Kalaupapa, Molokai

[RSF Cruiser]

I just signed up for a day-tour of Kalaupapa National Historic Park in Molokai (where the Hawaiians with Hansen's disease (leprosy) were sent). Has any one does this tour? What was it like?

 

We leave from Honolulu in the morning and return that same afternoon. I originally wanted to do the tour where you hike down to Kalaupapa, but the rains a few months ago washed out a bridge or something like that, and the trail is closed. From what I can tell, we fly into Kalaupapa on a 9-seater plane.

[Kapuna]

It is an unforgettable experience and going by air is the easiest way . The old mule ride used to be good too , but no longer operates as far as I know .

[RSF Cruiser]

Thanks - I've been watching various YouTube videos of Kalaupapa, and can't wait to go. Sounds like it will be a very special experience.

[riofriotex]

Thanks - I've been watching various YouTube videos of Kalaupapa, and can't wait to go. Sounds like it will be a very special experience.

 

Please come back to the board after your trip (when?) and tell us about it!

[RSF Cruiser]

Please come back to the board after your trip (when?) and tell us about it!

Will do. My tour is July 29th.

[RSF Cruiser]

My trip to Kalaupapa was even better than I expected. I was well prepared - had searched YouTube for Kalaupapa Molokai and saw many wonderful videos of various people/scenes in Kalaupapa. I also did a google search to learn more about the settlement and Hansen's Disease.

 

The only way to get there right now is by plane - the trail was flooded out in the spring 2010, although they hope to have the bridge fixed by the fall 2010. So until then, visitors can not hike in or take the mules.

 

It' easiest to get to Kalaupapa from Honolulu, although you can get there from Maui, too - I was picked up at my Waikiki hotel at 7:45 AM and was returned ny 3:30. We traveled in a 10 seater plane for the ~30 minute flight. There were wonderful aerial views of Oahu since we flew at about 10K feet could see Waikiki, the inside of Diamond Head, and the entrance to Hanauma (sp?) Bay. Once we landed at the Kalaupapa airport, we were picked up by Damien Tours in a yellow school bus. Norm, our guide, took us into the current settlement where approximately 100 people live - mostly state and national park service employees, some health care workers, and 12 former patients. They are very strict where tourists can go to protect the former patients' privacy. The scenery is breathtaking - such a contrast to some of the human indignities that occurred there. We had lunch at the original settlement in Kalawao Valley - probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

 

On our way into town, we went past some old cemetaries, then stopped at the Catholic Church, memorial to Sister Marianne Cope, Bishop House for girls, book store, and then went to Kalawao Valley for lunch and ended with a stop at the first Catholic Church where Father/Saint Damien is buried.

 

It was an inspirational trip that I'm thrilled I took.

 

I tried to post some of my pictures, but couldn't get them to load.

 

hope my description helps - let me know if you have any questions.

[riofriotex]

Thank you for the report, RSF Cruiser! This is definitely on my list of places to visit if I ever go back to Hawaii. I wonder if you can get there by boat (not a cruise ship, of course).

 

My interest in this area was sparked by my reading of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert - now that you've been there, I highly recommend this historical fiction.

[RSF Cruiser]

You can take a ferry from Maui to Molokai topside, then you take a plane down to Kalapaupapa (once the trail is open you can hike or take the mules). you could take a private boat, I guess, to Kalaupapa, but the government restricts visitors to Kalaupapa - every visitor must have a permit to be in the settlement, and as far as I could tell, the only way fto get a permit is to be a guest of a resident or on a Damien Tours tour. I do not think there are any comercial/tour boats that go directly to Kalaupapa and then link with Damien Tours.

 

Thanks for the book recommendation - I will definitely get Moloka'i. I'm reading Olivia now - the memoirs of a current/former patient. The book is published by the park service, so there is limited circulation. Before you go to Moloka'i, also see the movie Moloka'i - it's a wonderful depiction of Father/Saint Damien and his work and conditions in the late 1800s.

[RSF Cruiser]

Thank you for the report, RSF Cruiser! This is definitely on my list of places to visit if I ever go back to Hawaii. I wonder if you can get there by boat (not a cruise ship, of course).

 

My interest in this area was sparked by my reading of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert - now that you've been there, I highly recommend this historical fiction.

I'm reading Moloka'i - thanks for the recommendation. They had it at Costco! For those who are not familiar with the book, it's a wonderful story about life in Kalaupapa from the early 1900s to 1970. Now that I've been to Kalaupapa, the book is even more special and meaningful. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in Kalaupapa.

 

The movie Moloka'i: The Story of Father Damien ends just about when the book starts.