Hey blog readers!!
Tuesday was our first full day in Kona. Some of us woke up in the early morning to go to a beach that Kaden regularly visits. It was a black sand beach and the water was so crystal clear. It was a great spot for snorkeling and we tried our hand at paddle boarding. It was very hard to stand on the board with the waves, but we all were able to stand for at least a few seconds!
We met the other group at Pu’uhonua o Honaunau. This is a place of refuge originally built in 1650. Hawaii was divided into districts. Kapu were there rules or regulations that Hawaiians needed to follow. For example, women could not eat sacred fruits such as bananas and couldn’t eat in front of men. Men couldn’t look the chief in the eye or walk in his shadow. If the kapu were broken, they were executed.
The alternative is to flee to one of these places of refuge. This was a safe haven for exiles. They ask for a priest for forgiveness and they enter into the program. Today it is a national historical park. Many native Hawaiians still use Pu’uhonua o Honaunau as a sacred site and site of ceremonies/rituals.
After eating lunch and trying the avocado from Kaden’s house we headed to Two Step. This is a popular spot for snorkeling. There were lots of urchins and cool fish. We got to see a ginormous parrot fish!
Next, we took a quick stop at Captain Cook’s reserve. In 1789, Captain Cook was the first explorer to find Hawaii. This was the site of where he landed but also the site of where he died. At first, the native Hawaiians greeted him with kindness because they thought he was a god due to his white complexion. Cook left but damaged the ship’s mast so he returned. The Hawaiians knew that he wasn’t a god and Cook and his crew got aggressive with the Hawaiians. He was killed and now there is a monument in the reserve.
It was a long day in the sun and being the analytical thinkers we are, we applied layers of sunscreen throughout the day. Very few of us were burnt! (Except for Mac whose whole back was burnt). Overall it was a very fun day!
-Becca Goldman