The Road to Hana

51 one-lane bridges. 620 hairpin turns. This is what you have to expect when traveling the road to Hana. While treacherous at times, the road is paved and well taken care of, and is surrounded by tropical rain forests, epic waterfalls and dramatic cliffs. We started out our trip in a town called Lahaina located on the western side of Maui. Every time I saw the beautiful lush mountains I had to take a picture of them through the car window. My boyfriend had to keep reminding me that I hadn't seen anything yet. I couldn't help myself, but little did I know...he was right.

We stopped at plenty of overlooks along this 3 hour adventure.

I was awed by the change in climate as we went from desert to lush jungle later on the road.

I witnessed the power of the ocean as it whipped across the volcanic rock on a short path made completely from a lava eruption many years ago when Maui was first formed.

I can now officially say that I've poked, tripped, and stopped on what was once hot fiery lava.

The islands of Hawaii don't have much along the means of fast food places along these routes or public restrooms, but there are plenty of fresh fruit stands, food trucks, and small establishments scattered throughout. This truly felt live a drive through the countryside. There are no touristy signs miles ahead promoting food,or botanical gardens. So, if you see something, you have to be quick to react or you may just miss it! And turning around isn't exactly easy along this road.

With that said, our next stop was The Garden of Eden - an outdoor man-made botanical garden. This was a great little stop and cost $15 per person to enter. If you're wondering how much of the plant life and forestry is native to Hawaii, this was a great place to find out. I learned that many trees are actually from Africa, the Philippines, South America, and Asia. I even learned that the pineapple tree is not native to Hawaii but is from Paraguay in South America. At The Garden of Eden we got to see and the Puohokamoa Falls and the Keopuka Rock Overlook.

In addition, I saw the most colorful tree that I have ever seen. The rainbow eucalyptus was brought to Hawaii from Indonesia and is commonly used for making paper. See on the right. To the left is a .... I really can't remember and apologize. But it reminds me of an elephant trunk, so I had to share this with you.

Along the road to Hana we saw many waterfalls, and I took at least 300 photos that day, but I shall spare you from all of these and show you my favorite here. I have no idea if this waterfall has a name, all I know is that it exists and sent many people parking off to the side of the road to stop, take a dip in its deep pools and hang out within the small caves.

At long last, we finally arrived in Hana. There isn't much to do in this town except get a bite to eat at one of the local establishments or have some ice cream on Hana's black sand beach. There was a small Polynesian temple that is still in good repair that you can check out, but it's nothing major to get excited about. In short - the point of this trip to Hana isn't to see cool temples or try specific unique foods but to experience the drive and all that there is to see of the tropical rain forest. Again, there are 620 hair-pin turns and 51 one-lane bridges. If you are prone to motion sickness be sure to take some Dramamine, and if you are driving make sure you get a good night's rest and take your time. Bring beverages and snacks along as well, because you won't find much out here except the occasional fruit stand.

It was about 3pm and our day still wasn't over after Hana. We had to get back to the western side of Maui. On a map we picked up it showed that on the southern part of Maui there was a stretch of unpaved road about 10 miles long and our rental car agreement told us not to take this otherwise we'd be given a hefty fine if something happened to the car. But, Google showed this was the fastest way and neither of us were up to taking the long twisty road to Hana back again. We decided, if Google says it's okay, then it's okay!

The road here wasn't truly unpaved, just a little rough with large potholes in some areas, and it would occasionally turn into gravel and dirt then back again to pavement. This path we chose turned out to be extremely worth it. We stopped at Kipahulu - Mount Haleakala's southern end. We got to see the Pools of Oheo or aka the Oheo Gulch. What makes this so special is that the waterfall created several pools over a very long length of time by the Pipiwai falls. 

 In this photo you can see a few of the pools, but there are several more behind me. To get to these pools, is just a short hike (about half a mile) through a bamboo forest.  It can get a little muddy, so wear your sneakers. This is also a great place for a dip after being in the warm sun, consider wearing your bathing suit under your clothes.  After climbing on some of the rocks, and enjoying the gorgeous sites, we went back on the road to experience the unpaved road. The entire time the sun was blaring in our eyes and the road took us along the side of a cliff where we got a gorgeous view of the coast and Mount Haleakala in all her glory was to the right of us. At some points it was very hard to see, thankfully there was a Mustang in front of us so we just followed them and hoped they weren't about to make any bad mistakes either. This road is pretty much a one way. When oncoming cars came, passing them was no easy task. With that said, if you are a confident driver, you can handle this path.

After a very long day of driving we finally made it back to Lahaina. We were sweaty, dirty, tired and hungry. That didn't stop us from stopping in Lahaina to get a bite to eat at one of their finest establishments. We ate at the Lahaina Fish Company and had a second floor ocean front view. Of course it was dark, but the lullaby of the ocean with fresh caught fish was the perfect way to end a very beautiful day.