West Maui

On Friday morning before heading to Camp Olowalu, on the south side of Lahaina, I decided to spend some time at the beach in Kihei and checking out the town.  It was another gorgeous day and the beach was extremely hot.  The market place in the town of Kihei had a lot of little shops and restaurants.  After getting a nice lunch outside I took the drive over to the campground which was only suppose to be about 25 minutes away.  There was bumper to bumper traffic and it ended up taking well over an hour to get to the campground.

My original plan was to stay at Camp Olowalu until Monday and then head further North and check out Honolua Bay until Wednesday.  After being at the grounds for just a day or two and talking to other campers, there was no point in leaving.  First off, there were no other campgrounds further North and Honolua Bay was only a thirty minute drive away.

Camp Olowalu had the nicest amenities of any of the campgrounds I had been to this far so that also made it very hard to want to leave.  At $20/pp/day they had nice showers and flush toilets.  Which in comparison the other campground had pit toilets, which can get quite stinky, and no showers, but it was free to stay there with a national park pass.  Camp Olowalu sat at the foot of the Olowalu Valley in the West Maui Mountains and was private property that granted you beach access to a coral reef where everyday I was snorkeling with sea turtles and plenty of fish.  Tons of boats brought snorkel groups over everyday and I got access to it morning, noon, and night for free!  I couldn't believe how vastly different the water conditions were from the other beaches I had been too.  The water was so shallow and so calm it was incredible.

The first night there was pretty quiet.  By the time I set up camp it was already dark so I decided to call it a night.  The next  day I went to the general store to get some supplies and spent most of the day exploring and snorkeling.  The general store had better prices than in Hana but the selection was much more limited.  Just to give everyone an idea I bought a can of Pringles for $4, a six-pack of beer was $10, but they had no cheese or meat like the Hana general store.  Luckily, Lahaina was 15 minutes away so I knew I was probably going to just go out to eat most nights.

That day my new neighbors, Lindsay and Jonah, a married couple who run a photography business in Bakersfield, California arrived and were staying until Wednesday the 18th.  We had basically done the opposite trip where they were headed to Hana and helped persuade me to stay because there was nothing North of where we were.  They also had just come from Kauai and gave me tons of great suggestions.  They were actually hired to come to Hawaii for an anniversary shoot for friends of theirs from California and were making a vacation out of it.

That night I hung out at the Wi-fi spot and charging station talking to a bunch of people and listening to music.  Yes a charging station and Wi-fi something else I was not used to at any of the other campgrounds.  I ended up hanging out with a local guy named Will who winded-up being my guide to West Maui for the rest of the week.

Let me start by saying I am very hesitate to talk about this man at all.  He made it very clear that prefers to stay under the radar.  I also hesitate to speak about him because if I were to discuss even half of what this guy told me you all would think I was totally crazy and tell me to run and fast.  Bottom line, I am very skeptical to believe most of the things that he told me.  I guess we shall see if he is another Maui bullshit artist.

On Sunday Lindsay, Jonah, and I decided to rent paddle boards.  Will had his own and didn't have to. We paddled all day and were out on the water watching the most gorgeous sunset right on the horizon.  Of course the photographers were very upset that it was not captured by film or photo.  I unfortunately broke my cheap Japanese like Go-Pro so they had already promised to send me all the underwater shots from snorkeling.  We rented the paddle boards for 24 hours so Will planned out a very detailed and elaborate day hitting all the best spots in West Maui.

On Monday, we got up nice and early piled all the paddle boards on Will's car and headed for Wahikuli Beach Park.  It was another great spot for stand up paddle boarding and swimming with sea turtles.  After dropping off the boards we headed to Honolua Bay which was a very beautiful and diverse place.  Honolua Bay is either extremely calm and provides some of the best snorkeling around or is extremely rough and houses some pretty epic surf competitions.  Winter tends to be a surf time for the area but it was very calm when we were there but we decided to check out the scenic cliff views rather than snorkel.

Once we left the bay we went to an amazing breakfast, even though it was lunch time, at the Gazebo Restaurant.  I was dying to try macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup.  I ended up getting white chocolate macadamia nut pancakes which were amazing, and I am totally NOT a sweet tooth type.  The coconut syrup though was super sweet.  Honestly the pancakes were so good, no syrup required.  After lunch we went Dragon's Teeth another iconic landmark and picked up some fresh fish to cook for dinner.  After watching the sunset in Lahaina, we went back to camp and make some deliciously fresh walu and ono.  We also had fresh ahi poke which was the most delicious sushi I ever had in my life.  After dinner Lindsay and Jonah went to bed pretty early and Will and I stayed up late talking.  I was probing and digging deeper about a lot of the things he was telling me.

The next day, Tuesday, was all of our last day together.  Lindsay and Jonah were headed to Hana on Wednesday, I was headed to Oahu to meet my mom, and Will no one, including himself really knew what his plan was.  His story was that he was living with his girlfriend and they recently broke up.  He didn't have to work and was enjoying this time to himself.  It all seemed a little suspicious to me.  I took Will's paddle board out for the afternoon while he returned some phone calls. went to Lahaina and got caught up on work.  Lindsay and Jonah spent the day snorkeling.

Tuesday night, Lindsay and Jonah's friends came in from Oahu for their anniversary shoot so they went into downtown Lahaina with them.  Will took me to a show called Unalena, which was a beautiful musical about the history of the Hawaiian people.  Afterwards, we walked up and down Front St. and he took me to dinner at this restaurant right next to a traditional  Luau so that I could watch the dancers without having to eat a five course meal.  He said that it's totally not worth it and I believe him.  I just wanted to see the performance which is why we went to Unalena and why he brought me to a restaurant next store.  He wants to come meet me in Kauai, I told him I would think about it.  I don't know if I trust him.  Some of the stuff he said is just so unbelievable.  I don't want to keep questioning.  I don't want to ask him to proof it.  The bottom line is he seems to have a lot going on in his life right now and not for the good.  I don't want to surround myself with that.  As much as I would like to help him and he seemed like a nice person, I really don't think I want to have any part of it.  The bigger reason is this my adventure, my trip I am the lone wolf.  And although Lindsay and Jonah didn't understand my name because wolves travel in packs, I don't really want a companion.  The point is me standing on my own two feet and leaving "the pack" for awhile to find my own way.

Traveling to Oahu today to meet my mom for ten days!  I am super excited and I know we are going to have a great time together! I'm getting better with my Hawaiian pronounications so hopefully I will be able to help here along because she is pretty bad.

AROOOOOO!!!!! 🌈🌊🌺🍍🕉🤙🐢🐋🐠

Song of the Day - Don't know how much longer the reggae island theme will last.  If there is a song worth discussing here I will definite mention it.

I know today I picked Jack Johnson because he lives on the North Shore of Oahu and I love this song from high school and my friend Katey!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/cteijelo/playlist/1uNEjK1mra1y0s3gAkTEZ4

Instagram: lone_she_wolf