Aloha

As it is with everything in life, everything has its' end. We think of the past, usually with dreamy thoughts of how great it was. At least that's how it is for me. For over a week and a half, I have been reminiscing upon my recent trip to the Hawaiin Islands, specifically Maui. This year, I have been excited more than other times, due to my recent illness. It would be a time when the whole family would finally be able to get together and enjoy the fact that we have each other. Serious or tragic events in life remind us how quickly we can lose what we take for granted. 

Luckily, this trip took place on a beautiful island, letting my mind and body regenerate. There is something magical about Maui and they even have a saying 'Maui No Ka Oi' - Maui the best. 

The moment we got there, I felt my body slipping into the island pace. Waiting was no problem - we have time. Where are you going to rush? Why rush? Quickly does one embrace the pace and learns the motto of the locals: Aloha. What is Aloha? Aloha is hello, goodbye and love. So when you read on every local car or store 'Spread the Aloha'; it means to spread the love. 

The first couple days, I had to adapt to the time change. Coming from Prague, it was a 12 hour time difference. Snoozing under a palm tree, with waves crashing onto the lava wall wasn't such a bad sound to nap to. The only thing which might disturb you from your daily nap is the excited scream of mainland children, calling to their parents to notice the 2 ancient turtles munching on the algae, growing on the first reef. Watching the appetite of the turtles only makes you want to have a snack as well. My choice in the afternoon was fresh mango, brought by Uncle Herbie. Uncle Herbie is our Maui ohana (family) and he tends to other peoples gardens. He brings us fresh papaya and mango. Not to long ago, he found a tree or respectively two trees which have grown into each other - a tangerine and lime tree, creating what he calls a tangelime. This we put in our afternoon Corona, after a sweet day of snorkeling at Black Rock on Kaanapali Beach. The beach meant for the king is a beach which has been developed for tourists during the 60's and since then, has taken off. With no threats of sharks, people spend their honeymoon, family vacation or retirement on this regal beach. Black rock provides a safe haven for snorkelers, looking for fish of all kind, including the small herd of beautiful spotted eagle-ray. 
Thoughts of being bitten by a shark usually come when one goes to the notorious shark infested waters by the beach of Kihei, Makena and Wailea. These waters are best for scuba divers, but are not exactly the safest (in tourist terms) for snorkelers. Upon our arrival, we were informed by the local Maui news, that a young German girl had her arm bitten off while snorkeling in Wailea. The 20 year old died one week later due to her wounds. Although it is unfortunate for her and her family, there are certain rules one must abide by, before going into the territory of the mano (shark). 
Never enter the waters after a rain. The rain washes all the garbage from land into the water, creating a buffet for the sharks.
Never go into the waters during dawn, dusk or nighttime, since this is when sharks like to hunt the most. 
Always swim with a buddy. Sharks are less likely to attack a larger group.
Don't go into areas known for there to be sharks.
Never ever go into murky waters. Not even the local fisherman will continue his hunt in murky waters.
and last
You are in their territory. They are the kings.

to be continued... 

Maui from the air

Alaskan Airlines

@Kahului Airport - first view you get

Frankie & I ready!

Kahana beach

First rainbow from the hale (house)

Cheers!

Black Rock

the millions of hotels

and the first of the many beautiful sunsets in Maui...

Jako vsechno jiny v zivote, vse ma svuj konec. Myslime na minulost, vetsinou se zasnenymi myslenkami, jak to bylo skvely. Alespon to bylo takhle pro me. Uz tyden a pul dumam nad mym nedavnym vyletem na Havajske ostrovy, specificky na Maui. Letos jsem se obzvlast’ tesila a to hlavne kvuli me nedavne nemoci. Bylo by to cas kdy by konecne mohla cela rodina byt pohromade a uzivat si to, ze to tak muze byt. Vazny nebo tragicky udalosti v nasem zivote nas rychle pripomina jak rychle muzeme ztratit to, co bereme na lehkou vahu.

Nastesti tenhle vylet se konal na tento krasny ostrov, kde moje mysl a telo mohla regenerovat. Maui je necim kouzelny a maji i prislovi “Maui No Ka Oi” – Maui to nejlepsi.

V momente co jsme pristali, citila jsem jak moje telo se dostava do tempa ostrova. Cekani nebyl problem – mame cas. Kam budes spechat? Proc spechat? S otevrenou naruci clovek prijima tempo a uci se motto mistnich: Aloha. Co je Aloha? Aloha je ahoj, nashledanou a laska. Takze kdyz ctete na kazdem aute nebo obchode: Spread the Aloha (Sirte Alohu); znamena to sirte lasku.

Prvnich par dnu, jsem se musela prizpusobit k zmene casu. Casovy rozdil od Prahy je 12 hodin. Drimat pod palmy se zvukem vln mlatejici se o lavovy kamen neni tak spatna ukolebavka. Jediny co te tu muze rusit, je uteseny kric malych deti turistu, kdyz spatreji 3 metry od nich 2 praveke zelvy, zvejkajici vodni rasy u prvniho utesu.

Pri pohledu na zelvy vam pripomina, ze je cas na svacinu. Muj vyber pro odpoledni svacinu, byly cerstve papaye i manga od Uncle Herbie. Uncle Herbie je nase Maui ohana (rodina) a on se stara o zahrady residentu. Nedavno nasel strom, nebo respective 2 stromy, ktere srostly dohromady – mandarinka a limetka, z ceho se vytvorilo tzv.: tangelimetka

Tohle si uspesne davame do nasich odpolednich Coron, po libeznym dnu snorchlovani u Black Rock (Cerna Skala) na Kaanapali Beach. Plaz, jenz byla kralovska se stala turistickou destinaci  od zacatku sedesatych let a od te doby je to “to” misto. Bez ohrozeni kousnuti od zraloku, lide sem prijizdeji na libanky, rodinne dovolene a stravit svuj duchod na tento kralovsky plaz. O vikendu vidite jak ze scaly skacou mistni a predvadi sve salta dozadu a dopredu a popripadne turista na bricho. Black Rock poskytuje bezpecny misto pro snorkleri, kteri vyhledavaji ryby vseho druhu a to vcetne maleho stada krasnych manticu.

Myslenka, ze te kousne zralok vetsinou prijde, kdyz jste v teritoria techto ryb s nekonecnym pocet ostrich zubu. Teritorium techto zvirat je vsude na Maui, zejmena na Kihei, Wailea a Makena. Tyhle casti jsou uzasne pro spise potapece nez snorkleri (bubliny potapecu matou zraloky). V den kdy jsme prijeli, tak jsme byli informovani o mlade Nemce, ktery ji ukous zralok ruku, kdyz snorklovala v Wailea. Dvacetileta divka zemrela tyden na to v dusledku svych zraneni. Je to sice tragicka udalost, ale pokud jdete do vody jsou specificke pravidla, kterym se musi clovek ridit nez jde do teritoria mano (zralok).

Nikdy nejit do vody po desti. Dest smete vsechen odpad z pevniny do vody, tudiz vytvari bufac pro zraloky.

Nikdy neplavte pri usvite, zapadu a vet me, jelikoz je to cas kdy zralovi nejradeji loveji.

Vzdy plavat s nekym. Zraloci se vybaji vetsim skupinam.

Neplavte kde je to znamy misto zraloku.

Nikdy neplavte, kdyz je kalna voda. I domordsti rybari se vyhybaji vodam, kdyz je v kalna.

A jako posledni

Jsi v jejich teritorium. Oni jsou zde kralem.

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