Taking advantage of some incredibly cheap flights to Oahu, we canceled a planned trip to Louisiana and instead traveled back to Hawaii. We spent the week at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort And Spa in Honolulu and rented a Kia Sorrento.
Most of our trip was spent in and around Waikiki, but we did
get out and explore the island as well. In addition, we decided to seek out one
of the “holy grail” counties for county collectors. On Friday, we began our
journey to Kalawao County, which is located on the island of Molokai. The
county is currently off limits to outsiders. It was founded in the 1860s as a
leper colony. Hawaii exiled those afflicted with Hansen’s disease (leprosy) to
the peninsula, which is isolated from the rest of the island by steep cliffs,
from 1866 to 1969. Though Hansen's disease has essentially been cured and
restrictions on residents have been lifted since the 1960s, there are
still a few who choose to stay and a few more who come and go.
Visiting Kalawao County today requires a permit or an
invitation from one of the residents. Until a few years ago, there was a mule
trail that led down into the valley where the one small city of Kalaupapa lies.
But the trail was partially washed away and has yet to be fixed. So, the only
way in or out is by plane or boat. We learned that Mokulele Airlines offers a
couple of flights a week from Honolulu to Molokai Airport with a quick
stop at Kalaupapa Airport. Having never been to Molokai, we thought this would
be a perfect opportunity to not only visit a Hawaiian Island that gets few
tourists, but also to pick up one of the most difficult counties. We’d
read that some county collectors have tried to do the same trip, only to have
the flight canceled. So, we were holding our breath. When we arrived at HNL
terminal 3 and saw checked bags labeled with LUP (Kalaupapa Airport), we
felt pretty good. Once we were on the plane, I overheard the pilot mention we
were dropping off a passenger in Kalaupapa. When I repeated that to my wife,
the guy behind me said, "That’s me!" He then chatted with us for the
entire trip. He said there are currently seven Hansen’s disease residents left.
He arrived in 1947 when he was just five years old. To be sure, this was far
and away the highlight of our trip. What a delightful, upbeat man he was. After
we landed in Kalaupapa, we said our goodbyes to Uncle and snapped a few
pictures from the plane. We weren’t allowed to disembark. We then took off
again for the shortest flight we’ve ever had—a quick 7-minute flight to the
topside of Molokai. We rented a Chevrolet Equinox to drive around and explore
the island, including Kalaupapa Lookout (a view of where we had just been) as
well as Phallic Rock. We stopped for lunch at Molokai Burger. Then, a few hours
later, we boarded our return flight back to Oahu, which allowed us a nice
overhead view of Diamond Head.
The rest of our time on Oahu was spent wandering around the island, checking out local eateries (like Giovanni’s food truck), swimming, and relaxing. At one point, we hiked to Hawaiian Monk Seal Beach and found one of its namesakes snoozing away.
