Living Positive: The Last Day in Paradise and a Bottle (or 2) of Rum

June 20, 2021

Unfortunately, this was our last day in Hawaii. We leave tonight on the red eye flight back home. Since we still had most of the day free, we decided to go on a safari. Well, not a typical safari that involves animals but one that involves rum. Kauai Safaris offer a rum safari at the Kilohana Plantation which is near the airport. So, after saying a sad farewell to our condo, we headed south in search of some Hawaiian spirits.

It was disappointing that the stores at the plantation were closed. It was Sunday but my guess was that they were not fully up and running for tourist season. They have a huge restaurant there and advertise Sunday brunch but I’m not quite sure Kauai is ready for buffets - not sure I am either!

However, the rum tour was open and what a blast that was! Of course I don’t remember the names of our tour guides because I’m writing this a few weeks after we went but they were both very entertaining. The tour was 2 hours long where they drove us in an open air bus around the plantation. The plantation owners have an agricultural staff who farm the land but since there are 105 acres, they allow people from the community to farm the remaining land for free. This allows the owners to maintain their agricultural status and get a substantial tax break. The result of this is that the Koloa rum and the plantation restaurant use fresh ingredients and we received farm to glass cocktails.

Our guides were a good pair. The driver/bartender/comedian kept us laughing and the other guide was involved with the farming and supplied interesting information about the agricultural side of things. Fresh pineapple was picked enroute to the first tasting spot in the jungle where a boardwalk led to a covered outdoor bar. We tasted about six (the number is fuzzy!) types of Koloa rum. Driver/bartender/comedian gave me a hard time about pouring a lot of my tastings out but I told him that when you are 5 feet tall, you have to pace yourself. However, none of my chocolate flavored rum hit the dirt! The fresh pineapple was used in the Mai Tais that were mixed for us after the tastings.

We all made it back to the bus where we continued our exploration of the plantation and saw some of the farm animals that they keep around. Mountain apples and some oranges were picked for our next tasting that was held under a pavilion that coincidentally groups can rent out (a little advertising). Driver/bartender/comedian whipped up some tropical rum punch and we tasted the Mountain apples. They are lightly sweet and have the texture of a pear rather than an apple. There are so many fruits in Hawaii that I am not familiar with. I guess I need to up my produce game.

After the tour we were very disappointed that the Koloa rum store was closed. It was unfortunate for them too as I'm sure our tour group would have probably paid the monthly mortgage! Their rum isn't sold online either but there is a map of the local liquor stores that sell it around us. I guess a rum search will commence once we get home.

After eating lunch at a local restaurant recommended by our tour guides, we reluctantly headed to the airport to begin our long journey home. I have to admit that if it wasn’t for my dogs….and my kids….I might have been tempted to stay. Kauai is a very special place and I would love to go back some day.

Until then, Aloha and Mahalo!