What a day it was. I got up really early to catch a 6 AM flight to the island of Kauai. This island is really small in size and you can drive all over it in a day. Even though it is small, there are enough activities to do & places to see. The flying time to Kauai was only 30 minutes and the weather that day was really sublime. I decided to get a convertible to maneuver around the island. I rented a Mustang and decided to go towards south side first. As I am always looking for great places to eat, I ended up at Kalaheo Café & coffee Co. for breakfast. OMG…it was a perfect little place and If people at restaurants ask you “what type of poached eggs you want” then you know they know their business and they’ll be bloody good.
One of the most absurd things I observed on this island was thousands of feral chickens and hens. Apparently one of the urban legends is that a chicken farm was blown away in a 1992 hurricane and all the chickens got loose and nobody ever was able to capture them again. So as a result they bred and spread throughout the island. One can easily spot them in the airport, malls and even freaking KFC’s parking. I am not sure how accurate this urban legend is but maybe that’s why it is an urban legend.
After breakfast I went to see Waimea Canyon, not as majestic as compared to the Grand Canyon but still it has its own charm and especially with beautiful vivid colors. While heading back I stopped at a state beach park just to take some photos after traversing through the missile launch base. Yup that’s right they have a secured missile launch base at the island, which prevents anyone to get to the beach … frustrating. It would have been really cool if they would have launched a test missile when I was there. It was time for lunch and what better way to do it than at a beach side restaurant – Duke’s Canyon Club. It is an upscale restaurant at the Marriott Hotel.However just before lunch I stumbled upon a small town where I met a couple who were world travelers, owners and cooks of an Indian restaurant and now settled in Kauai as the proud owners of an independent book store.
Kauai is also famous for coffee plantations and I paid a visit to one just for few minutes. By the evening I was on my way to the north side of the island – Princeville. It is a small luxurious community, which provides serene views of coastal landscapes. I had to hurry back to the airport to catch my late evening flight to Honolulu. There were still so many areas and activities left unexplored like sky diving, helicopter ride, NaPali coastal views, Jurassic Park falls and so much more. I don’t know why Kauai reminds me of Goa and Kerala (India) except for the beautiful white sand beaches. All in all it was a wonderful day.
