Travel, Photography
A Week in Maui
Fiery sunrises, Haleakala Volcanic Park, an observatory at the top of the world, a lava flow hike, dipped in the sky, and a lunar eclipse
The red veins of volcanic dirt creeping over Molaka’i light up with the morning sun. The angle of the light creates a constantly changing tapestry and the island morphs from purpley shadows to a pulsing thing, rich with the blood of the earth to a verdant, floating emerald gem.
The toe of the island, visible just beyond the canopy of palms and the blue slick of the sea, slumbers, half in the shade, like a turtle about to waken for the day.
The mountainside is lost in a haze of golden light. Gilded meadows, rich with dew sprawl above and below the spikes of trees, clustered together in stubbled silhouette.
Rooster calls punctuate toe morning — A-A-A-aaaa…. They stroll down the streets, adorned in fiery plumage that I think they know is beautiful. They stop traffic here. They wander down driveways and parking lots and perambulate through parks. They don’t have any predators, so they roam freely, strutting like male beauty pageant contestants.
A lone monarch just fluttered by, at the level of our fourth-floor balcony. How did it get here? On the tail of a storm? On a ship? It seems like such a difficult journey for such a tender creature.
We arrived just in time for sunset the night before. We’ve done this trip enough times to know to stop by the local market on the way to the hotel, in Kihei, to buy a few bottles of wine for sunset viewings from the balcony. And we’ve learned to ask for a specific room, on the backside of the Kea Lani Hotel, in Wailea, with no view of the pool or the resort, but with morning and sunset views which make my pulse quicken.
After a glass of wine, we slipped into our swimsuits and made a dash for the beach, just in time to be “dipped in the sky.”
The sunset just blazed brighter and brighter as the waves lapped around my legs. Bathed in the “pinkening air” and up to my waist in inky waters, I felt like I could fly into eternity.
The waves never end. Their ferocity ebbs and flows. And the stars began to wink out of nowhere until they dominated the sky — a glittering canopy dancing over an undulating world of light and shadow.
Who knows what’s beneath the sea? Or what floats above? The enormity of it grips at my heart.
On our last few trips to Maui, because of the pandemic, we did a lot of room service and take-out. But, this time, we made a few dinner reservations. The first evening, we dined at Ko’ and had a delightful meal on the terrace.
The next morning, we woke to this spectacular, “fire in the sky” sunrise. I woke early every morning after that, hoping for a repeat, but it never looked like this again.
It was reminder to live every moment, appreciate every breath, because the things that you assume will always be there, aren’t always going to be.
Because we love the view from our balcony in the mornings so much that we tend to linger. My husband normally leaves me in bed while he runs down to the little shop in the lobby to get a tea for me and a coffee for him.
After a little journaling and photography, we donned our swim suits for the day and headed down to breakfast.
We had a lazy beach day in mind. We set up under an umbrella at the far end of Polo Beach, by a jutting flow of black volcanic rock. After a walk to the far end of the beach, we checked out some snorkeling gear and waded out into the eighty-one degree sea.
The water, stirred up by the current, glistened with a million golden sand particles. It felt like we were swimming through heaven, but you could hardly see the fish that day. We were greeted though by the sweetest turtle though, who came to check us out. I do wonder what they think of us. I’m sure we are a little entertaining to them.
We have a habit of driving to Coconut’s, a local fish taco place and bringing our tacos across the street to a little park. Along the way to the car, I stopped to admire this banyan tree. They are such interesting trees because they almost look like they are growing upside down. They send out roots that trail down to the ground and then pop back up again as another tree.
I also love the bromeliads.
Beneath the picnic spot, at Kamaole Park II, the waves foam and crash against the black volcanic rocks and the life guard is constantly calling out warnings to people who try to climb out on the little finger of the very sharp jetty. If you’ve never seen volcanic rock, let me just tell you that it sounds like glass when you walk over it, and it can cut you just as easily as a broken bottle.
That evening we caught another spectacular sunset from our balcony.
The next day, we drove to the Haleakala Volcanic Crater. I don’t know how we have never done this before. The view is absolutely spectacular. Years ago, we did a hike that was supposed to take us to the crater, but we ended up bogged down in mud and never made it all the way up.
We’ve vowed that the next time we go back we are going to do one of the sunrise bike tours where you get dropped off at the top and get to cruise down amidst the dawning of the day.
The observatory at the top looks like it is floating on top of the world. That is ocean and sky beneath us.
We decided to hike the “Shifting Sands Trail” and were absolutely awed by the otherworldliness of the landscape.
On the way up, we burst through the level of the clouds, and, once you are up that high, at 10,000 feet, it feels like you could walk right off of the edge of the earth.
On our way back down, I kept hearing this crackling sound coming from the back seat of the car. It took me a while to figure out that it was the sound of a water bottle smushing itself as it came back down to sea level. I couldn’t help but think about what our bodies had just experienced.
One of my favorite things to do on this annual trip is to walk the trail along the ocean cliffs. I’ve always loved this particular tree, which curves out into open space over the water.
We wandered through the lobby of the Four Seasons (which, incidentally, is where the first season of White Lotus was shot). There happened to be an art show that day. I really liked the glass.
We had another lazy beach day, followed by dinner on the terrace at the Four Seasons. We had a memory of eating there several years ago and had made a reservation, hooping to get the same table. But, once we arrived, we were told that someone else had already reserved that table. It turned out to be an adorable very elderly couple who dined there. They looked like they were having so much fun and we imagined that we might be “them” in thirty years or so.
One afternoon, we pried ourselves out of the water and drove down to La Perouse Lava Flow Trail. Hiking on the lava flow, strewn with white coral, it sounds like you are walking on glass and chalk. I am constantly amazed at the life which springs forth from these seemingly desolate stretches of rock. The ocean glinted steely blue. And on our way back, the locals began to arrive with their fishing rods.
We had another spectacular beach sunset that evening.
And that night, there was a lunar eclipse. I woke up around four in the morning, but I didn't have my camera equipment set up ahead of time and I missed being able to photograph it while it was really red. But this photo was not half-bad.
On our last night, I tried to catch the setting sun in the pools of liquid sky held in the arms of the lava flow at the end of Polo Beach.
On our way home, I couldn’t help but take a photo of these adorable little salt and pepper “Hawaiian shirts.” They were just too cute.
And we had one last sunset out of the window of the plane.
Maui has become a place very dear to my heart. It always feels like “home” to me and I am a bit sad at leaving. But I knew that we were heading to Sedona, Arizona, “Land of the Glowing Red Rocks” in about a week and a half, so I bid her farewell and I look forward to returning next year.
Thank you for following along on our “week in Maui.” Stay tuned for articles with more photos of the Haleakala Volcanic Crater and the La Perouse Lava Flow Trail, which were both spectacular and deserve their own stories.
If you enjoyed this, you might like checking out some of the other “Week in Photos Tribe” from around the world. I so enjoy reading about people’s lives and seeing what is happening in other parts of the world in real-time each week. Dennett started this a couple of years ago, and it has really been fun to keep up with.
Dennett /Anne Bonfert /Eileen Vorbach /Lisa Bolin /Tracy Aston /David Wade Chambers/Kim Zuch /Barbara Radisavljevic /LensAfield /Barbara Dalton /Sasha Meyer /Susan Alison /Diana Lotti /Barbara Dalton /K. Barrett /June Nguyen /Juan O. Aguilera /Ellie Jacobson /Shruthi Sundaram/ Pene Hodge /Tracy Aston/ Sandra Barrett/Jillian Amatt — Artistic Voyages /Shell Parsons/Ivy Shepherd/Mia Verita/ Lynne Nardizzi/ Ken Martin
(I know some new folks have joined in, so if I’ve missed any of the “week in photos” tribe, please let me know!)
Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies).
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Photos and story ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.
