Pae Pae o He’eia & Taro Harvesting

Our trip to Pae Pae o He'eia and Taro Harvesting was one of my favorite days as it was a very culturally enriching experience!
At Pae Pae o He'eia, we got a tour of the fishpond along with many tales and stories of spirituality from our tour guide. The fishpond was built/created 800 years ago and is about 88 acres in total spanning 1.3 miles around the pond. The water in the pond is separated, letting in 1/2 freshwater and 1/2 salt water. Their current goal is restoration as they are trying to maintain the pond to keep old traditions alive, along with making their fish trusting and comfortable in the pond. Education has also become a new goal of theirs. The goal consists of knowledge from the elders by tours and through community work days in order for others to understand how the pond functions. They are really trying to build a community rather than just a fishpond--starting with investing in their community. Ceremonies and offerings are also held here for their fishpond guides in order to keep their message alive, which they believe in return will help keep their fish alive and flourishing. Keeping their guides alive and in their hearts will keep their pond alive.
At the Taro Plantation, we got to try our hand at harvesting Taro with the workers. We had eaten Taro our first night at Hawaii and noticed that Taro was infused into lots of other products such as smoothies, so it was interesting to see and actual Taro plant and where this "flavor" comes from. We dug up the plants with our feet and hands in the mud, pulled off the roots, and gave them to the other workers to be cleaned and cut up.Read more