In short, our tour guide Travis (a local Hawaiian) was personable, knowledgeable, accommodating and just plain fantastic!! I’ve been to Hawaii 3 times but this was the first time for my kids (in their 30’s) and my 9-year-old granddaughter Yoninah. Additionally, it was a short 4-day trip so I had to find things to do that would be interesting for all of us and wouldn’t overwhelm their time as they also wanted beach time. This half-day circle island tour was perfect. I chose it simply because it was only 4 hours long but what a treat. Travis took us to some of the tourist places which were absolutely stunning. But he also asked if we wanted to see any place special. Yoninah wanted to see the real Hawaii and how people lived.
Travis took us to a place where there were stones piled way high up around the site that separates that part of the land and the entrance had a sign that said “Kuleana” which means something like “take responsibility.” The plants and foliage were breathtaking and the people were to take responsibility for keeping that strong connection to their land and preserving their unique ecosystem and culture. Forgive me that I cannot explain this as eloquently as Travis did but my kids and especially Yoninah loved this part of the tour.
We also booked a luau through Hawaiian Aloha Travel in Honolulu which was so much fun. Thanks to Bruce and Yaling Fisher for being so helpful and making this a very special trip for my family. We’ll definitely book through them again. And thank you again, Travis, for the very special memories (oh, and Yoninah apologizes for eating all those lychee berries that you shared with us). Mahalo.