L AT I M E S .
C OM / T RAVE L
AT LIMAHULI GARDEN west of Hanalei, the Canoe Garden is planted with items representing what roving Polynesians carried to the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
KAUAI
ITS ROOTS RUN DEEP
BY ARNIE COOPER >>> For all of Hawaii’s natural wonders, enjoying a forest here in its native state isn’t easy. You can endure a strenuous
hike in the mountains — or you could drive past Hanalei Bay on the North Shore of Kauai to a parcel of magnificent terrain presided over by
the lush twin peaks of Makana Mountain. ¶ Today, the area comprises the Limahuli Garden & Preserve, a botanical masterpiece housing
archaeological sites linked by a three-quarter-mile loop trail highlighting about 250 species of plants. These include those carried here by
Polynesians as well as later introductions to the island.
Limahuli is one of five National
Tropical Botanical Gardens in the
U.S., three of which are on Kauai.
But the Allerton and McBryde gar-
dens on the more developed south-
ern side of the isle offer a less natu-
ral experience.
A visit to the 23-year-old
Limahuli Preserve is often com-
bined with a day trip to the Kalalau
Trail (the only land access to the
secluded Na Pali Coast) just half a
mile away.
I arrived at the garden eager to
learn about early Hawaii and was
awestruck by the Limahuli Valley,
in the shadow of Makana Moun-
tain, the inspiration for Bali Hai in
the 1958 blockbuster “South Pa-
cific.”
It was hard not to be mesmer-
ized by the green hues and velvet-
like textures of the vegetation
framed by a blue sky dotted with
fast-moving white clouds.
Limahuli, which means “turn-
ing hands,” is much more than just
a pretty place. Said Kawika Winter,
the garden’s director: “People drive
to the end of the road … hike the
trail and look at the coastline, but
what many don’t recognize is that
they’re standing in the most biodi-
verse eco region of the entire
[Hawaiian] archipelago in a place
A TASTE YOU WON’T FORGET
Li hing, a sweet/sour snack,
will give you a distinctive
flavor of the islands. You’ll
encounter it everywhere.
By Catharine Hamm
HONOLULU — Kathy Weber
reacted to three little words ubiqui-
tous in Hawaii the way many peo-
ple do: She scrunched up her face.
Her mouth started watering — and
not in a good way. And she said al-
most breathlessly, “Oh, my. I re-
member those.”
“Those” are li hing mui, also
known as Chinese crack seed. Any-
one who has spent time here, as We-
ber did in her childhood, knows
about li hing mui, which means
“traveling plum.”
They also know that this snack
can turn your mouth inside out
with its powerful sweet/sour flavor.
That’s because it’s a “plum that
is picked green, which means it is
inherently sour and slightly bitter,”
560
Limahuli Garden
& Preserve
Hanalei
Na Pali Coast 56
State Wilderness
Park
Kauai
Lihue
50
10 MILES
HAWAII
Oahu
Honolulu Maui
Pacific Ocean
Hawaii
100 MILES
Sources: Mapzen, OpenStreetMap
Los Angeles Times
with a very deep cultural history.”
The 17-acre garden, set in the
narrow valley, is a living demon-
stration of resource management
developed and practiced by the
Polynesians, said to have arrived
on the island as early as 200.
And those turning hands? They
said Grant Sato, a chef instructor
in the culinary arts department at
the University of Hawaii at Kapi-
olani Community College.
The fruit is dehydrated and re-
hydrated several times in a sugar
syrup, he said.
During processing, pieces of the
plum that broke off were ground
into dust, he said, and, hello, flavor-
ings for margaritas, baby back ribs,
gummy bears and more — li hing
everything.
On a September trip to Oahu, I
created a short li hing trail, which
led me to different parts of the is-
land:
Aloha Stadium Swap Meet
& Marketplace
Meet Shin Lin, or, as a customer
once dubbed him, “Pineapple
Man.” One of the best bargains at
the Sunday-Wednesday-Saturday
marketplace is Lin’s li hing-fla-
vored pineapple chunks for $4.
Lin let me sample the goods be-
fore I forked over my money for the
Maui-grown, Honolulu-flavored
pineapple, but he knew I wouldn’t
If you go
THE BEST WAY
TO LIHUE, KAUAI
From LAX, United, American,
Delta and Hawaiian offer nonstop
service to Lihue, Kauai. Restricted
round-trip airfares from $536,
including taxes and fees.
Limahuli Garden & Preserve,
5-8291 Kuhio Highway, Hanalei,
Hawaii; ntbg.org/gardens/limahuli.
Self-guided tours 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
Tuesdays-Saturdays. $20 for
adults, $10 for children younger
than 17.
refer to those responsible for build-
ing lava rock terraces, which sup-
ported the growth of taro, a source
of nutrition for the ancient people.
I encountered those terraces,
still planted with taro, on the way
to the Canoe Garden, my first stop
as I snaked my way uphill on a self-
guided tour.
This particular garden, so
named because many of the plants
were carried here by Polynesians in
their canoes, is set among the ar-
chaeological vestiges of a farming
complex that once sustained the
be able to resist after one bite.
He was right.
Info: Aloha Stadium Swap Meet
& Marketplace, 99-500 Salt Lake
Blvd., Aiea, about 25 minutes from
Waikiki. The marketplace is open 8
a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays, Wednesdays
and Saturdays. (The swap meet
opens at 6:30 a.m. Sundays.)
Lin also has a bricks-and-mor-
tar store that sells all manner of li
hing products (and more) at Lin’s
Hawaiian Snacks, 401 Kamakee St.,
Honolulu. The variety is amazing,
and the old-fashioned canisters re-
call days when good things came in
glass jars, not packages.
The Local
After visiting some old haunts in
Kailua, I headed to the Local for
shave ice, where Caleb Carter was
about to make magic for my parch-
ed mouth.
The secret to great shave ice, he
said, is very fresh ice. The secret to
this strawberry li hing concoction,
he added, is the strawberries,
grown on the slopes of Haleakala on
Maui.
S U NDAY , O C T O B E R 15, 2 017
community and is thought to be
one of the Hawaiian Islands’ earli-
est settlements.
“Our ancestors packed their ca-
noes with these ‘botanical tool kits’
— all the things needed to survive:
food, clothing medicine, religion
and ceremonial items,” Winter
said.
The islands at that time had few
edible plants and, except for some
flightless birds, no mammals to
hunt. No wonder those vessels
were packed with some 27 varieties
of plants along with jungle fowl,
pigs, rats and dogs.
As I climbed higher, I
passed patches of sweet potato,
banana and turmeric, finally arriv-
ing at a display of niu, or coconut
palm. It too was brought by the
Polynesians.
The same goes for ko, or sugar
cane, also planted here. This mem-
ber of the grass family once consti-
tuted an important industry in the
state, but the last plantation — on
Maui — closed in 2016.
I also encountered a stand of
awapuhi, or shampoo ginger,
known for its hair-moisturizing
properties. In late summer, it re-
veals red or purple flower heads
and a soapy, aromatic sap.
The Plantation Era Garden,
latimes.com
/travel
On the trail
Find more li hing mui spots and
read a panel’s reactions to li hing
mui (not so good) and li-hing-
flavored snacks (pretty good).
It’s a secret to savor. The syrup
made it not too sweet, not too tart
and just right for an afternoon so
warm that it soon became a slushy
drink, which was good too.
Info: The Local, 131 Hekili St.,
Kailua. $5.50 for shave ice.
Leonard’s Malasadamobile
Can you be in a bad mood in
Hawaii? Yes, you can, and I was on
another day on Oahu.
And then I saw it: a red-and-
white striped Leonard’s Malasada-
mobile parked in the Koko Marina
shopping center in Hawaii Kai.
Amazing how a little Portuguese
doughnut can turn your day
L3
Christopher Chamness
named for the plants brought to
the islands in the last 200 years,
was my final stop along the trail.
Winter described it as “more
emblematic of the landscaping
you see around family homes.
Many of the plants that have be-
come iconic symbols of Hawaii, like
the pineapple and the bird of para-
dise flower, actually have very shal-
low connections to Hawaiian cul-
ture.”
These plants and the brightly
colored orchids, mango, papaya,
gardenia and even plumeria ar-
rived with the immigrant workers
for the sugar plantations.
I contemplated all this at one of
my favorite spots in the garden, the
path that runs alongside Limahuli
Stream. There’s nothing like flow-
ing water to calm the minds and
bring the whole scene into sharp
relief.
“It’s one of the last pristine
streams in all of Hawaii. Even just
to get a moment to sit and observe
that — it’s very Zen-like,” Winter
said.
It’s also the ideal place to thank
those ancient and not-so-ancient
settlers for making this place the
verdant paradise it is today.
travel@latimes.com
around, especially one dusted with
li hing-flavored sugar.
You can try custard-filled,
chocolate, cinnamon-sugar or
coconut malasadas, but … why
would you? Li hing and Leonard’s is
the quintessential Hawaiian mar-
riage.
Info: Leonard’s Malasadamo-
biles can be found in Hawaii Kai at
the Koko Marina shopping center;
Pearlridge (near the Aloha Sta-
dium); and at Waikele Shopping
Center in Waipahu.
Mexico
It may seem un-Hawaiian to
have lunch in a Mexican eatery, but
Mexico restaurant beckoned me,
not only because of the cuisine but
also because of the li hing mui mar-
garita.
Frozen. Sweating a little. A bit
sweet, a bit tart, some triple sec,
some tequila, rimmed with li hing
mui powder, all for $10.
Info: Mexico restaurant, 1247 N.
School St., Honolulu.
travel@latimes.com