Hawaii
November 5-28, 2011
hawaii - november 12
Kipahulu and the Pipiwai Trail
Lindbergh
One of the lesser known attractions in the area of Kipahulu National Park is the church where the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh was buried. We decided to check it out and take the opportunity to learn a bit about this historic man:
In 1927 the world held its breath as this 25 -year-old airmail carrier fought weather and fatigue-induced hallucinations for 33 1/2 hours to become the first man to cross the Atlantic solo in an airplane. One of the greatest feats of his time, it was celebrated as much in its day as the moonshot was years later. Lindbergh hadn't been able to sleep the night before his flight left New York, so when he landed in Paris, he had been awake for nearly 60 hours. Some 150,000 screaming well-wishers met his plane in Paris and more than 4 million later turned out for him when he returned to New York.
After the flight, Charles Lindbergh became the century's first media superstar. His life was followed with more interest than any man alive at the time. He represented the very heart and soul of aviation and was a worldwide hero. When his baby was kidnapped a few years later, the ransom demands went on for 2 1/2 months, and the baby was eventually found dead just a few miles from his house. (The infant never even made it out of the house alive; he died when the kidnapper's ladder broke on the way out the window.) The Lindbergh baby kidnapping trial was called the trial of the century.
In later life, when Lindbergh's old friend Sam Pryor told him, "I have found heaven on earth and it is at Kipahulu, Maui,"Lindbergh visited his friend and was immediately smitten with this part of Maui. He built a home here and spent the last six years of his life in East Maui.
In 1972 Lindbergh was diagnosed with lymphosarcoma and eventually the cancer spread to his lungs. He decided he wanted to come back to Maui for his last days and spent his last week planning his funeral. On August 26, 1974, he died and as the small funeral procession passed the tourists visiting the "Seven Sacred Pools", none had any idea who it was. Fewer than 15 people were invited to attend.
A short distance from Lindbergh are the graves of Sam Pryor and his wife along with six small graves of Sam's "children", his Asian gibbons that he took with him wherever he went.
At the entrance to the church yard is a giant banyan tree.
Samantha searching through the aerial roots of the banyan tree for a micro (!) geocache.
Swiss cheese plant (so named for it's 'holey' leaves) growing around a larger tree.
Ho'omau Church were the world's greates aviator, Charles Lindbergh is buried.
At the entrance to the church a plaque reminds visitors that this is primarily a holy site, not a tourist attraction, and to behave accordingly.
Charles Lindbergh's grave.
The headstone at Charles Lindbergh's grave.
Behind the cemetery is Kipahulu Point Park.
We had a late afternoon snack at Kipahulu Point Park.
The view of the coastline from Kipahulu Point Park.
The lava rocks are integrated into the architecture of the church.
The colours of the flowers against the greenery and gray skies was so stunning that we stopped for a picture.
A waterfall along the way back to our camp site.
Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis). The short, thick-necked Cattle Egret spends most of its time in fields foraging at the feet of grazing cattle, head bobbing with each step, or rides on their backs to pick at ticks. This stocky white heron has yellow plumes on its head and neck during breeding season. Originally from Africa, it found its way to North America in 1953 and quickly spread across the continent. Elsewhere in the world, it forages alongside camels, ostriches, rhinos, and tortoises—as well as farmers’ tractors.
Memories of the Maritimes... a buoy tree! :)
[ Pipiwai Trail - Part 1 | Pipiwai Trail - Part 2 | Oheo Pools | Lindbergh | Venus Pool ]
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