Year: 2021

Oahu Brings the Best of City Life and Country Living
Oahu’s bustling hub with parks, museums, theaters, restaurants, shopping malls, cultural events and indoor and outdoor concerts. Waikiki is a small city in itself; most of the island’s hotels are there, along with bars, boutiques, shows and eateries that’ll satisfy whatever cravings you might have. Ocean activities abound on Waikiki Beach, from canoe paddling with beachboys to sailing on catamarans at sunset.

Maui is Considered Heaven on Earth
Those who want a more laid-back vacation but still want to kick-start their day with a latte should consider Maui. The major resort areas of Wailea, Kapalua and Kaanapali provide all the pleasures discriminating travelers demand such as championship golf, fine dining, great shopping, trendy spas and first-class accommodations. From there, you can venture out for strolls through the former whaling port of Lahaina, glorious sunrises or sunsets at the summit of 10,000-foot Haleakala Volcano

Kauai is Nature at Its Finest
Kauai is known as the “Garden Island,” and rightly so. Green is everywhere—framing rivers and waterfalls; casting broad strokes across valleys, cliffs, mountains, meadows, farmland and taro patches; and coloring its many gardens, Na Aina Kai, Smith’s Tropical Paradise, Princeville Botanical Gardens and the National Tropical Botanical Garden’s Allerton, McBryde and Limahuli being the most notable.

Molokai and Lanai Offer a Laidback Getaway
Great outdoor adventures beckon. Among Molokai’s highlights are Halawa Valley, Kamakou Preserve, Moomomi Preserve, Molokai Forest Reserve and Kalaupapa (now a National Historical Park), where people stricken with Hansen’s disease (leprosy) were once banished beginning in 1866. The only hotel on the island is modest Hotel Molokai.

The Diamond Fields of the Northern Cape
Blood, sweat, tears, triumph, murder and despair such are the foundation stones of Kimberley, diamond capital of the world and gateway to the Kalahari and Diamond Fields of the Northern Cape. Diamonds were first discovered in 1871 on Colesberg Koppie. It triggered rush fever which led to frantic mass diggings, culminating in what is now the Big Hole, the largest artificial construction to be found anywhere in the world

Kimberley’s McGregor Museum
Kimberley’s McGregor Museum is based in the old Kimberley sanatorium building in the upmarket suburb of Belgravia, but it has a number of satellite venues spread around the 'city of diamonds'. It is also a major Northern Cape research institute specialising in natural and cultural history.

Fly-fish in the rivers around Kimberley
If you want to know about fly-fishing in the rivers near Kimberley, speak to Turner Wilkinson who has been fly-fishing for nearly 30 years and who is one of only 15 people who have taken all 9 yellowfish species on the fly. The yellowfish populations in this part of the Northern Cape are arguably some of the finest in the country.

Battle for the diamond fields – the Siege of Kimberley
When Kimberley was besieged by Boer forces during the South African War (formerly the Second Anglo-Boer War), diamond magnate Cecil John Rhodes was a key player. Not only did he run a soup kitchen and have a massive field gun designed and built, but he offered townsfolk refuge in his underground mines.

Kimberley’s flamingos: a pink parade
The flamingos of Kimberley’s Kamfers Dam offer a rare and lovely sight – thousands upon thousands of these pink birds stretching as far as the eye can see. This area in South Africa’s Northern Cape province is one of only four breeding sites for lesser flamingos in Africa, making it a must-see for any birder. Even for non-birders, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime sight.

Garden of the Gods
The surreal topography of the Garden of the Gods, a desert-like landscape with boulders and rock towers, looks almost like a spot on Mars than in Hawaii. According to Hawaiian legend, this place is the result of a contest between two kahuna (priests) from Lanai and Molokai. Each was challenged to keep a fire burning on their respective island longer than the other, and the winner's island would be rewarded.

Shipwreck Beach
Since this windy, 8-mile stretch of beach has wrecked numerous ships along its shallow, rocky channel, it is more of a land adventure. A 4-wheel drive is required and visitors need to be careful not to get their vehicles stuck in the sand, so park and walk once you get there. Check out the hull of a ghostly oil tanker from the 1940s, still beached on Kaiolohia Bay’s coral reef, do some beachcombing, or hike up to see the Kukui Point petroglyphs for a day of exploring.

Puu Pehe (Sweetheart Rock)
Rising from the sea between Manele and Hulopoe bays on the southern coast of Lanai is the iconic Puu Pehe, or Sweetheart Rock. The legend goes that a young warrior named Makakehau was so taken by a Hawaiian maiden named Pehe that he hid her in a sea cave at the base of Manele’s cliffs. During a storm, Pehe drowned and a grief-stricken Makakehau asked the gods to help him climb the steep rock island where he eventually buried her.

Manele Golf Course
Imagine a golf course where every hole offers stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. That’s the philosophy behind the Manele Golf Course, designed by Jack Nicklaus. Located above the picturesque Hulopoe Bay, this par-72 course was carved out of lava outcroppings and utilizes the dramatic natural landscape to create a challenging course and unforgettable holes.

Lanai Culture and Heritage Center
This museum covers nearly a millennium of changes—from 1000 A.D., when the first Hawaiians settled there, to the end of the plantation era in 1992.The community banded together to help preserve their island’s story, donating treasures of all kinds from their homes: clothing; furniture; household implements; plantation equipment; bango (workers’ metal identification tags); and adzes, poi pounders and ulu maika (bowling) stones that family members had found when they were working in the fields.