← Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories
Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories
A Relaxing Visit to Volcanoes National Park (Hawaii #3)
00:50:20
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Welcome to Get Sleepy where we listen, we relax, and we get sleepy. My name's Thomas and I'm your host. Tonight we'll conclude our relaxing three part journey to the natural wonders of Hawaii, all written by Leila and read by me. If you haven't heard the first two stories, that's okay. You can listen to this one now and take your time making your way through the rest. On another occasion in this episode, we'll travel to the lush rainforest in Volcanoes national park on the Big island of Hawaii. Before we begin our story, I invite you to make yourself as comfortable as can be, to rest your eyes and to welcome a sense of calm to wash over you. Know that you are cared for here. This is a place you can come to and feel completely at ease. A place where you can release any sense of responsibility to the outside world and to just be gentle and compassionate towards yourself. I speak to you as someone who understands and empathizes with the challenging emotions and disruptive thoughts that can sometimes creep into our minds at night. It can be confronting once we switch off the lights and put away our daily tasks and distractions. It makes sense that this would be a time when we start overthinking and even catastrophizing about things. But that's exactly what it is. We have a tendency to make mountains out of molehills with our worries, especially at night. So if that sounds familiar to you, just remind yourself now that you really are. Okay, you're here, living and breathing, having made it through another day, and you are loved, cared for and appreciated. Be sure to send some of that love, care and appreciation back to yourself. Thank you for being here, my friend. It really is an honor to have your company. Now allow your mind to empty. Then allow the idea of a rainforest to fill your imagination. Perhaps you picture dense vegetation and bright flowers. Maybe you imagine the sounds of the rainforest, from birds song to cascading water. Maybe you think of the feeling of moist air on your skin or soft ground beneath your feet. Allow your imagination to travel to the rainforest and to immerse your senses in its abundant nature. This is where our story begins. You step out from the car and look around. You're in a small parking area within Volcanoes national park on the Big island of Hawaii. You're going to walk into the rainforest and hike along the edge of a volcanic crater where you can observe the lush vegetation and the lava encrusted valley. The air is cool and fresh in this rainy mountain environment. It's a far cry from the sunny beaches on the western shore of this Pacific island. Here, greenery rules everywhere you look, watered by the frequent rains and dense mists of this part of the island, You gaze at the thick forest in front of you. It's a tangle of lush vegetation in varying shades of green, from the palest lime to the deepest forest green. It's a calming sight. Contemplating this abundant nature makes you feel a deep sense of peace within, a peace more profound than you are used to experiencing within the clamor of modern life. Slipping your arms into a lightweight jacket with a soft, fleecy interior, you step forward. A path winds into the greenery ahead, forming an inviting tunnel through the flora which grows up and over it. You follow this path, gazing around at the multitude of plants. There are trees with vines climbing them, low shrubbery and towering vegetation that overhangs the trail. The canopy above provides shade that you realize will also shield you from the rain that's likely to come along at some point. After all, it's not called a rainforest for nothing. You lightly step along and listen to the sounds of the forest. You hear the soft noises of tree branches and leaves rustling and shifting, whether from the wind or the movement of unseen animals. You make out the faint whistling of a breeze high overhead, and you hear a host of birds calling and singing from somewhere in the foliage. Listening carefully, you can pick out the individual songs of several feathered creatures somewhere just outside your line of sight. You hear the melodic tones of an apapane, a kind of small crimson bird that's particularly common in these forests. The upper pane birds pollinate the native ohia trees which are only found in the Hawaiian islands and which dominate these forests. You glance around and spot some of these trees nearby. They are easily identified by their striking red blooms, which consist of a mass of stamens highly reminiscent of bottlebrush trees. You gaze into their leaves and catch a flash of movement and a glimpse of crimson. It's the upper pana whose song you heard. Its red colour is well adapted to blending in with the bright blossoms it feeds upon. Uniquely evolved for the island environment, ohia trees help maintain the distinct ecosystem of these volcanic lands. They are a so called pioneer species that colonizes recent lava flows long before many other plants can take root. They also retain water after storms and help prevent erosion. The trees also play an important part in native Hawaiian culture. Their wood was originally used for many purposes in early Hawaii. Their flowers are used to make clays and hula altars and their leaves form the base for a medicinal tea. What's more, traditional Hawaiian clothing incorporates the feathers of the birds that live in the ohia trees, including the bright red plumage of the apapani. You can also hear a number of other birds besides the bright feathered ohia dweller. You identify a sort of whistling chatter that is the call of the elepio bad. This is another species that's common around here. You turn your head seeking a glimpse of the little brown feathered creatures which can be identified by touches of white on their wings, throat and tail. No luck this time, but you resolve to keep a sharp eye out for birds in the thick vegetation all around you. You continue strolling along with a lightness in your step, determined not to frighten away any animals as you move through the forest. Then you hear a very loud bird call that you think is an omau bird, a kind of fruit eating thrush. But you don't try to look for this one. As you know, it's very difficult to spot. With its unassuming grey and brown colouring and its tendency to perch high in the trees. These rare birds are found only in Hawaii, mostly high up in the rainforest on the sides of the island's volcanoes where you are now. The birds live on the fruits of native plants whose seeds they help spread throughout the forest, maintaining and rebuilding their habitat. You look at the lush greenery surrounding you which provides a home to so many creatures, including the diverse birds whose songs fill the air. The trees and plants within view are Incredibly varied. When you first look, you get an impression of dense and variegated green. Your eyes only pick out a few tall trees, prominent plants. But the longer you look, the more details you notice and the more fascinating elements catch your eye. For example, you had quickly noticed large, primeval looking ferns on your first glance. Now, gazing longer, you observe large coils in the midst of these oversized ferns. Thick, brown vines or branches look like tightly wound rope on the deck of a ship. These coils you realize on new fronds that haven't yet begun to unfurl. You know that there are many types of ferns in the island's ecosystem, and more than half of them are varieties that aren't found anywhere else in the world. Ferns were some of the earliest plants to take root on the Hawaiian islands, when they first formed in molten lava cooling just above the surface of the ocean. That's because ferns spread via spores that float in the wind until they land, taking root wherever they can, if they can. Winds carried fernspores across the wide Pacific Ocean until some landed and colonized the lava fields of the young volcanic islands. Today, There are some 200 varieties of ferns around the islands, including numerous ones that you can see right here in the rainforest. Towering above all the others are hapu tree ferns. These giants can grow as tall as 35ft and have occupied an important part in Hawaiian society and beliefs. In terms of practical uses, their fibers have been utilized in pillows and mattresses. And with regards to religious beliefs, Hawaiian tradition views the towering tree ferns as an embodiment of the earth goddess. Other ferns were associated with Hawaiian deities as well. The pig deity is said to occasionally take the form of a smaller fan. That's similar looking to the hapuu. Hawaiian customs have also incorporated the island's plentiful ferns in other interesting ways. For example, one fern was used to make a brownish red dye. One another yielded a liquid used for medicinal purposes. Looking at the tall fern in front of you, with its rope like coils and huge feathery fronds, you feel as if you could be looking back in time. This giant plant seems to hearken to the early days of the earth, when enormous dinosaurs thundered across lands populated with plants and animals dramatically different from today. Given their ancient primordial look, it's easy to believe that ferns were among the first plants to grow on these outcroppings of land in the middle of the ocean. But ferns are hardly the only plants making up for the dense forest around you. There are also thick tree trunks that stretch up and away before branching out into the canopy far overhead, forming the top or overstory of the forest. This overstory consists largely of the ohia trees with their feathery red blossoms, as well as massive koa trees. These koa trees are giants that grow gnarled, spreading branches reminiscent of live oaks. Young koa trees have fringe like leaves, while older ones have have large, sleek foliage. The oldest among them can be as tall as a hundred feet. The dark wood of the koa trees is highly prized and was historically used to carve canoes. Besides the tall trees that make up the overstory, there are innumerable shrubs, bushes and other low plants that sprout from the forest floor. Indeed, greenery springs forth at every elevation around you. There are plants growing in, on and over every inch of the forest, including on other plants. Climbing vines and smaller plants fill the forest at every level, even growing out of soil accumulated in the fork of to tree branches as well as other unlikely places. However, one tree you don't see as you walk along is the one widely associated with Hawaii in vacation dreams and popular representations. Coconut palms. These iconic palms are not common at this rainy elevation, though they can frequently be seen in coastal areas. The tall coconut palms are widely associated with Hawaii, although they're not actually native to the islands. Historians believe that the earliest Polynesian settlers of the Hawaiian island chain brought coconut palms with them in their canoes. The trees were very valuable to these early Hawaiians, providing food, coconut milk and oil. Even their husks, shells and leaves were useful. Native Hawaiians could weave the fibres of the coconut husks into cords. They could carve shells into utensils, and they could use the palm fronds for thatching buildings, among other things. As you walk on, your footsteps make a quiet sound on the dirt path. You realize a light rain has begun to fall. But as you predicted, the thick canopy of leaves above shields you and keeps you dry. A heavy mist has descended into the forest. The rain is so slight that it feels to you like it's hardly more than a settling of the mist. It dampens the outermost layers of foliage, but can barely reach you. Protected as you are in the heart of the ancient forest, The path you're following turns. Now skirting the edge of the crater, you step off the track to a lookout point where a clearing in the vegetation gives you an open view down into the bowl shaped crater. It's a giant circular depression in the earth with sloping sides, covered in the same thick forest plants that surround you here. The bottom of the crater however, is largely free of plants. It's covered in black lava rock, smooth in places and jutting with ragged edges and rock piles in others. It looks like a moonscape, or perhaps more like a Mars scape, like some kind of alien planet. As you watch, the translucent white mist drifts across the lava field and swirls through the intensely green rainforest that encircles the crater. The scene is so hauntingly beautiful that for a long moment, it doesn't even occur to you to take out your phone and snap a picture of it. Instead, you just drink it in, letting your eyes wander across the distant slope of the crater, over the dark undulations of the lava field and past the lush forest in the foreground. Then, at last, you're ready to continue your walk. You take a deep breath of the cool, damp air, then turn back to the forest. You make your way along the path again, reveling in the fresh feeling of the moist atmosphere against your face. As you go, you keep an eye out for other native plants of the island. You look for olapa trees, which have leaves that quake and flutter. For this reason, the name is sometimes used to refer to hula dancers who may mimic the leaves trembling movement. These native trees also produce small dark berries that attract the indigenous or marshall you think you may have heard earlier. The olapa berries can also yield a dark dye traditionally used by native Hawaiians. Meanwhile, pilo plants produce red or orange fruits that also feed the amal bats. You listen more attentively, again wondering if you hear their distant call somewhere in the trees. The songs of several bird species mingle in the air with the rustling of leaves and the soft, almost imperceptible sound of the falling rain. You notice a constant low trilling sound too, beneath the stops and starts of the forest symphony. This trilling comes from male swordtail crickets. They make it by rubbing their wings together. The distinctive call serves to attract female swordtail crickets. Listening to all these diverse and lovely forest noises, you continue along the path. A bit farther along, you spot the fuzzy heart shaped leaves of an ilihia plant. This Hawaiian plant is a relative of African violets and it can grow up to an impressive height of 10ft tall. When in bloom, it sports white flowers that are about an inch long. Although you don't see any of those at the moment. You wonder if you'll see any marmukki trees, a small shrub like member of the nettle family. These offer an interesting illustration of of natural evolution. Although they belong to the family of nettles, they don't have any stingers themselves. The reason being, when the ancestors of the modern maki trees first arrived in the islands, there were no predators to browse on them. Not needing to defend themselves against grazing animals, the plants soon lost their nettles. Like other members of the nettle plant family, which are used in herbal remedies elsewhere, marmuke leaves have traditionally been brewed into a medicinal tea. The trees are also special in another way. They serve as host plants to one of Hawaii's two native butterfly species. This is another reason you'd like to see one, in case it could offer a chance to glimpse one of these unique butterflies. The rain is falling a little harder now. Though you're still dry and comfortable under the forest canopy. The sound of the drops falling on the leaves and branches draws your ear to higher tension once again. As you listen to the falling rain, you notice a blend of other forest sounds as well. A trilling song likely heralds an ama kihihi bird. These are small yellow creatures with black markings around their eyes. They feed on insects and nectar in the forest. You'd love to spot one. But even more, you wish to see, or at least hear, a nene, a rare Hawaiian goose that is also the state bird of Hawaii. You know this is unlikely. National park workers have instituted a breeding and reintroduction program to bolster nene populations in the wild, but their numbers remain low for the time being. These beautiful geese with striped black and white markings feed on another berry producing plant of the rainforest. Or hello. This small shrub grows sweet red or yellow fruits that people make into pies and jam. If you see any, though, you won't be sampling them. That's because they're such an important source of food for the recovering nene and because they are the only food source for the larvae of two rare moths that exclusively live here. Oh halo shrubs are some of the first plants to take root in fresh lava fields along with the red blossomed ohia trees. Perhaps that's part of why native Hawaiian custom holds the berry producing plant sacred to the volcano goddess Pele. By native Hawaiian custom, people should offer some of the shrub's berries to the goddess before eating any themselves. Perhaps you may see other favored foods of the rare nene too, such as the spindly huqiave with its white or pale pink flowers and berries. Or the hardy aali' I shrub with its colourful red or purple seed capsules, one of the few plants that can survive wildfires and that grows in recently burned areas. Or the kuka nene whose berries produce a purplish black dye and whose inner bark yields a yellow one. Like the indigenous animals that draw on the many fruits of the land, native Hawaiian custom also used the bounty of the islands. You reflect that. Like the indigenous animals that draw on the many fruits of the land, native Hawaiian custom also used all the bounty of the islands. As you walk on, keeping an eye and ear out for the many rare and native species, you ponder the layers upon layers of history and prehistory that underlie this beautiful land. Age old stories of plants, animals and people lie thick in the background of this place, much like the layers of volcanic rock that form these ancient mountains. Unlike the volcanic mountains that continue to change and evolve, the stories of the plants, animals and people will also continue and evolve, stretching out into the haze of the future. Like the land, these stories will be shaped by all kinds of forces, both natural and human made. They'll also be shaped by the actions of people like those breeding native Nene, or the ones reviving old customs,
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and
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those such as yourself, who choose to tread lightly on the land as they soak in the unique environment of the rainforest.