What to see in Hawaii: when paradise emerges in the immensity of the Ocean
When these paradisiacal islands appear in our plans, we wonder what to visit in Hawaii, what places are essential, what islands to visit and much more. We tell you.
The Hawaiian archipelago is made up of a string of volcanic islands that emerge in the center of the North Pacific Ocean in Polynesia, believed to have been discovered by sailors from Tahiti or the Mariana Islands around the 5th century.
Most of us know that the Hawaiian Islands -like others in Southeast Asia, Papeete, Moorea, Bora Bora, Tahiti, etc.- are paradisiacal and their landscapes are displayed on posters in almost all tourist agencies, but when we visit them and we learn about its geological origin and its history and we get to know its people who greet us with a smile and their kind “Aloha”, of welcome (it means hello, goodbye, love and affection), we want to know more about these lands that emerge in the vastness of the ocean
What to see in Hawaii
In this part of the planet, nature was particularly lavish, generously giving beauty and charm, the traveler is amazed when contemplating the tropical foliage or walking through rugged cliffs and delighting in watching the fall of beautiful waterfalls, filling his spirit with good vibes.
In this post we share the essentials of Hawaii so that you dream of your next trip:
Hawaiian volcanoes
Due to a particular geological condition, the incandescent magma from the center of the planet emerges here towards the surface, creating a "hot spot" from the bottom of the ocean, producing volcanoes that in millions of years will appear on the surface of the sea and will continue to grow. An example of this is the Mauna Kea volcano, at 4,205 m, making it the highest mountain in the world, since it adds up to 10,203 m from its base to its edge (Guinness Record).
Another no less important detail is that the Pacific tectonic plate is moving in a northwesterly direction and the "hot spot" where the volcanoes originate remains fixed, determining that the oldest (5 million years) are inactive or extinct and the current ones in activity Kilauea (spitter) and Mauna Loa, the newest ones date back about 400,000 years.
Hawaii is located 3,500 km from America, the nearest continent, and is the most isolated archipelago on Earth. Already under the sea, the volcanic chain is 85 million years old, with the oldest lava dating from the Cretaceous period.
Within its spectacular beauty, each of the islands stands out for its geological, economic or strategic characteristics, the most important of which are eight.
Hawaiian history
The Kingdom of Hawaii (Hawai'i in Hawaiian), created in 1795 by King Kamehameha I the Great, who forcibly united the different counties of the archipelago, was officially established in 1810; After many internal vicissitudes generated by commercial interests of North American colonists and international politics, in 1893 the last queen, Lili'uokalani, was forced to abdicate, proclaiming herself a republic in 1984.
Under President Eisenhower in 1959, it became the 50th state in the United States. In 1993, President Clinton signed a resolution in which, on behalf of the United States, he apologized for the dispossession to which the inhabitants of the Hawaiian archipelago were subjected, acknowledging that they had not renounced their rights or voluntarily accepted the abolition of their kingdom. .
As a historical detail, in 1818 our naval hero Hipólito Bouchard in his privateering campaign at the service of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, with a license to attack and sink Spanish ships, arrived in Hawaii and met with King Kamehameha to negotiate the delivery of a Spanish ship that had been acquired by the monarch.
The King reached an agreement and authorized Bouchard to resupply in Maui, later he passed through Honolulu and from Kauai, once they had shipped food and ammunition, they left for California, where he took the city for six days hoisting the blue flag on the masts and white.
Kilauea volcano
The one that gives the group its name, Hawaii or Big Island, is formed by the union of 5 volcanoes and two of them are currently active. Since May 3, 2018, Kilauea, from whose crater an innocent fumarole emerged, produced a furious outburst of igneous magma at 1100°C and countless lateral cracks, covering a large territory with lava down a slope without respecting properties, routes and plantations before ending up falling into the sea and when it cools, adding surface to the island (in 19 years 2.2 km were added to the coast).
The inactive volcano Mauna Kea (White Mountain), due to its height, is covered in snow and is a delight for ski and snowboard fans. The summit of this volcano is one of the best places in the world for astronomical observation, due to favorable conditions such as atmospheric stability with the cloud layer below, very dark skies free of light pollution, allowing the observation of distant astronomical objects. . There are 9 telescopes for different purposes, one of them built by Canada and France with a 3.6m diameter lens.
The University of Hawaii is located in the city of Hilo and its economy includes plantations of coffee, pineapple, papaya, macadamia nut and cattle raising is important, although most foreign exchange is produced largely by tourism. The Merrie Monarch Festival of Hawaiian music and dance (luau) takes place annually.
Maui, former county of the ancient kingdom of Hawaii, has paradisiacal beaches such as Kaanapali Beach and the ocean waves that die on its shores are famous for sightings of right whales and sea turtles and the pleasure of surfers who ride them on boards or practice windsurfing; trekking enthusiasts ascend the 3,050 meters that lead to the edge of the Haleakala volcano.
During World War II, Maui was a residence and training center for US troops, reaching a concentration of 100,000 men.
Lanai is a smaller island in the shape of a comma, it was bought by James Dole in 1922 and turned it into the largest pineapple plantation in the world, reaching 75% of the market, in the 80s it diversified into tourism.
Another of the small islands is Molokai, with cracks and faults caused by volcanoes, which can sometimes be so deep and fractured that they cause a piece of island to fall into the ocean. A million and a half years ago, Moloka'i lost two thirds of its territory in minutes, and a huge cliff can now be seen where the landslide occurred.
For 100 years, a peninsula of the island with a landscape that takes your breath away as well as fascinates, served as a place of forced exile for leprosy patients. A Belgian priest who arrived in 1873 (Father Damien), accompanied the sick until he contracted the disease and died, he was later canonized.
On this island, the luthiers specialize in building ukuleles (ukuleles), a small four-string guitar that plays Hawaiian rhythms
Oahu, colonized by the English navigator James Cook in 1778, is another of the largest islands with almost a million inhabitants. There is the capital, Honolulu, a cosmopolitan city of innumerable skyscrapers on the Waikiki coast that ends at the foot of the extinct Diamond Head volcano.
It is a beach with calm waters where you dream of witnessing the sunset on the sea horizon, it is the moment when large gas torches are lit on the coastal avenue, complementing the lighting and opening the doors to the active nightlife of bars, pubs and restaurants. or a simple walk along the Kalākaua coastal avenue, with street performances for all ages.
You can also enter the unmissable International Marketing Place, where you can enjoy the Royal Hawaiian Center, the lilting dance of Hawaiian dancers to the rhythm of typical instruments or the melodious singing of their ancestral language accompanied by ukuleles.
This island visited by five million tourists a year, especially Orientals, Americans and Canadians, offers the perfect mix of sand, surf, art and culture.
On the north coast, the resort of Waimea Bay is sought after in winter for international surfing championships for its magnificent giant waves of 6 to 12 meters produced by the shock of the current with the submerged volcanoes.
Kauai is called the "garden island" for the exuberance of its tropical forest. It is the oldest, it has sixty beaches, waterfalls and spectacular cliffs that have served as the background for Hollywood productions (Jurassic Park, Lost, Magnun, In Search of the Lost Emerald).
Waimea Canyon, 10 miles long, commands respect for visitors and delights photographers from the National Park viewpoint, 900 m high.
This island holds the world record for annual rainfall and, as its volcanic structure is porous, the water is incorporated into the terrain and when it comes out by slopes, it produces spectacular waterfalls, which erode the slopes, leaving large cliffs.
The mineral component of the earth, very rich in iron and the abundance of water, produces in this the oldest of the islands, the oxidation of the metal and in thousands of years it disintegrates like a corroded piece of iron; Inexorably, over time, Kauai will disappear below the surface of the sea, joining the others that came before it.
Pearl harbor
The epic lived at the Pearl Harbor Naval Air Base, in the south of the island, deserves a separate chapter. In December 1941, it was attacked by surprise by the naval aviation of the Empire of Japan, causing serious human and material damage, for which the United States entered to participate in World War II. You cannot go through Oahu without making this visit.
