Kauai – deep gorges and high mountains

October 26, 2024

Even the first glance in the morning just before docking showed us that there would be no sunny welcome this time on the northernmost of the Hawaiian Islands. Thick clouds hung over the mountains, giving the sun no chance to break through. We had to get used to that, after the last few sunny days that lasted from morning until evening.

But the reception was particularly warm: after all, a trio had gathered at the pier to accompany the docking process of the Sun with Hawaiian sounds and the famous Hula dance. We hadn't experienced that at any previous arrival on one of the Hawaiian Islands.

We had also booked a rental car on Kauai, which was located about 2 miles away at the Lihue Airport. We were aware that we had to make the journey on foot to get to our car. This time we booked with Thrifty. When we left the pier in Nawiliwili (funny name - by the way, the Hawaiians only have 12 letters in their own language, and primarily use almost exclusively vowels... that’s why the names sound so unpronounceable), there was a sign on the dividing fence that indicated this was the waiting point for the rental car shuttle at the airport. Two American couples were already waiting there. Oh great, we thought, then we don’t have to walk, since it was humid and warm, and we preferred a cooled shuttle instead...

The other waiting had bookings with different rental companies than we did. Shortly thereafter, a shuttle arrived with labels from Alamo, Enterprise, and forgot-the-name and stopped. I asked if it would be going to Thrifty, to which he replied no. When I asked if there was a Thrifty shuttle, there was only an indifferent shrug. The other group had already learned that there would be a shuttle for them from Avis. The Alamo shuttle waited a little longer, then a man was allowed to board, and took this one person to the airport. The other six of us stood by and waited.

Confusion arose as to why the shuttle was almost completely going to the airport alone and didn’t want or couldn’t take us with them.

After about 15 to 20 minutes, the bus for the four waiting came. Upon boarding, the driver directly asked for the booking to ensure that he only had customers of the provider he was driving for in the bus. Of course, we only had our Thrifty booking and had to stay outside. However, the driver said that Thrifty did not have a shuttle that went to the pier. So we could give up waiting and had to walk the distance to the airport instead.

It’s incredible that they just leave people standing at the pier and don’t care. The bus was designed for 20 people. How foolish of the providers to send individual shuttles that traveled with just a handful of people. It could be organized differently and more customer-friendly.

After about three-quarters of an hour, we finally arrived at the rental station and could pick up our car.

Our goal for the day was initially Waimea Canyon in the southwest of the island. Not quite as large and overwhelming as the Grand Canyon in Utah/Arizona, but considering that Kauai is a rather small island, it’s still something special. On the way there, we hoped for better weather, as the weather forecast predicted that the sky would clear by the afternoon and the sun would shine. Until now, not much of that was visible.

At least it was clear enough to look out at the many overlooks on the way to the highest point in the canyon. The various colored earth layers painted a very beautiful picture of the mountains. And in the valleys grew various trees and bushes that gave the valleys a fresh green color. By the way, the ground here was a very reddish-brown color. One would have thought they were in Monument Valley... and in Waimea, the bestseller was