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Showing posts with the label whale watching

MAGICAL LAHAINA: WHALES AND RAINBOWS

  We are this morning moored off Kailua-Kona, Big Island.   Yesterday was Lahaina.  I've walked through this town on numerous occasions, and drove past it more times than I can remember for golfing and stays in Kapalua and Kaanapali.  My remembrance was a hot and dusty sugar mill town, with an adjacent Pioneer Sugar Company. Well, yesterday, Day 51 of my cruise, might well have been the best yet, with only one more day to go in Kona.  Yes, I now use the term magical in reference to Lahaina.  Why?  Keep reading. A surprise to me is, by census standards, Lahaina is a widespread city, which includes Kaanapali and Kapalua.   All told, the area has a population of only 12,027.  However, this number jumps to 40,000 when you count tourists during the  high season , which is now--January to April--when the whales are most prominent.  Lele was an ancient name for Lahaina, which was the royal capital on the Maui high chief or king. King Kamehameha the Great conquered Maui and made Lahaina th