I first spot them as I rumble along the long gravel road. The soft, bristled flowers are like mini red fireworks dotting the forest. I’m in Mountain View, a small town about 15 miles east of Hilo, visiting a tucked-away property called the Lyons Estate. True to its name, Mountain View is known for its scenic […]
The 48th Annual Kona Coffee Cultural Festival toasts the roast with 10 days of coffee events from Friday, November 9 through Sunday, November 18. The Kona Coffee Cultural Festival is a unique and enriching experience that ensures the story of Kona coffee’s cultural heritage continues to be shared with residents and visitors. The cultural heritage
I glance at my hastily scribbled directions and drive back down the road I came from. I was told there’s a manapua man in Pearl City, Oʻahu, but without a proper address, all I can surmise is that he’s on the corner of Moanalua Road and Hoʻolauleʻa Street, under a bridge. After taking a few
It’s the only one of its kind. Across the street from Poipu Beach, the most popular beach on the south shore of Kauai, remnants of its ancient life emerge at the 13-acre Ke Kahua O Kaneiolouma (The Kaneiolouma Complex). Dating back to the mid-1400s, Kaneiolouma is one of the only remaining historic Hawaiian villages on
The band Kapena is already well known in Hawaii’s music scene. Started by Kelly “Kelly Boy” De Lima and Timo and Tiva Tatofi in 1985, the group’s harmonic vocals and Jawaiian (Jamaican-Hawaiian) jams rocketed them to stardom. Now, just over 30 years later, the group is still led by Kelly Boy, however, after the Tatofi
Never has the spiky, scarlet-studded flower of the ohia lehua been more on our minds—or social media feeds—lately. Unfortunately, a lot of that is due to growing awareness of the Rapid Ohia Death crisis, a fungal infection that has already killed hundreds of thousands of its trees, and could allegedly destroy 90 percent of the
In the era of modern hula, organized competitions such as the Merrie Monarch Festival have increasingly become the standard by which the reputation of halau hula (hula schools) are measured. After all, the spirit of competition is one that inherently encourages passion, unity and ingenuity. But 40 years after the first dancer graced its stage,
The sign on the post office calls it Kamuela, but the 8,500 people who live there call it Waimea. The Big Island town, nestled between the Kohala Mountains and the slopes of Mauna Kea, is easy to confuse with other places in Hawaii. Kauai’s fabled Waimea Canyon and Oahu’s equally legendary Waimea Bay, while nowhere
Up until a year ago, I didn’t know I had relatives buried at Kalaupapa, nor would I have guessed I’d be walking the Papaloa Cemetery on the Molokai peninsula looking for them. As my turboprop plane began its descent into Kalaupapa just a few hours ago, I couldn’t help but be stunned by the beauty
Cool trade winds drift in from the peaks of the Koolau mountains, rustling ridgeline trees in the rear of Palolo Valley. Roosters call and answer each other across the neighborhood. I can hear the faint whisper of rains, deep within Palolo, falling into its thick watershed forests. But other than that … quiet. It’s a
Every couple of months, designer and Hawaiian cultural practitioner Sig Zane walks into one of the lush, vast Hawaiian forests surrounding his Hilo hometown. Morning is his favorite time to go, he says, when the air is crisp and cool, and the flowers and plants of the forest have had a full evening gathering moisture.
This Memorial Day, an estimated 50,000 people from all over the globe gathered on the shores of Honolulu’s Ala Moana Beach Park and Magic Island to take part in a breathtakingly beautiful memorial event hosted by Shinnyo-en, an international Buddhist community. This year, family and friends released 7,000 lanterns bearing the names and memories of their lost loved ones into
