Ahihi-Kinau is a
restricted and beautiful part of Maui in the southwest corner of the island
that includes La Perouse Bay. It’s a nature sanctuary known for huge black lava
fields, great snorkeling, dolphins, a road built of lava rocks called the King’s
Highway or Hoapili Trail, and anchialine ponds near the ocean.
Anchialine pond near the ocean. Rare cyanobacteria, tiny Hawaiian shrimp, and migrating birds can be found here. |
Anchialine ponds
are landlocked bodies of water that have an underground connection to the ocean,
so the water is brackish. Ahihi-Kinau also has significant archaeological and
cultural sites. There are stories of a Hawaiian queen who bathed in one of the
shallow ponds.
In modern times, this area was used for WWII training
and bombing, and is close to another island across the water, called Kahoolawe,
which was also used for military training and bombing for decades after WWII.
The biggest problems of
Ahihi-Kinau include leftover military debris from bombing and training, wild
goats that create a lot of damage to native plants, and people who hike on
ecologically sensitive areas often bringing foreign plant matter, soil, or bugs
on their clothing and shoes.
Ahihi-Kinau is one of the
few reserves in Hawaii that protects an entire lava flow from the source to the
sea. You can read more about my experience volunteering at Ahihi-Kinau here.
If
you are participating in the A to Z Challenge, please use either
Disqus or Facebook to comment below. Please include your link so that I can
visit you back, but it might be as late as May! (I'm still not sure I'm fully committed to this,because of ahem, the "chicken terracing project," so if I can get through the first week... we'll see.)
Visit more posts in the Archives.
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