Alan Nelson's Daily Commentary for 14 September 1999

Northern coast, Big Island, Hawaii

This was a of day sights and hikes in lush green vegetation and beautiful coastlines. Here is a bit of both! Taken along a 4-mile "scenic drive" but this particular vista was unlabeled.

We were on our way to see Akaka Falls which we had heard was at the end of a short walk and worth seeing. Akaka Falls is 450 feet tall and indeed worth seeing.

What we didn't know was that Akaka Falls is surrounded by a small botanical garden with wonderful examples of the plants of the tropical rain forest. Here is an "epiphytic" vine that completely covers an old tree trunk. An "epiphytic" plant is one that grows on another organism without hurting its host. A vine growing on a tree is a pretty classic example. The vine gets better exposure to the sun and in theory the tree doesn't get hurt. However, when a vine gets this big and thick, it may be supplying some pretty serious competition for sunlight.

This basket weaver had set up in "his office" as he called it. It was a short ledge at the beginning of the walk to Akaka Falls--with a lovely ocean view! He is a delightful man who learned his craft from his grandfather. He never makes any baskets ahead of time. He cuts down palm fronds each morning and weaves them into baskets and sells them as people walk by. The baskets are beautiful but too big for my suitcases. He did make little fish as decorations for his baskets. I asked him to make a fish for me. It took him less than a minute to complete the fish. He wouldn't take any payment, saying it would be better as a gift. He was absolutely right. I prize that silly little fish much more as a gift than I would have as a product. Especially since we had watched him weave and conversed with him about his life and craft for over half an hour. He had been punished as a child for speaking Hawaiian. He was supposed to "improve" himself by speaking English. Fortunately, he remembered his Hawaiian anyway and has subsequently added Japanese and German. He regards his career as maintaining a Hawaiian tradition. I feel fortunate to have crossed paths with him.

We were then off to Waipio Valley. This road is advertised as a 25% slope. That might be overstating for some of the road, but for other parts it sounds about right! Our memories of this stretch of road, especially on the way back up, were that the telephone wires just don't convey how steep this road is.

But the payoff was worth it. A beautiful black-sand beach, lush green cliffs with a waterfall, and great waves for body-surfing. We spent a couple hours enjoying this idyllic spot, leaving only when we thought that sunset would beat us up the hillside on the way back to our hotel.

Alan Nelson