HEADING OUT TO SEA The next day, the troop gladly traded its hiking boots for swimsuits and snorkeling masks. Hopping aboard high-speed boats, the Scouts set out to see Na Pali at sea level. Along the way to the snorkeling spots, they observed the tiny island of Niihau to the west and, toward shore, Kauai's bone-dry West Coast, with rows of green sugarcane fields beyond. The boats also passed several of the Na Pali's many "hanging valleys." Created where streams have not yet carved a path all the way to the ocean, these valleys appear to hang in thin air, suspended on the cliffs above the ocean. While the two larger boats anchored at the snorkeling site, a group of older Scouts and parents who made the trip in a 26-foot inflatable Zodiak craft continued down the coast.

Their raft had provided a faster, but bouncier (and wetter), ride. "The ocean swells were the biggest coming out of the harbor," reported Scout Jay Abbott. "We really had to hold on tight." They stopped at Nualolo Kai, a small valley that is the site of a restricted state park that includes excavated remains of an old fishing village. Photographer Sabra Kauka, who is a native Hawaiian and had helped excavate and document the site, gave an impromptu lecture on the village. She described its life style, how plants were used, and what the buildings were like. As part of the effort to maintain the site in its original state, the Scouts joined with Kauka in removing coconuts and other nonnative foliage that had been brought to the valley in more recent years. "I had never been to a place like that; it felt like walking through history," observed Jay Abbott. "The fact that it was 200 or 300 years old and still there was amazing." To be continued

Part 1

Image Via Kauai Vacation Rental

—Alex, 06/06/07