Few tourists visit Hilo, and the residents like it that way. The county seat of the island of Hawai`i, it boasts a single street with "real" hotels. That tourist hot spot, Banyan Drive, is tucked against a corner of Hilo Bay. It can be walked, in its entirety, in a few short minutes. "Locals" will claim that it rains all the time, and that Hilo is not worth visiting. With the clamor of the Kona-Kohala coast for more visitors, Hilo can easily be left off the travel itinerary. And that would be a shame.
Unlike faster-paced tourist hot-spots with their transient populations and ever-new hotels, Hilo remembers its history. Many of the residents lived it. And if not them, their parents or grandparents. In Hilo, you can still find people who live in the homes where their grandparents were reared. Family names are still recognized, and people identify each other by degrees of cousin-hood.
The name "Hilo" is ancient, and was famed in legend long before historic times. It has several meanings. It can mean "twisted," like a thread or rope. Thus, it is also the name for the first thin, twisted sliver of light to appear on the Eastern horizon at dawn. Hilo is the name for the first night in the Hawaiian month. And it also is the name of a renowned Polynesian navigator who is believed to have discovered this coast. His chief, to honor the feat, named the area for him.
Hilo has a long history, and already was populated when the first European visitors arrived. It has been the residence of chiefs and the home of legendary heroes. During the rule of Pai`ea Kamehameha (known to the Western world as “King Kamehameha” or “Kamehameha I”), Hilo briefly served as the capitol of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
The city of Hilo traditionally is divided into three areas. Embracing Hilo Bay is Hilo One [HEE-loh OH-nay], which literally translates to “Sandy Hilo.”
Hilo Hanakahi [HEE-loh hah-nah-KAH-hee] can refer, poetically, to all of Hilo, or it can refer specifically to the area across the Wailoa River from Hilo One and extending toward Keaukaha. Hanakahi was a great chief of Hilo who was renowned for the peace and prosperity of his reign. Much of this prosperity came from the beautiful Waiakea Pond, along the banks of which lush taro paddies grew, helping to feed, by some estimates, as many as 40,000 people then living on Hilo's gently sloping lands.
Hilo Pali Ku [HEE-loh PAH-lee KOO] is the area on the Hamakua side of the Wailuku River. Translated “Hilo of the Upright Cliff,” the area is, indeed, well known for its sheer cliffs facing the sea and lining the river beds.
And about that rain: In Hawaiian tradition, each wind, rain, sea current, type of mist, cloud, and other such aspects of nature have their own personal names. The most famous rain of Hilo is known as Ka Ua Kani Lehua, "The Rain Which Makes the Lehua Blossoms Sing." Depending on which microclimate one is in, rainfall in Hilo can be anywhere from almost 130 inches per year to over 200. This meteoroligical curiosity gives Hilo one of its most beloved nicknames: "City of Rainbows."
Comments
Mahalo nui for this, Leilehua...I knew some of it already but learned something new...
It's so much fun to find these goodies, isn't it!
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