The Pacific Ocean: Maui's playground

It didn’t take long to get moving in Maui. Andrew and Stephen, two comical brothers from my homestay, kidnapped me and took me to the North Shore, where the wind and waves were choice. Within 24 hours, I had already invaded the ocean with surf and paddleboards. Later that afternoon, Andrew took me out past the miles of sugar cane fields to Twin Falls. There, we went on an incredible hike through the rainforest that led to a giant cave, natural pools, and a series of steep waterfalls (that we jumped off). The “forest,” as they call it, was like a free tropical farmer’s market. It didn’t take much more than a leap or some tree shake action to pluck fresh papaya, guava, apple bananas, passionfruit (lily coy), mangoes, or avocados from the sheltering branches. No kidding, this place really is paradise!


The next couple of days I spent weaving into the Davis family schedule. I accompanied Lisa in an intense hilly power walk with their two giant pawed dogs Ben and Bear (or black dog as they also call him) as well as lent a hand in daily errands. I tagged along and witnessed some insane downhill longboard racing with Andrew on the windy mountain roads. I caught a beautiful Saturday sunset overlooking the valley and captured a wide-eyed view of an infamous Hawaiian rainbow. Hal and Lisa (the parents) took me on a snorkeling adventure as well as a coastal tour of some of the most picturesque beaches. I also spent an hour or so creating a pastel masterpiece of the mountainside view of their island bungalow to later give them as a thank you gift.
I’m sure I’m missing a bunch here, however I’m going to have to get back to you all later, because the power just went out and I’m going to need to use the little bit of light from this laptop to lead me to bed.

Sweet Sugar Cane Dreams,
J.man