In Search of Knowledge – The Chocolate Tour (and it’s good for you)

Even though it is a “wet” island, the sun usually shines some part of each day, making it a necessity to sample beaches every day. By this time, Louise’s car was off the road for brake repairs and I was cruising in the “Bad Boy” truck!




Louise and I were sharing transportation. After dropping her off at work in Lihue, I thought I would take advantage of a cultural experience and see the Hawaiian Quilt exhibit at the Kauai Museum. I couldn’t resist stopping in to say hello Keith, at the counter at the Lihue PO.


Unable to locate the “public access” at the Marriott Resort beach, I headed to Lydgate Park in Wailua for a swim. The Lydgate Beach is a keiki (children) friendly beach; there is a lovely swimming lagoon set off from the ocean by lava rock walls. It was a lovely day and my favorite little Brazilian Cardinals were hanging out with me. Aren’t they cute?




















I thought a chocolate tour sounded interesting. The Steelgrass Farm was so – called after a nickname for bamboo, a member of the grass family with mechanical strength that rivals metal. This 8-acre property was purchased in the 1990’s. Although the family has deep roots to the island, the farm was acquired rather than passed down through the generations. Clearing the land of invasive scrub was the first step. Although they found no evidence of earlier plantation-era sugar cane or pineapple, there was feral taro and artifacts unearthed in the stream lowlands that suggest that taro and rice may have been grown on the property in the first half of the century.

The farm, by and large, was replanted with seeds, cuttings, or seedlings. The plantings were guided by two principles. First, for practical reasons, the varieties needed to provide food, so the farm would be an edible landscape. Second, for spiritual reasons, the plantings would nourish a tranquil, meditative landscape, that in turn, would nourish the body.

The fruit tree selections were guided by their experience of what grows well in the eastern part of the island. Citrus, of course, including limes and Meyer lemons, juice oranges and two specialty varieties, a Moro Blood orange and a Key lime. Avocados, too, but as with citrus, they wanted to be careful not to over-plant and limited the avocados to three avocado varieties. Mango trees have the intriguing custom of fruiting irregularly, with some on-years and some off-years, a custom, which of course interacts with local growing conditions. There are also multiple banana patches.

Soursop, sometimes called custard apple, is astonishing fruit. It is a bizarre dark-green lobed and curling shape studded with spikes, has a truly sublime taste. (This is a pic from Linda’s yard on the west side) Soursop’s creamy-white flesh houses big shiny, slippery black seeds, which are great fun to spit out. Its taste is sweet lemon-lime vanilla custard, mixed with coconut, pineapple and a dash of strawberry.

Guava and passion fruit, two of the local favorite fruits, are also among Hawaii’s most aggressive alien invaders. Guava (with slightly-less-than-tennis-ball size yellow fruit) and strawberry guava (big-marble-size red fruit) multiply exponentially in tropical climates by virtue of the fact that their brightly colored fruits are highly visible, and therefore highly appealing, to local birds. Each contains hundreds of small seeds, which pass unaffected through the birds’ digestive tracts, after which their avian hosts conveniently distribute them everywhere in their droppings, each seed lovingly plopped on the ground in a fertilizer-rich package that virtually guarantees germination and the birth of yet another guava tree. Dozens of bamboo species were selected for their usefulness in building construction, crafts and furniture, and making musical instruments

Not long after the end of the Second World War, Kauai began losing its two monocrops: sugar and pineapple. Within the space of a generation, the colonial plantation model of intensive deliberate cultivation transformed the lowlands to near abandonment. The “green space” on this island is testament to the failure of plantation-style monocropping.

The mission of the Steelgrass Farm is to restore the agriculture to the island within the confines of current social and economic circumstances. They believe that part-time farming is the key. It becomes practical and economically viable for many smallholders to grow diversified crops. In fulfilling this vision, Steelgrass Farm has emerged as a teaching farm to educate their Kauai neighbors in the ”how to” of planting, tending, harvesting, and marketing the crops. Their specialty is limited to three crops: timber bamboo, vanilla, and the obroma cacao (the chocolate tree).














The chocolate tour is much more of a botanical tour. The chocolate trees are the highlight, however, the black bamboo and the Red Sealing Wax Palm were my favorites.












Hawaii is the only state where the chocolate tree grows. Cacao is recognized as a powerful health food and after learning about its antioxidant and other health benefit, a blind tasting of 10 varieties of dark chocolate before noon seemed perfectly okay!












The chocolate tour is designed to stimulate the senses. This includes a ten-course dark chocolate tasting, We sampled some of the world's rarest and most costly single-estate dark chocolate bars, from makers such as Scharffenberger, Guittard and Dagoba (USA), Valrhona (France), Felchlin (Switzerland), and Amedei (Italy).
As we tasted chocolate, we learned of the historical perspective: tracing the cacao discovery by the Meso-American tribes, to its “divine plant” status in the Mayan and Aztec cultures. In the 1600’s, chocolate was introduced in Europe, and lastly we met Milton Hershey, a local (Pennsylvania) inventor, who introduced the nickel Hershey bar in1905 and the Hershey’s kiss in 1907.


The farm itself is diversified, highlighting local musicians and offering B & B accommodations. The family’s vision for creating sustainable diversified agriculture on Kauai is a strong thread that is woven throughout the tour.













Shopping at the Lihue Farmers’ Market is an event – go early for the best selection! I tasted my first cold coconut.














Keailia Beach, in the ‘hood, was sun drenched this afternoon. The water was that perfect aquamarine blue! The words on the rock loosely translate - The Power of the Land.

Sleeping Giant looms over the coastal villages of Wailua and Waipouli. If you look inland while driving on the Kuhio Highway, you can see what appears to be the legendary giant Puni. As the story goes, he fell asleep after a great feast, his head toward Wailua and his feet Kapaa. Sleeping Giant rests on the 1241 ft NouNou Ridge.














Louise and I were up for another hiking challenge. The trail meanders through the forests of Norfolk pines, strawberry guava and then, as we climbing, through the hala trees. The climb to the top was well worth it.

The view of the valley is beautiful. I loved this bench! We sang a rendition of Aretha’s R-E-S-P-E-C-T.












Hiking is usually followed with a swim. This time we ventured to Anahola Beach. Tucked behind Kala Point, this narrow park has a shallow offshore reef that protects the sandy shoreline from the area’s high surf.



And the adventure continues…

Back in the Saddle Again!

Heal thyself became my mantra as the pain lessened and the bruises morphed through their colorful pattern of healing. I was a beach bum during my recovery testing the waters around the island.

A long fringe of reef protects Anini Beach. The water is pretty shallow and is some of the safest on the north shore. Camping is allowed with permits and there are some great sites tucked into the pines. I enjoyed the music of a live band at a nearby pavilion performing at a wedding. A camera malfunction prevented the capture of some great Kodak moments. (Neither the camera nor my body were at 100%)

I loved this story. Years ago the name used to be Wanini Beach, but the “W” on the sign was blasted away with an irate resident who felt it was a misspelling. Other residents assumed the gun-toting spell-checker was correcting a mistake and the new name stuck.

The following day included a stop at Costco for a new camera. This problem could easily be remedied!









Louise and I ventured south to Maha’ulepu Beach. Access to this beach is a rutted, dusty, gravel road. We settled in at the middle of the 3 sections: Kawailoa Bay. The adjacent camping sites were full and the music was booming! In addition, the water was beautiful. This was Memorial Day weekend.









To me the Lithified Cliffs are a geologist’s dream! The pounding surf has carved the rocks into some interesting shapes and into deep crevices. There are many blow holes in the lava rocks; some emitting mist, others not. All of them, however, are vocal to some and one in particular scared us silly. It was an amazing, guttural moaning that sounded life like!







How nice to find some sandstone on the shore – not quite like Jerusalem, but some of the color was right! The constant spray of the sea has caused the sandstone to erode into short extremely sharp and weirdly shaped pinnacles.













The strength of the ocean is, oh so, evident at this vantage point. The local fishermen often drop their lines here as they can see their catch before they cast.





This was one of the most beautiful vistas I saw on the island: a span of grass, rugged mountains in the background and beautiful aquamarine ocean. What more could anyone want?






We turned around at Ha’ula Beach; it certainly didn’t appear to be swimmer friendly; in fact it can be particularly hazardous for swimmers and is rarely visited except by horseback tours from a nearby stable.




There was still time to see Shipwreck Beach. The beach was named for an unidentified wooden shipwreck that is long gone. One of the beach scenes in 6 Days and 7 Nights was filmed here.









As in the movie, locals often jump from the cliff on the left, know as Makawehi Point. Due to the high winds, primarily surfers use the beach: boogie boarders, body or wind. Swimming can be difficult even in calm waters. The beach is adjacent to the Hyatt Resort: they use a system of colored flags to signal ocean conditions. There was lots of activity on the beach: a wedding and Louise posing as a mermaid!












The sun was setting and we thought one more stop would finish the day. Sunset at Poipu Beach. The crowds were waiting for the sun to set and we joined them!


















The weekend activities continued with an overnight excursion to the west side. We were headed to Koke’e State Park, which is at the summit of the Waimea Canyon. The park is more than 4500 acres of forest wilderness at an elevation of 3600-4000 ft above sea level. The rainforest, bogs, and breath taking views of the Na Pali Coast and the Canyon are the draw. Our first destination was the ‘Banana Poka RoundUp’: a daylong environmental education fair of mountain music, workshops, exhibits, and family activities.

It has become a “west side” tradition, with a more urgent message to save the Kanaloahuluhulu Meadow (where the event is held) from development. The core message of celebrating conservation efforts is heart and soul of the environmental agencies and organizations who participate in the event. Koke'e Natural History Museum, a sweet little museum adjacent to the meadow, provides interpretive programs and exhibitions about Kauai' s ecology, geology and climatology.

The festival is named for the resilient and spreading banana poka vines that sport candy-pink blossoms that threatens to crowd out native Hawaiian plants and trees of the upland forest. Banana poka is only one threat to Kauai’s native forests.

Basket makers happily spent the day learning to weave the pliable vines into vessels of functional form and beauty to the strains of beautiful Hawaiian music. Unfortunately, the vines were gone when we arrived. We also missed the “crowing” as in rooster contest.














On a wet island like Kauai, a dry hike is hard to find! In the desert-dry gulch of the Waimea Canyon, known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, one is not likely to slip and slide in the muck along the way. Because we were not (emphasis on not) interested in hiking into Hawaii’s Grand Canyon, we opted for the trail to the Lower Waipoo Falls.

The lower falls has showering cascades and several small soaking pools. There are several panoramic overlooks along the rim.







For additional views of the canyon, we decided on the “flattest”(according to the guidebook), but strenuous Pihea Trail. There were unbelievable views of the Kalalau Valley, the largest valley along the Na Pali cliffs, as we looked down from the back ridge of the valley. The views extend 4,000 feet down the mossy, fluted cliffs of the Kalalau Valley, which drops sharply into the ocean. The views inland extend over layers of folded forested canyons and ridges to Mount Waialeale, the wettest spot on earth with an average of 451 inches of annual rainfall.

Louise, a hula dancer herself, pointed out the Opala Tree.



This tree is nicknamed the Hula Tree because the leaves ”dance” with the slightest breeze. How does one capture the movement of the leaves? Video - my first. (I don’t know how to edit this but the first 30 secs are great!)












We were warmly greeted at Linda’s house (our B&B for the night) with lychee martinis! Yummmm…







The next day we were headed to the beach at Polihale State Park. This requires 4WD; so the “bad boy” truck was our means of transportation. This required Louise to ride in the back. Along the way, we stopped to see the artwork of one of their friends, and acquired a beach umbrella from Pat. This proved to be a godsend!












After 5 miles on bumping gravel roads we arrived and it was heavenly! Keith and Louise were introduced to shade at the beach.






This Kodak moment captured the perfect solo cloud on the perfect beach day. It doesn’t get any better than this!


One last stop on the way home was at Glass Beach. It was a bit disappointing in terms of finding beach glass. It was, however, interesting to learn that the glass was from a former landfill that is the cliff you see in the background!



And so by the end of the weekend, I was “back in the saddle” with my hiking legs in good shape and my body upright!

And the adventure continues….