Connecting with Hawaii's energy

Like many visitors to Hawaii, I arrived in Oahu expecting fruity cocktails and colourful beach chairs. Instead, within 24 hours of arriving, I found myself knee-deep in a watery trench at an ancient kalo (taro) field, pulling out stubborn weeds with my bare hands.

- KARTHIKA GUPTA

The writer's view of the beach at Chun's Reef.

Mud was everywhere — on my limbs, clothes and even splashed across my cheek. I was taking a Malama ‘Aina (“caring for the land”) tour at Kualoa Ranch, a 400-acre private nature reserve listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and famous as a filming location for multiple “Jurassic Park” movies. Our guide, Lehua Buck, a kanaka maoli (native islander), led our small group as we tended to the life-nourishing kalo.

Kualoa Ranch is a 400-acre private nature reserve you may recognize from "Jurassic Park."

“Here in Hawaii, we believe in mana, a spiritual energy or life force that flows through everything we do,” Buck explained. “In our culture, understanding this interconnectedness and balance of nature, power, strength and authority is essential.” In Western culture, mana can be thought of as the soul of a place or a person. Kalo, she added, is revered for its role in sustaining life and is offered to the gods, as the root vegetable is believed to be made by Kane, the creator.