Have World-Wide Friends, Will Travel: Kauai, Hawaii

It just so happens most of my closest friends live in cool corners all around the world.  I met most of them while living or working abroad, and almost all of them possess that “travel spirit” and adventurous heart.  Blessed I am, to have met other women who have been nomadic at some point, so too, called beyond their homelands, or even uprooting their lives to live abroad for love or work.  We share a commonality of having seen and loved far-flung places, frolicked and climbed through the nature and indulged in the culture.  When you connect with those special souls, they brighten your story within that place, and you are linked for life.  

This is what happened when I met Harmony in Mallorca.  We bonded hard during that year of our lives:  navigating heartbreak and initiations with self, hiking, swimming, drinking wine and dancing.  When she moved back to Hawaii, I knew one day I would visit her.  What better way to finish off my “odyssey of connection” these past two months:  visiting besties in Florida, one in St. Maarten, another in Austin, and then Harmony in the land of Kauai.

Around fifteen hours after leaving Austin, I arrived in Kauai, jet-lagged but open-hearted.  I had always assumed Hawaii was a paradise, but I had no idea until I woke up that first morning and looked out my window onto the bay beyond.  The sun was rising gracefully, illuminating the sky with soft pinks, and mellow oranges.  There was nothing but land and sea stretching before me, and in that moment the word, “sacred,” came through.  I will always remember that moment, understanding I was in a sanctuary of land and sea, resonating in a field of sacredness.  During my morning meditation, seated before that view, there came a point when I felt as if I would weep; once again, that sense of sacredness had taken over me.

More gifts came as the morning drew on, discovering two albatross families residing out in the yard.  It was my first time seeing these giant, seagull-looking birds in person, and luckily, they were used to humans and weren’t phased when we crept closer for a better look.  I recalled having watched these creatures one time on Planet Earth… David Attenborough’s distinct voice narrating reverently how these rare birds famously mated for life.  They are incredible:  a wingspan of around 7 feet, many traversing thousands of miles not touching land for days.  When it’s time, they return to their hungry mate and growing babies where they left them on land.  

These backyard babies were the cutest, grey fluffballs that you just wanted to squeeze and cuddle.  They couldn’t have been more than two months old, but were already bigger than a grown seagull–sleeping serenely most of the day and occasionally venturing out from their makeshift nests to graze on bugs in the grass.  

Throughout the week I would find myself entranced, just watching the birds hanging out in the grass, enamored by their funny, wobbly walk and antics.  Most days, a few of them would gather socially and launch into their courtship dance and pair-bonding display–which was seriously entertaining.  They’d clack their big orange beaks together loudly, squeak, grunt and moan, while the dance unfolded.  As one watched on, the other two moved in sync, bobbing their heads to the sky, bowing to the ground, then throwing up a wing while tucking a bill in, as if sniffing its own armpit–all performed with pazazz and little “ta-da” moments in between.  What I found fascinating about these elaborate, “courtship dances,” as they’re called, is that they perform them to strengthen their pair bond, especially since they mate for life.  The dances help reinforce their connection and coordination each breeding season, ensuring they stay synchronized as partners.  Of course, I couldn’t help but compare this to humans, seeing that both species need consistent, meaningful interactions to maintain their bonds.  Kind of like me flying thousands of miles to go see my besties and nourish our connections–often dancing alongside them.  

Harmony and I noticed that one family seemed to be a triad.  Curious, we looked this anomaly up and learned that researchers had observed Laysan albatrosses forming female couples throughout the island, with an extra-pair male copulator.  Basically, there were not enough males around, so to increase their chances of raising a chick, females would “borrow” a mate, both lay eggs, then incubate only one for higher survival.  One female stayed with the egg while the other went off for food, then they would switch.  Another revelatory mark of the ingenuity of females.

It was time for some adventuring, so Harmony swept me away to the most epic of hikes on island, the Na Pali Coast. Trekking through rainforest, wading across pebbled rivers, up, up and around, three hours later, we finally reached Hanakapi’ai Falls, tumbling from a spectacular 300 feet.  After refueling, we began the descent and were soon met with rain.  There was no choice but to surrender to the mud and slick trails.  Thank Goddess for my makeshift guava-wood walking stick someone had left along the trail.  Embracing the challenges, we finished in another three and a half hours, then at last made it out onto the beach for our victory swim.  We snorkeled barely twenty feet, when I noticed a huge green sea turtle–or honu, as they’re called in Hawaiian–resting on the ocean floor.  We hovered over it, just admiring, until slowly it drifted away.  

There were so many other beautiful moments shared, so nourishing to commune with my friend after an entire year apart.  We danced it out at a random barn party with visiting house Dj’s, watched fire dancers twirl their ropes, fans, and swords. We danced some more at the weekly ecstatic dance gathering, hiked some more, lounged some more, indulged in fresh guava, starfruit, and pineapple from the yard, ate local taro-root burgers, and tuna poke, and visited Secret Beach with its volcanic-rock-lined beaches and Honu Beach, known for resting turtles throughout the shallow reef.  

A week later, as she drove me to the airport, Harmony reminded me that you really need more time to experience all the island’s treasures, and that we had only scratched the surface of the North Shore alone!  But I was more than content with the time we shared, bonding again, and discovering an island so embodied in her divine feminine spirit and rich in her sacredness.  I flew away legs exhausted, heart full of gratitude, still feeling the goddess kiss of Kauai that had wrapped me up with blessed love that week.  I would miss my friend, miss the albatrosses, and miss the infinite beauty that had dazzled me. 

Some prose from that memorable morning waking up on Kauai…

A constant soundtrack of chittering birds, chatting and hooting
The sea’s growl, a low undertone shooing to shore. 
Perfumed air, gardenia taking flight in steady breeze, blowing 
 sweetly to your senses and caressing you in presence.
In ONEness, cause that’s what you experience here,
 reminded that bird, tree, sea, flower are all you, and you them.
So righteous…life-giving. 
The bristling fronds agree, 
 their palm exotic 
 a boasting landscape of relaxation and remembrance- 
  crackling connection to nature.
Get lost in its green. Dive in, submerge. 
Backstroke and belong.