Maui #3 -- Kula Area

Female Jackson's Chameleon at the Kula Lodge

On the flanks of the western-facing slopes of Haleakalā is the Kula district of Maui. The lower part of the district has traditionally been where full-time Maui residents prefer to live, away from the hotter, busier and more tourism-oriented towns near sea level, such as Kīhei and Lahaina. 

Tall trees in Kula

Upper Kula is largely rural and agricultural with lavender farms and cattle ranches. Kula means "open meadows" in Hawai’ian. The area consists of dry, desert-like open range just inland from the sea and is covered with kiawe trees to an elevation of about 1,000 feet on the volcano's slopes. 

Between this zone and the upper reaches of the hillsides are open areas for vegetable and fruit crops. 

The moderate climate often yields as many as three or four harvests per year. Plus, it seems to be a great environment for flowering plants ...

Bird of Paradise at Kula Botanical Garden

... and orchids ...

Orchids at Kula Botanical Garden

The twisty Haleakalā Highway, from its junction with Kula Highway in Pukalani, loosely defines the northern edge of Upper Kula. The upper road leads up through pastures and eucalyptus tree groves to Haleakalā National Park.

There is little commercial development along Kekaulike except Kula Botanical Garden and Aliʻi Kula Lavender Farm, both of which I visited. I must admit both also disappointed slightly.

Kula Botanical Garden
The Botanical Garden is advertised as nine acres, but the part you can visit is much, much smaller. I headed out, prepared for a rather lengthy hike and an opportunity to photograph lots of birds (gardens equal birds, right?). But, very quickly, I reached the end of the trail with a rather large "Keep Out, Private Residence!" sign.

Many of the plants seemed a little neglected (they might have taken a beating in recent storms), although there are some very pretty flowers. 

Botanical Gardens flowers

Established in 1968 by Warren and Helen McCord as a display garden for Warren's landscape architecture business, the Kula Botanical Garden has evolved into a tourist destination that draws thousands of visitors every year. In addition to plants, the Garden has rock formations, a covered bridge, waterfalls, an aviary and a carved tiki exhibit (well, a small tiki). It has hundreds of varieties of plants that are labeled with their botanical name, common name and country of origin. Included in the Garden is a collection of native Hawai'ian plants. 

There are also some resident Nēnēs – the Hawai’ian Goose, Hawai’i’s state bird ...

Nēnē at Kula Botanical Gardens

... plus some domestic ducks ...

Domestic duck, quite a pretty one!

But, beyond that I didn't see many birds, except on some private property way across a ravine, where there was a collection of Red-Crested Cardinals and Java Sparrows so far away I could barely see them. Oh, and one Common Myna and one House Sparrow in trees in the Gardens. There was something chirping very loudly in a tree that I never caught a glimpse of. It was probably something very rare!

And, there is a Koi pond down in a little grotto ...

Asagi , left, and Orenji Oron Koi

Admission is $10 per person – a bit pricey for such a small area. Based on their website, however, I think their big income is weddings and special events.

Aliʻi Kula Lavender Farm
The Aliʻi Kula Lavender Farm was lovely, but didn’t have as much of the beautiful purple plant as I was hoping. On a steep slope, it has some very nice tropical flowers, but I think the main crop needs a few more years before its lush enough.

Hawai'i lavender

At 4,000 feet above sea level, the farm is home to more than 55,000 lavender plants across 13.5 acres. The farm grows more than 45 varieties, of which seven bloom year-round. In addition to lavender, the farm grows proteas, geraniums, hydrangeas, roses, olive trees and native Hawai'ian plants.

Lavender is not a native to Hawai'i, but how it came to the islands is a bit unclear. The story is that it was brought from from England to the royal palace in Honolulu in the late 19th century. Allegedly, Hawaii's last monarch, Queen Lili'uokalani, liked lavender. And, seriously, who doesn't? The farm's name, Ali'i Kula Lavender, means the Royal Lavender of Kula.

Like everywhere else in Kula, Ali'i Kula Lavender has a view

Lavender is known for its calming and stress-relieving effects and as a cure for insomnia and depression. 

there is a small admission price to visit the farm – I seem to remember $5.00 per car (the website says it's free). You can also take a tram or walking tour for a fee, but we didn't. And, of course, there is a gift shop featuring all things lavender. I didn't buy anything, but the shop did smell lovely. Had I been hungry, I might have gotten a lavender scone.

On the grounds, there were a few of those lovely Red-Crested Cardinals ...

Red-Crested Cardinal

Jackson’s Chameleon
A big treat at the Lavender farm was seeing a male Jackson’s Chameleon crawling through the grass. Native to East Africa, this very cool lizard was introduced to Hawai’i in 1972. It established a presence in the cooler forests of the Upcountry and became the primary source of Jackson's Chameleons for the exotic pet trade in the United States. 

Male Jackson's Chameleon

Exports from Hawai’i have now been outlawed to prevent opportunists from establishing further feral animal populations so they can then capture and sell them.

The lizard's name comes from English explorer and ornithologist Frederick John Jackson, who served as the first Governor of Kenya.

Female Jackson's Chameleon with some camouflage

Jackson's Chameleons are sometimes called Three-Horned Chameleons because males have three brown horns: one on the nose (the rostral horn) and one above each superior orbital ridge above the eyes (preocular horns), somewhat reminiscent a Triceratops. The females have no horns. 

Green, with traces of blue and yellow, they change color quickly depending on mood, health and temperature.

After we saw our first wild one – a male – at the Lavender Farm (we had seen a caged on at the Botanical Gardens), we saw more at the Kula Lodge. I was able to photograph two females – one bright green and one patterned. I saw another male, but couldn’t get to my camera in time. They appear to move slowly, but they can actually be quite fast.

I wanted to take Caty to the Kula Lodge so that we could look for some chameleons, but we never had time. While driving through Kula, we did see a fairly large one trundling around the highway in a place where a stop was impossible. I hope it survived.

As cool as they are, they are invasive and dangerous to native ecosystems in Hawai’i. They swallow whole snails (including shells), a serious threat especially to endemic species, such as critically endangered O'ahu tree snails. 

Kula Lodge pizza oven

I mentioned the Kula Lodge, where Scott and I stopped for two meals – a lovely late breakfast (crab Benedict) one day and, later, a Margherita pizza and spinach/strawberry salad for lunch. The Lodge has pretty gardens and an artistic outdoor pizza oven that produces really yummy results. 

I feel sorry for the staff, however; they have to continually go in and out and up and down some steep stairs to deliver ingredients to the oven and pizzas to the diners.

The service is a bit slow – this definitely isn't a quick-bite place. And, they are not always accurate – they forgot Scott's Portuguese sausage at breakfast and I overheard similar problems at another table. But, the food was good and the grounds were beautiful. Plus, because of its altitude, it is cool there.

Japanese White-Eye hiding in the deep shade

I wandered around the grounds, chasing a Japanese White-Eye that refused to come out of the shadows after I got my camera. 

Because it is away from the hustle and bustle and is relatively cool, the Kula Lodge might be a nice place to stay.

Kula is rich in vegetable and flower gardens. It is not usual to see "honor" tables in front of houses with papayas, mangos or avocados for sale. And, every Saturday, Kula hosts a farmers’ market that underscores the richness of the agricultural landscape. 

Kula is known for onions, lettuce, potatoes, jicama, tomatoes, carrots, cauliflower and cabbage. It is also a major source of cut flowers, including proteas and nearly all the carnations used in commercial leis (traditional leis use native flowers, not carnations).

Kula farmers' market: carrots, protea and lilikoi cake

In the late 19th century, Portuguese and Chinese immigrants, who fulfilled labor contracts with the sugarcane plantations, moved to Kula. Later, Japanese farmers moved into the area for its fertile earth. As a result, there is great cultural diversity in the small towns that dot the side of the mountain, including Pulehu, Waiakoa, Omaopio and Keokea. 

Clouds lifting up from Kula to shroud Haleakalā

Kula has a distinctive weather feature known as the "Maui vortex," caused by trade-winds that pass around the northwest corner of Haleakalā and blow southward down the central valley of Maui over Māʻalaea Bay and then circle back up-slope over Kīhei bringing a "lei of clouds" late most mornings over Kula. 

Around sunset, the downward breezes from the summit wipe out these clouds.

Ring-Necked Pheasant 

Although we didn’t see lots of critters beyond what I mentioned, Scott and I did happen upon a beautiful male Ring-Necked Pheasant in someone's front yard. One of the world's most hunted birds, Ring-Necked Pheasants have been introduced into the wild and are bred on game farms. They were introduced to Hawai’i in the 1860s. 

Male Ring-Necked Pheasant

With its green/purple neck, red face and long tail feathers, the male is quite striking, which is why it is so popular to hunt. In addition to being hunted, the males are also raised for feathers, which are used for the hatbands for paliolo (Hawai’ian cowboy) hats. 

Female Ring-Necked Pheasant

The female is much less exciting, but still pretty.

We saw several females further up the mountain in Haleakalā National Park, scurrying away in the rain. 

Native to Asia, the Ring-Necked Pheasant is the state bird of South Dakota, one of only three U.S. state birds that is not native to the United States.

While Scott and I saw just a few in Haleakalā, Caty and I saw many of them. And, yet, they were always in place where stopping was impossible or at a time when a car had just come up on my tail, making pulling over tricky. The few times we did manage to stop, they ran away. None posed like my suburban Kula specimen.

Compared to the coastal areas of Maui, Kula seems virtually empty until you stop at one of the attractions. It’s peaceful and calm and, on a sunny day, quite lovely.

Protea at the Kula Botanical Garden

While Caty and I were driving through Kula to Haleakalā, we missed a turn and ended up on a very narrow, winding road that was clogged with downed trees. The storm that happened between my visits did some pretty significant damage. I didn't take any pictures – I was too busy avoiding logs and potholes, but it was significant damage.

It had been cleaned up since this, but it was almost this bad; Photo: Daily Mail.com

Trip 1 date: January 31-February 8, 2019

Trip 2 date: February 25-March 2, 2019