, eschewing the exclusive and the famous courses on the island such as Waialae or Ko Olina.
Local officials are gushing. Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann said, "I’ve been very pleased and couldn’t be happier that the president-elect chose to spend so much time in the Islands. This is a significant part of his upbringing, and it reaffirms his affection and his ties to this place."
And Governor Linda Lingle said, "Hawai’i residents are proud of President-elect Obama’s local roots and the higher profile his election has afforded our state. The president-elect faces many challenges in the coming weeks and months, and the people of Hawai’i are proud that the Islands can provide him with an environment in which he feels comfortable and at home as he prepares to take office."
Military personnel are particularly pleased with the president-elect’s demeanor and approachability.
During two earlier visits to Oahu this year, he didn’t have any public appearances that involved greeting service members, but this time Obama is connecting with them. On December. 21, his very first morning here, he left the gym at Marine Corps Base Hawaii and offered a salute to a couple of Marines in uniform standing nearby. He has returned to the base to work out almost every day since. Word spread quickly around the base that Obama shows up almost every day between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m. Secret Service agents in aloha shirts arrive early and start searching people in the area, then the crowd seems to grow with each passing minute. Inside the gym, people tend to respect Obama’s workouts, but they aren’t shy otherwise about asking for photos or trying to shake his hand.
On Christmas, Obama went to the hall where mostly single Marines and sailors had gathered for a meal of ham, turkey and mashed potatoes. "I just wanted to say ‘Hi,’" he said, moving among the tables. A lot of the marines and sailors stood to greet him as he thanked them for their military service. He then returned to the rented beachside compound for a Christmas meal of turkey and ham.
For the record, here’s a typical vacation-day wardrobe for the president-elect: sunglasses, a white shirt, khaki shorts, white and brown golf shoes, and a red baseball cap emblazoned with the City and County of Honolulu’s Ocean Safety logo.
Ho-hum. Just another mainland vacationer. As we say, "Ain’ no beeg t’ing."
|
Your Bloggers Side Bar:
President-elect Obama made a point of stopping for some shave ice at a local shopping center near his vacation residence. Shave ice is a year-round treat all local residents grow up with in the islands, and a treat they dearly miss when they’re away for any length of time.
The summer months, wherever you live, often bring stands that offer snowcones, snowballs, icies or some other form of crushed ice over which flavored syrups are poured. In most cases, the syrups drain quickly to the bottom of the conical container where they can be slurped up through a straw before the ice itself is attacked with a plastic or wooden spoon.
Hawaiian shave ice is a little different, and we who live here think they’re a lot better. With special ice shaving machines, ice blocks are shaved to a very fine consistency that results in a light and fluffy product. The syrups — there are countless exotic tropical fruit flavors and even root beer and bubblegum — are formulated specifically for shave ice. When they’re combined with the finely shaved ice they don’t drain to the bottom of the cup; they reman suspended. A scoop of vanilla ice cream (and optional Azuki beans, a Hawaiian tradition) may be added to the bottom of the cup before the shaved ice. It all blends when the shaved ice and syrup melts! Children especially go for rainbow shave ice, which is usually a combination of strawberry, orange and vanilla (blue), or three other colorful flavors.
Jim Winpenny
|
Related stories
Hawaii’s New Presidential Attractions
For non-touristy Hawaii Vacation Ideas on Ohau, Look East
Make Way, Hawaii Has arrived
Shave Ice - Fun Local Tradition
More links:
Follow us on twitter
See our latest videos
Book your Hawaii vacation here
December 30th, 2008
When you vacation in Hawaii, you will discover taste awakenings that will surprise and delight you. The water in these islands is a little cleaner and fresher tasting than you may be accustomed to. The fresh fruits and vegetables are somehow more toothsome and the greens are greener and crispier than they tend to be on the mainland.
At breakfast, during breaks and at meals, coffee is available just about everywhere. (There are, for instance, more than 50 Starbucks locations in the state.) But don’t take the coffee for granted by simply ordering a cup of coffee. If Kona coffee is offered, by all means order it. By name. You’re going to love it. (Starbucks offers a house blend that contains 10% Kona coffee. That’s not "Kona" coffee.)
In the early 19th century, Don Francisco de Paula Y Marin, a Spaniard and King Kamehameha’s "right hand man" planted coffee on the island of Oahu, and John Wilkinson, an English agriculturist, acquired coffee plants in Brazil that were also planted on that island. Reverend Samuel Ruggles, an American missionary, took cuttings from the Oahu coffee plants to Kona on the Big Island. These cuttings were of a strain of the variety Coffee Arabica that originated in the high plateaus of Ethiopia, and it remains the product that is cultivated in Kona today.
Hawaii is the only U.S. state in which coffee is grown commercially, and Kona coffee remains truly rare. While there are more than 600 coffee farms in Kona, most are just 2 to 3 acres in size, and they’re in an area that’s perfect for the purpose.
Kona’s coffee-growing belt mimics other coffee-growing origins in a way that the rest of Hawaii does not. Kona faces the setting sun. It rests on the western slopes of the of Hualalai and Mauna Loa volcanoes. Kona is sheltered by the mountains from the northeasterly trade winds that dominate the climate of the rest of the state. The Kona mountain rains fall from clouds borne on local sea breezes. The Kona district receives most of its rain in the summer. That replicates the seasons in most of the world’s coffee-growing lands. The clouds that bring the afternoon rains waft upslope, sheltering the coffee from the worst heat of the summer days. Coffee is cultivated only between the altitudes of 800 and 2500 feet. The main coffee belt is scarcely more than a mile wide,because of the steepness of the mountain slopes. Tricky stuff, yes? No wonder Kona coffee is so rare and so special!
Hawaii’s sundry stores, gift and souvenir shops, grocery and drug stores all are well stocked with Kona coffee, which has become one of the most popular gifts vacationers send and take back home for family and friends. (Yes, it will taste just as good in your own home coffee maker.)
But while you’re here, be sure to specify Kona coffee whenever you’re dining out. You may, in fact, find that the coffee maker in your Hawaii hotel room is re-stocked with Kona coffee every day. If that’s the case, lucky you.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
Related blogs:
Hawaii’s Big Island Beaches & Parks
Two extremes in Hawaii History
Related Video:
Kona Coffee Festival
Links:
Follow us on twitter
See our latest videos
Book your Hawaii vacation here
December 30th, 2008
When you visit Hawaii, you’ll have ample opportunities to learn how to hula. If you already have learned the traditional dance, this is a good time to be here and indulge your interest.
The annual Invitational Hula Festival was held November 6-8 at the Waikiki Shell. Hula artists from 16 countries have assembled to celebrate everything natural in Hawaiian culture: costume, language, music and dance. Performances, although judged by 21 of hula’s most prestigious keepers of the art, remains a continuous cultural education and spiritual discipline.
Then, on November 13-15, the17th the annual World International Waikiki Hula Conference took place which is a rare opportunity to come to Hawaii to learn, share and experience the hula firsthand, with a variety of respected hula masters, many of whom do not travel outside Hawaii to teach. This all will all take place again next year, so you can give it a try on your Hawaiian Vacation.
Hula, while unique to the Hawaiian Islands, is taught worldwide in schools called halau. Hula is a very complex art form, and there are many hand motions used to signify aspects of nature, such as the basic Hula and Coconut Tree motions, or the basic leg steps such as the Kaholo, Ka’o, and Ami. If you’d like to take up the dance – or at least investigate its intricacies – go to www.mele.com and click on Halau Hula Listings.
If you’d like to attend either of the foregoing events, pick an agent from our Web site or call 1-800-843-8771.
December 23rd, 2008
Previous Posts
