The Unexpected by your MIS Hawaii Team

As we embarked upon our journey down the scenic route in route to Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, we immediately realized things were not as they seemed...the foliage resembled that of what you would see in the tropics with beautiful, brightly colored flowers, large trees, and lush lawns. The reason this is so unexpected is because we are on the dry side of the island with an average annual rainfall of 10-20 inches a year much different from the wet side of the island with an average rainfall of 200 inches a year.

When we arrived at the National Historic Park, it was the first day of summer and our admission to the park was free. We were at first not excited about the day's activities. Immediately our ideas changed and it was not at all what we expected. We thought that this was to address only the historical part of out field study, and to our surprise it was so much more. The vegetation was as it was before European influence. It was sparse and the native plants were indigenous.

This area is also known as " the place of refuge." Tall royal palms surround the temple complex that sits on a 20-acre finger of lava bordered by the sea on three sides. The only access to the pu'uhonua (temple of refuge) was by swimming across a bay known as the shark's den. If you managed to survive, the kahuna (priest) was required, under pain of death, to offer you sanctuary and absolve you of all wrong doing.  Here in the national park you can walk through an ancient Hawaiian village and see firsthand how the kings of Hawaii once lived.

Some of the interesting facts we learned today were regarding punishment. If you were to get into trouble, children 12 and under, your parents paid for the crime. If you were older than 12, you paid the price yourself. However, the most interestig fact was that if you saw someone commit a crime, you had to administer punishment. If you didn't, you were punished. Wow! Things sure would be a lot different if these same rules applied today.

While we thought the morning's events would only be historical based, we were pleasantly surprised to find that we could also walk among the lava fields, peer into tidal pools, and get up close and personal with some sea turtles. While peering into a tidal pool we found a very unusual little crab. While the crab appeared black as it scurried across the lava as soon as it hit the water it turned to the color of whatever was beneath it. AMAZING!!! That was animal adaptation at its finest. While examining the crab, we noticed that a long and slender creature swam by us. Much to the relief of Mrs. West it was quickly identified as an eel, rather than a snake. Mrs. Longing and Mrs. Norton tried to lure the eel out of its hiding place while Mrs. West stood nearby filming the event. Meanwhile, Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Grimes searched for and found the Hawaiian sea turtle. Mrs. Harrison even wadded into the water to take a closer look.