July 21, 2024
Welcome back Maui 3A friends and family! It’s tough to believe that our trip is already halfway over, but we’re excited to report that the group has hit its stride and is having an amazing time. Day 6 began well after the sun rose and we enjoyed an enormous breakfast before today’s activity, rappelling at The Garden of Eden. LOD’s John and Julia cheffed up bacon, eggs, and pancake, which they executed breakfast excellently.
With the group fueled up, we drove the winding roads through beautiful forest canopies and spotted waterfalls and glimpses of the ocean from the van the entire way. At the Garden of Eden, we were welcomed by female peacocks and their chicks as well as our guides. Taylor and Gracie were fascinated by the peacock’s colors and tried to get them to show off their feathers. Once we’d soaked in the beautiful scenery, we geared up and mentally prepared for rappelling. On the docket today, we had three impressive waterfall rappels with the tallest one being over 60ft. However, to start the guides tested our form and guts on the practice rappel. Jack and John shook off their cold feet on this one while Walter flew down the rock face in under 5 seconds. Regardless of prior experience, everyone was ready to dominate the tougher waterfall rapells that followed. Jack and John were eager to prove themselves, so they volunteered to lead the boys down the second rappel. Without slipping or sliding, the two fought through a heavy onslaught of water and safely jumped into the fresh water pool below. At the surface there was a cool cave overlooking the pool that you could climb into. Graham, Jordan, and Thomas B. couldn’t get enough of the water and continued to climb up the cave and jump into the water while everyone else finished the rappel. With one more rappel to go everyone was in good spirits and confidence was at an all time high. Susu and Johnsie pointed out that now that we’d done the 60 ft waterfall rappel, the final rappel would be a piece of cake. Her wisdom proved to be correct. Everyone crushed the final rappel, and we were so fast that we got some extra time to enjoy the water all together. The boys, led by Graham and Thomas, climbed back up the waterfall and got some awesome GoPro footage of the water slamming down upon them while they braced themselves below. Rappelling was one of the best activities of the trip thanks to the kids’ bravery and the amazing help from our guides.
After our rappelling success, the LODs agreed that the group deserved a special treat, so we went and got ice cream! We stopped in the nearby town of Paia which is full of artisan shops and funky restaurants. With the budget for not just one for two flavors of ice cream, everyone debated their choices and sampled a minimum of three flavors before deciding. Taylor’s acai choice caught some envious eyes, and John’s strawberry and chocolate combo was a cover of an all time classic. Everyone enjoyed a relaxing afternoon of ice cream, shopping, and wandering around the small town, and Graham and Walter were even lucky enough to run into Moondance Maui legend Griff who was passing through.
Back at camp, we enjoyed a dinner of pasta with alfredo sauce brought to us by our awesome cook crew of Thomas, Walter, Jordan, Susu, and Gracie. We capped off the night with some chill hammock time before moonup led by our LODs. It was a busy but fulfilling day, and we can’t wait for the next!
Today is the day! Windsurfing day 1 has arrived! Windsurfing is always one of the most anticipated and feared activities for kids because of its unfamiliar nature. However, with the energetic attitudes that this group brings to every activity, their success was inevitable. We kicked off the day with an early wake up and quick bite to eat before heading to the beach. The LODs today were none other than the twin team of Walter and Jordan, who got everyone up and at’em bright and early. At the Beach park, we met with our esteemed outfitters who hold some impressive windsurfing resumes. One of our guides even told us that he’s trying to go to the Olympics for windsurfing which no one knew was even possible! With the assurance that we were in good hands we listened attentively to our guides as they gave the on-land lesson. Jack and Gracie crushed the quiz on each part of the windsurf board and had a passing understanding of which way was upwind and downwind. Our newly learned knowledge prepared us nicely when we finally got in the water because windsurfing is as tough as it sounds. Wipe out after wipe out, the entire group shook up the sand at the ocean floor and splashed around enough to scare away all the fish. However, no one gave up. Finally Jack and Thomas completed a successful run out to sea and executed some impressive jibe maneuvers to steer themselves back to shore. Johnsie and Susu were the next group to show off their skills where they not only caught some speed but also executed a tack to turn around. The guides were impressed with this groups’ grit to fight through some early struggles and really enjoy a challenging activity.
Today’s trials and tribulations were far from over though. Our next stop on today’s schedule was a State Park in the West Maui Mountains. While our campsite also sits at the base of this 2 million year old dormant volcanic structure, the landscapes could not be more different. Our campsite is on the leeward side so it receives much less wind and weather which makes it hot and dry. TheState Park meanwhile, is one the windward side and over the last couple million years, it has developed into a lush and flowing valley. Not only is the valley beautiful, but it’s also one of the major cultural hubs of native Maui peoples due to its agricultural value. Therefore, it’s also the home of one the most brutal battles in Maui history. Legends say that you can still hear the battle yells echo off the walls of the valley today.
While we didn’t hear any terrifying echoes on our visit, we certainly enjoyed the amazing views and our winding hike along the valley stream. At the end point of the hike when the trail went no further, John and Thomas plunged into the fresh water and continued up the stream, leading the group further down the water. The boys spent the entire afternoon jumping from rock to rock exploring the stream and following our little adventurers, John and Thomas. The girls enjoyed some exploring of their own and found that the cool fresh water was much more inviting than the saltwater had become accustomed to. All in all, the Valley was an amazing opportunity to learn more about Maui history and unlock the group’s adventurous spirit.
Back at camp, thanks to Taylor’s expert recommendation, the group upheld American tradition and had burgers and dogs for dinner. To round out the meal we added mac n cheese brought to you by Julia and Gracie with a side of watermelon brought to you by Jordan. For the burgers, we favored speed over size so we elected to do smash burgers on our mini blackstone. John and Susu loved smashing the burgers with a frying pan while Thomas B. cooked each burger to crispy perfection. Thanks to the kids’ urgency to get dinner started early and cleaned quickly, we had plenty of time tonight for games which included Capture the Mascot and Family. We concluded another great day with Moonup before bed and another night of sleeping in our hammocks!
Day 8! Even with the earliest wake up call the group has had thus far, they rolled up to the morning huddle elated and eager to see what the day had in store. With a bit of a van ride over to Makena, everyone passed around some fig bars and apples for breakfast, fueling us up to begin our jam packed day! Once we arrived at Makena Landing for sea kayaking, our LODs Johnsie and Jack got the group stretched and equipped with all of the proper sun protection gear. Susu was so excited about being able to see the sea floor from the surface and quickly alerted the group to check it out as well. Our outfitter, Griff, gave a super fun and interesting crash course on the history of Maui, the surrounding mountains, and how the ecosystems we were seeing below all intersect. After a mix of some splash battles led by Jordan and Will’s boat and some quiet time at sea, the “Moondance fleet” arrived at our snorkeling spot. Anchored down next to a beautiful cove in the water, we put our flippers and masks on as quickly as possible to be greeted by all sorts of exotic fish like Parrot Fish and Moorish Idol. Everyone took on their own goals when we hit the water; Taylor and Jordan practiced their free diving skills while Julia and Johnsie got some amazing GoPro footage. Thomas B even found a school of fish that even the guides couldn’t name. It’s safe to say that this group is “one with the water” and certainly takes advantage of all the time they’re given during each activity.
Once the group was back on the sand, we wasted no time and headed straight back to camp to get some lunch. Today’s spread was BYO sandwiches with some fresh fruit off the trees around the campsite. Moving along, we filed back into the van and rode over to Pono Grown Farm for an afternoon of volunteer work. As we pulled onto the property, we were greeted by the owner Evan who made us feel so at home immediately. After an introduction to Maui, the farm, and each other, we got straight to work. Today’s project was seeding tomato and cauliflower plants and getting them into the greenhouse. This work felt a whole lot like play since it was in such good company, this downtime in randomized groups allowed for students to get to know each other even better and Evan even made a comment to leaders about how special this group’s bond was. The student’s genuine interest in the tasks they were assigned was evident with hands flying up with burning questions about the farm itself and Maui’s ecological landscape. While Walter and Johnsie tag-teamed the tomato plants, John and Graham were covered head to toe with dirt from their job of shoveling soil for the new plants. Our group makes a great team and knocked this project out of the park. Once the hard work was over, Evan let everyone take a spin (or seven) on his homemade water slide! This was a much anticipated experience for all the kids and they were even more excited to see Beija, Evan’s son, show them how it was done. Graham fearlessly volunteered to go first and the others quickly followed suit with John and Thomas B forming a train while going down. The girls took a different approach and tested the head-first method which had them squealing all the way down with a photo op from Maddie waiting at the bottom of the slide with the camera. After numerous rides down, the boys went out with a bang and successfully made it all the way down connected in a chain. This was an amazing experience for students to become connected with the land they have been enjoying and give back to the community by helping to sustainably grow food for the community.
Next up on the Maui farm tour, a Community Farm! Keeping up the energy, everyone arrived at the farm ready to learn about regenerative agriculture and be led through an amazing cooking class from the owner, Winsome! As Winsome says, “you lose some, you Win-some” and our evening at the farm was full of nothing but wins! We were off to a great start after devouring a giant platter of fresh fruit and quickly moved into the farm tour portion of this activity. Jack and John proved themselves in the farming industry with their impressive machete skills in helping harvest bananas from the tree. Turns out, the group had many naturals like Susu and Taylor, as we moved through the tour and collected our dinner ingredients; papayas, finger limes, and taros. After returning to the kitchen area and assigning stations, the real fun began! With Jordan on watermelon duty, Gracie preparing fresh limeade, and Johnsie on papaya-slaw duty with Jack, we were moving and grooving! Our meal of venison or barbecue pork tacos, a farm fresh salad, dragon fruit, and banana ice cream was adventurous for many but well received all around. It is so much fun to watch the students be introduced to new foods and cultures throughout the trip and we hope we share all the cooking skills they’ve acquired with you all at home. After dinner, the group was still having a ball and buzzing from an energy-giving meal that we decided to take the fun to the next level, literally and figuratively with a photoshoot on the kitchen’s roof underneath an almost full moon!
You know what they say, it ain’t over til it’s over! To wrap up our perfect Maui day, our LODs decided to close out with a fire and some smores back at camp. We played a couple rounds of the game “Family” while enjoying our dessert (our second one, yes, but who’s counting). After a win for Gracie in the books, we had moonup around the fire and caught some Z’s under the stars.
Aloha! The group woke up ready to get back out on the windsurfing boards this morning after a delicious eggs and bacon breakfast led by our LODs Taylor and Jack. Thanks to Julia’s song requests everyone hopped out of the van with energy and motivation to master this skill. Jumping straight into it, Jack showed the group his talent by zipping way out past the rocks while Julia and Gracie hopped on the same board and shredded tandem style. John and Maddie didn’t have the same luck riding tandem, but certainly had a lot of laughs. Once again, the guides were so impressed with our group’s attitudes and willingness to keep trying even when the wind had other plans for us. Will perfected the 360° sail turn trick and spent the end of the session teaching Thomas B and Susu the ropes. The leaders are so proud of this group’s determination and we said goodbye to our amazing guides as we headed toward Kapalua for lunch.
We spent our afternoon in the beautiful area of Kapalua, famous for its beautiful coastline and golf course for any golf fans out there. Our hang out spot today was none other than our new favorite beach, Slaughterhouse. We spent the day relaxing in the secluded cove soaking up the sun and exploring the beachside caves. Time ran away from us and before we knew it, the sun was setting. The girls got some fun pictures during golden hour while the boys finished game 7 of their seven game spikeball series. We all indulged in our sweet tooths with some sherbert and cookies and cream ice cream. The entire evening felt as if it was out of a movie. We finished our day with moonup on the beach before using our local food stop. Everyone chowed down on fall off the bone ribs soaked in bbq sauce accompanied by sides of rice and mac n cheese. It was nice to let the professionals handle the cooking tonight and give all the kids a night to relax. We headed back to camp in the dark and went straight to bed in preparation for the home stretch of our trip. We have so many exciting activities to look forward to and moments to share the rest of the trip, and we can’t wait to see how these great kids make it special.