Most of our day today was dedicated to hiking out to explore Kalaupapa. Kalaupapa is a leprous settlement on the north side of the island. In 1866, the Hawaiians who used it as a fishing and taro planting site for the royalty were evacuated to make it the natural prison for those who were suspected of or contracted leprosy in Hawaii. The Pacific ocean and range of 1600ft (488m) sea cliffs which separated this peninsula from the rest of Molokai was the perfect setting to isolate lepers. It was the Hawaiian government's desperate effort to control this feared and largely misunderstood disease in the 1880s. Separated from their families and banished from the rest of civilization as cursed beings, they were forced to live in isolation here until their slow painful deaths. There's only one land route which leads in to this area - a steep hike down a 3 mile trail used by the ancient Hawaiians descending 1,600ft down the cliff along canyons and ravines. Once there, it is only accessible by joining a tour through the town for $60 and no one below the age of 16 is allowed. Instead of paying $200 for a roundtrip mule ride up and down the trail, we decided to hike it and get some exercise.
Despite how steep the trail was as we passed 26 switchbacks, we were surprised that it only took us 1 hour to get down to the bottom. It was a little tough on the knees but otherwise quite doable. The view of the bluest ocean on the horizon and this remote land was breathtaking. There are spectacular northshore sea cliffs which are the highest in all of the United States, narrow lush valleys and vital watersheds, a volcanic crater and untouched shores.
Until an amazing priest called Father Damien took it upon himself to care for the lepers who were left here in 1873, this harsh windside locale was void of any amenities, buildings, shelters, or drinkable water. The people lived in rock enclosures, caves and shacks made of leaves and sticks. Until he himself succumbed to his death 16 years later to leprosy himself, he singlehandedly gave his life not only to being their priest but a carpenter, doctor, farmer, music teacher, engineer and even built a piping system all along the coastline through cement a pipeline to draw drinkable spring water from the cliffs down to the peninsula for the parishioners. Today it is largely occupied by the last remaining former patients who wish to live out the rest of their lives in peace and quiet. Coming here, the deadening silence all around is a tribute to the people who in the face of adversity and stigmatization by a misunderstood disease had the courage and will to survive, make the most of what little they had and go on living. When we came home, we rented the movie Molokai to see the story being told on film. It was heartwarming story of a rare glimpse of selfless love in the midst of adversity and beautiful to see the star-studded cast who brought it to life.
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| Kalaupapa trail |
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| our glimpse of Kalaupapa from the trail and the pristine oceans here |
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| View of where the first lepers were brought on ships at Kalawao |
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| the isolated beach we finally arrived at at the end of the trail |
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| At Kalaupapa looking west towards the seacliffs we came down from |
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| the seacliff showing the trail path we came down on |
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| homes of Kalaupapa's inhabitants |
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| A sign at a local Kalaupapa night bar epitomizes the laid back mentality of Molokai inhabitants |
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| such an old school gas station at Kalaupapa |
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| Father Damien's church, the only remnant of the buildings he built here |
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| untouched coastline of Kalaupapa with the tallest sea cliffs in the US in the background |
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| the sunset at Maunaloa on the western tip of Molokai |
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