That's how we celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary and it was spectacular! On the island of Moloka`i there is a peninsula on the north side that was created by a landslide and subsequent lava flow from a volcano (a crater now exists). Back in the early 1800s it was inhabited by a Native Hawaiians and a thriving fishing village. Also around the time of the early 1800s Leprosy began to spread. A person from Asia, either a visitor or a worker on the sugar plantations, brought with him the disease. Since the Native Hawaiians living here at the time were so isolated, they did not have immunity to such a disease, among others, which lead to a widespread breakout of the disease. Little was know about Leprosy at the time so the reaction was to segregate those who had the disease. It is a terribly sad story, one which you could look into if you like, but people were brought to this peninsula, the towns of Kalawao and Kalaupapa, on the north side of island. This land area is unique in that it can only be reached by plane, boat, or now a 2.5 mile trail leading from topside Moloka`i down to the peninsula (the trail did not exist back in the 1800s). This meant that people brought here would not be able to "escape." Long story short is that after years of struggle, by the 1940s there was medication that could be used for treatment, and forced segregation ended years later. Now, the area has been turned into a National Park and many people still live in Kalaupapa, about 15 patients remain, and visitors and locals alike can hike down the 2.5 mile trail, descending 1,700 foot sea cliffs, and tour the town of Kalaupapa.
The day started early, around 8am. We wanted to have plenty of time to make the hike down. One option for those who do not want to hike the 2.5 mile trail with 26 switchbacks is to take a mule ride. To me, this option sounded more terrifying than doing the hike itself, so after reading and talking with some friends, we opted for the hike, and I'm so glad we did! When I looked at pictures of the hiking trail online, it appeared to be very steep and have areas where it was a shear drop off. However, according to our tour guide in Kalaupapa, the trail is very over grown, so when one looks along the side of the trail you just see bushes and trees rather than a straight drop. Even still, we got some unbelievable views.
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| We parked at the mule barn. Here they are getting ready! |
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| At the trail head ready for the hike! |
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| Our first glimpse of Kalaupapa. |
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| Taking a rest on a bench built in to the cliff. |
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| Keeping my balance! |
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| We made it! |
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| Beautiful sea cliffs and untouched beach. |
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| The trail continued along the beach and took us through some forested area. |
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| Bridge over a dry stream. |
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| Looking back at the area where we came out of the trail. Yes, we really did hike down those cliffs! |
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| Judd Park, overlooking sea cliffs that reach up to 4.000 feet tall! |
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| Heading back up. The trail is just along the right side of this picture. |
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| Taking a little peak at the lighthouse. |
Out of curiosity we timed ourselves going up and down the trail. It took us about 1 hour 28 minutes going up, which included lots of stops for ooing and ahhing along the way. The way up only took us 1 hour and 3 minutes! We really got our cardio on!
It was only about 3pm when we finished and I really thought it would be more around 4pm, so we were pleasantly surprised that we had plenty of time for the evening ahead of us. We suspected that we would be tired from the hike, which we were, so we brought along some food and stopped at a store in Maunaloa for those last minute things, and made dinner at our condo. We had a relaxing evening on our lanai and enjoyed some delicious pasta and wine.
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| Welcome sign at our condo. |
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| Not too bad of a setting for some vino! |
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| The cook! |
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| The living room of the condo. Behind the couch is a murphy bed! |
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| The lawn at the resort. |
We certainly had a memorable anniversary. I still can't believe how lucky we are to live in this beautiful paradise and we are so fortunate to be able to get out and explore its beauty. We worked hard to get where we are, but we are always reminding ourselves of how lucky we truly are.
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