Molokai Off The Beaten Path Tips by BlueCollar

Go on a Mule Ride

Go on a mule ride. Our single reason for wanting to go to Moloka`i was to ride the mules down the switchbacks that lace the 2,200' (670m) high sea cliffs above the old leprosy settlement on the Kalaupapa peninsula. However, this isn't just any old mule ride! This ride takes you down a trail that switches back and forth across the face of the highest sea cliffs in the world! There are some parts of the trail where you have the cliff going straight up on one side of you and dropping straight down on the other. To make the experience more exhilarating, the mules tend to walk right on the edge. There was one part of the trail where, as I looked down the side of the mule, I was looking almost straight down towards the ocean some 1,500 feet (457m) below. The guides told us that if we were afraid of heights that we should just close our eyes and let the mule do the rest. After all, these mules travel this trail every day and know it by heart. When asked if any mule has ever fallen off, the guides reply with a discouraging 'No. Not YET'.

Once at Kalaupapa, you board a bus and tour the entire peninsula which is now a National Park. A man by the name of Richard Marks will be your guide for this portion of the tour. He's both a resident and sufferer of Hansen's Disease. Though cured now, he has no apparent lasting disfigurement. His frankness, witty comments, and wry humor make for a great time.

Here's my video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLLrbSBSk3I

For more details of the tour, go to the website linked below.

Website: http://www.muleride.com

Hālawa Valley Hike

Our guide, Lawrence Aki, also runs the Hālawa Valley Cooperative. This coop was formed to bring the variuos property owners in the valley under one group's administration and help protect the historical aspects contained there.

We met Lawrence at the bottom of the valley access road next to the prominent roofless stone building. It was there that he gave a presentation of the history of this valley.

He had pictures of the valley from 1909 taken from one of the overlooking cliffs that showed the entire valley being farmed in kalo (taro). This was odd because the valley is now overgrown with trees reaching 50 to 60 feet high. He said the cooperative is slowly reclaiming the land from the jungle.

He said that it was by the 1950’s when the majority of families had gone. Because kalo farming is hard work and you are growing food to merely exist, most had sought higher income and the better life that brings from working the ranches and sugarcane fields on the other side of the island. His family, too, left the valley behind when he was 9.

All along our hike we learned plenty about both the land and of our guide. We had described to us the purpose of various archaeological sites we passed and intently listened to stories of Lawrence’s youthful days living in this valley. We learned where he has traveled and of where he now lives. We heard of his trials and tribulations in dealing with the State in proclaiming rights to all the property in the valley (which they finally agreed to). We even got to hear him chant a few lines to his ancestors in his native tongue.

We found this hike to not only be educational, but interesting too. It was greatly appreciated.

Follow this link for my picture slide show, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A35iaxwZQE

Website: http://gomolokai.com/