Maui, like all Hawaiian islands, has several microclimates, depending on which side of the tallest volcano you are. So in this case, the north side is very rainy on average, while the valley and south side are very dry. So today, I went to the rainy side to experience the rain forest, and it’s many waterfalls. It has actually been unusually dry, even on this side, but the forest itself is still lush and verdant.
The guide who took us on this mostly easy 2.5 miles hike was very knowledgeable about local plans, as well as about secret trails and swimming holes. We started in a local orchard, where we tried some passion fruit (it’s very good, if a bit slimy), and it’s flower is very pretty.
We saw some of the apple bananas grown here (not sure why they are called that, maybe because of their size- they are very good).
This is the female part of the plant (the banana requires no pollination).
There is also a very impressive bamboo grove - just like everywhere else, bamboo tends to be invasive, but here, with all that rain, it invades with gusto!!!!
The trail took us through a forest of large tropical trees, with many flowers (see flowers at end of blog),
and a very cool hibiscus “tunnel”: this is just one single tree, with branches extending for at least 50 feet and creating a dense network.
This is the single main trunk that has created all of the branches. And here is one of its flowers:
The entire trail smells of wild ginger, which smells really good! And our guide taught us how to get a sip of nectar from it by sucking on the flower stem..
The main goal though was to go to several waterfalls, and enjoy the cool deep pools they form. We got to swim in several of them. The water was perfect.
As mentioned above, it has been very dry, so some of the falls were barely flowing, but that means that in the “twin falls” pool, it was possible to climb up what would be the second fall, and jump of the cliff (see top picture). I only went about half way (I’m old!) but a couple of the teenagers on our tour jumped from the high cliff (and said it was very scary!). The water temperature was perfect!
The pools have many little minnows in them, and you can get a free “fish pedicure,” where they come and eat all the dead skin. It tickles a lot!!! People pay a lot of money for that!!!
Along the trail, we saw the network of irrigation pipes and tunnels that divert the water from the mountain to the agricultural valley below. It was particularly critical when sugar cane was grown, because it requires a lot of water. That is one reason it stopped. Most of these are dry right now, and we could walk through the drainage tunnels.
The trail itself was mostly easy, with a couple of of very shallow water crossings (probably harder when it rains), and one short scramble.
I came back with plenty of time for a quick dip in the ocean, which had waves exactly the way I like them: high enough to dive in, but small enough to not be scary. It’s weird how uncrowded the beach is: there are quite a few people around the pools, but you get pools anywhere, you don’t get that beach! Well, to each it’s own…
Tomorrow, which is our last day, we were supposed to go to the top of Haleakala. But it is a national park, and thus closed. Fuck Trump!!!! I guess I”ll just have to spend the day at the beach….. there are worse fates…..We’ll just take a deep breath and enjoy the sunset….
