No Visitors Allowed

Take a vacation to Kauai, Hawaii, and look in to a mystery.

Once you are on Kauai, you will wonder about neighboring Ni'ihau, privately owned and closed to visitors. N''ihau was purchased by the Robinson family in 1864. The island measures 550 square miles, and is the westernmost of the main Hawaiian islands.

Ni'ihau (Nee-ee-how) is visible from the southwest shore of Kauai, lying low on the horizon 17 miles away. There are 200 or so native Hawaiians who live there and speak the Hawaiian language. In fact, it's the only place the language is spoken any more. It is taught in the island's only school, which goes K-8.

Ni'ihau residents travel freely between Kauai and Ni'ihau. They need to to get provisions for living on the dry island. Ni'ihau is a desert, shielded from wet trade winds by the mountain on Kauai, Wai-ale-ale, the "wettest spot on earth." Wai-ale-ale receives 460 inches of rainfall per year.

The Robinson family, which owns Ni'ihau, has maintained sheep ranches there.

The women of Ni'ihau string tiny shells into complex shell leis, a stunning folk art. Their families comb the beaches to find the miniature, pearl-like shells, collecting them in a variety of colors--whites, browns, and reds. Then they sort the shells. The artist uses a simple awl to make a hole in each tiny shell, breaking at least half of them in the process. Because there are no cars on the island, bicycles are plentify, and her awl may be made from a recycled bicycle spoke.

These tiny shells are still found on Ni'ihau, but not on neighboring Kauai where agricultural runoff has tended to kill off the shell-makers. The resulting shell leis are rare, hard to find, and precious.

Ni'ihau is mostly flat and sandy, except for an eroded lava dome on the east side facing Kauai. It also has two freshwater lakes. Is the lava dome the remains of Hawaii's oldest volcano? It would seem so, because Ni'ihau is on the opposite end of the island chain from the currently active volcanos on the Big Island of Hawaii. The islands were formed as the earth's outer crust moved over an active lava vent. Early Hawaiians thought Ni'ihau was the oldest island, naming it as the ancient original home of the volcano goddess Pele, who hopped from island to island with the active volcanos and now lives on the Big Island. But scientists say actually Kauai is the oldest island, and that Ni'ihau was formed by a side vent of the volcano that made Kauai.

Mysterious Ni'ihau lies in the distance. You'd love to go there. So you look for maps and pictures of the place. But what if you just have to go there? In fact, the Robinson family will let you come, for a healthy fee. A few helicopter tours to remote teaches are allowed now, as well as some hunting safaris to cull feral bighorn sheep and Polynesian boars. You can always scuba dive offshore, too.

Kauai is the gateway to Ni'ihau. It is also a great place to visit on its own. There are plenty of beaches to check out, and lots of activities. But what you won't want to miss is the Na Pali Coast on the northwest side of the island. a place of amazing beauty.

Article Source: http://www.triplexarticles.com

If you adore a puzzle, you'll visit Kauai for a Kauai Hawaii vacation. You'll want to read all about Niihau, the forbidden Hawaiian isplace, as well as about Kauai, place of lush natural beauty, from writer Phyllis Wheeler.

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