Whispers of a Summer on Maui
July 2009 Punzabo Winner
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Tucked away in the breezy calm of the Pacific Ocean, Maui is the jewel of the Hawaiian Islands. There is a blithe aura in the air, and any passer-by will gladly throw up the hang-loose gesture and bellow “Aloha!” in traditional Hawaiian hospitality.
Upon arriving in Maui it’s customary to be adorned with fresh flower lei, which is precisely how my two best friends and I were greeted when we vacationed to the island two summers ago. We were celebrating LaVon's sixteenth birthday and with one glance at the spectacular views surrounding us she, our friend Alice, and I knew we had chosen the right retreat.
After throwing our baggage into our beachfront villa, we went for a jog. Maui features sand and shore in virtually every direction, and it’s all as pallid and pure as the summer sun. The vision on that jog was spectacular – azure ocean paired with distant royal mountains – and our threesome was immediately inspired to plan the rest of the week. We decided that we wanted a full taste of Maui; we arranged snorkeling, diving in the Seven Sacred Pools, hiking through the Haleakala Crater, and attending a luau.
The week we planned for Maui seemed to be ideal. We were wrong.
Snorkeling proved to be a new experience for all of us, but Alice was terrified of the fish and LaVon forgot to wear her contacts and so she didn’t see a thing. Moreover, the sunscreen that we applied slid off in the water, so our backs baked in the sun all afternoon and we each ended up with gruesome sunburns.
During our hike to the Seven Sacred Pools, the three of us witnessed some of the most breathtaking nature that Hawaii has to offer. The path was lined with vibrant flowers and majestic trees; when we finally arrived at the Pools, we were faced with a glorious waterfall. The three of us dove off the shallow cliffs into the cascading water and found ourselves in pure bliss until on the way back we all slipped in a puddle of mud and dirtied our shoes and clothes.
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