Tag: Molokai

We left the ship in the morning and spent a bit of time in the town of Kaunakakai at a farmers market, while we waiting for our flight’s scheduled time.

Eventually it was time to go – in our 9 passenger Mokulele Airlines flight to Maui. As we boarded the plane I asked the pilot if we were taking the north route to Maui, and with a smile she said ‘yes’!

We took off over the only flat land on Molokai.

The north route takes you over the famed Sea Cliffs. Known as the highest sea cliffs in the world, some are over 4000′ high. Now you know why the pilot was smiling.

A family owned airline, they are known for their island hopping routes.

The best views in the world out the windows of our little 9 passenger plane on a regularly scheduled route..

One of the saddest policies in Hawaiian history was the sequestering of leprosy patients. One of the most famous of these is on Molokai, where over a 100 year period over 8,000 people were sent to spend the rest of their lives in isolation.

Today it is a National Historic Park accessible only by mules down the 1,600′ high cliffs, or by plane.

More of the steep valleys along Molokai’s north shore.

There are numerous waterfalls coming off of the cliffs.

Two of the 8 highest waterfalls in the world are along these cliffs. I ‘think’ we are looking at Olo’upena Falls and ‘Pu’uka’oku Falls, both nearly 3000’ high.

Amazing cliffs and waterfalls.

Our last view of Molokai was of the Halawa Valley, where we spent the day before with Pops and his family learning of Hawaiian culture.

After crossing the 20 mile channel we were over Maui,

While rugged, the mountains are not as abrupt as Molokai. They do however have a great little road running through them (more on that tomorrow).

More canyons as we approach the airport.

Maui is basically one massive mountain on east end, with other tall mountains on the west end, with a flat valley in the middle. All of a sudden it looks like Southern California!

The water in the ocean just off shore had great color though.

Making a couple of quick turns to land and we were in Maui. What a spectacular flight!

The traffic and congestion will quickly make you wish you were back in Molokai.

We did make a quick trip up to Iao Valley before the sun set though.

The ‘needle’, a 1200′ high (from the valley floor). It is really a ridge, as it continues beyond sight.

As we walked to dinner along the coast we saw this great turtle hanging out in the lava rocks.