Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [381]
Before the trees were planted, the stone, which has had some plastic surgery through the years to augment its effect, stood out like a drama queen atop the ridge.
Sleeping
Camping is allowed in a peaceful grassy field a quarter of a mile before the overlook, with a picnic pavilion and a portable toilet (although there are good bathrooms near the main parking area). It rains a lot here and outside of the summer dry season, your tent will likely be drenched by evening showers. Click here for permit information.
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KALAUPAPA NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
The spectacularly beautiful Kalaupapa Peninsula is the most remote part of Hawaii’s most remote island. The only way to reach this lush green peninsula edged with long, white-sand beaches is on a twisting trail down the steep pali, the world’s highest sea cliffs, or by plane. This remoteness is the reason it was for more than a century where leprosy patients were forced into isolation. From its inception until separation ended in 1969, 8000 patients were forced to come to Kalaupapa. It is still home to a couple of dozen patients (respectively called ‘residents’) who have chosen to remain in the only home they have ever known and have resisted efforts to move them away. The peninsula has been designated a national historical park and is managed by the Hawaii Department of Health and the National Park Service (www.nps.gov/kala).
At the bottom of the cliffs, a guided tour of the settlement and the peninsula is Moloka’i’s most well-known attraction. But the tour, interesting as it is, is not the highlight: this is one case where getting there truly is half the fun. Riding a mule or hiking down the steep trail, winding through lush green tropical forest, catching glimpses of the sea far below, is unforgettable.
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HISTORY
Ancient Hawaiians used Kalaupapa as a refuge when caught in storms at sea. The peninsula held a large settlement at the time of early Western contact, and the area is rich in archaeological sites, currently under investigation. A major discovery in 2004 indicated that Kalaupapa heiau had major ritual significance, with possible astronomical purposes.
In 1835 doctors in Hawai’i diagnosed the state’s first case of leprosy, one of many diseases introduced by foreigners. Before modern medicine, leprosy manifested itself in dripping, foul-smelling sores. Eventually, patients experienced loss of sensation and tissue degeneration that could lead to small extremities becoming deformed or falling off altogether. Blindness was common. Alarmed by the spread of the disease, King Kamehameha V signed into law an act that banished people with leprosy to Kalaupapa Peninsula, beginning in 1865.
Hawaiians call leprosy mai ho’oka’awale, which means ‘separating sickness,’ a disease all the more dreaded because it tore families apart. Some patients arrived at the peninsula in boats, whose captains were so terrified of the disease and the rough waters they would not land, but instead dropped patients overboard. Those who could, swam to shore; those who couldn’t, perished.
Once the afflicted arrived on Kalaupapa Peninsula, there was no way out, not even in a casket. The original settlement was in Kalawao, at the wetter eastern end of the peninsula. Early conditions were unspeakably horrible, with the strong stealing rations from the weak, and women forced into prostitution or worse. Life spans were invariably short, and desperate.
Father Damien (see the boxed text, Click here) arrived at Kalaupapa in 1873. He wasn’t the first missionary to come, but he was the first to stay. What Damien provided most of all was a sense of hope and inspiration to others. Brother Joseph Dutton arrived in 1886 and stayed 44 years. In addition to his work with the sick, he was a prolific writer who kept the outside world informed about what was happening in Moloka’i. Mother Marianne Cope arrived a year before Damien died. She stayed 30 years, helping to establish a girls’ home and encouraging