Skip to main content

getting a bit of history at Kualoa Ranch

Kualoa Ranch is an old property whose current owners are sixth generation members of the original family. Throughout its history and because of its size and location, Kualoa Ranch has figured quite significantly to the history the shaped Hawai'i. 
Long time ago, the ranch was owned by the king of Hawaii, Kamehameha III. An American doctor became the king's adviser and translator. He was able to buy from the king a few hundred acres at a time. Eventually, the total ranch area reached 4000 acres, covering three valleys. A sugarcane farm was established and Kualoa Ranch used to have a first steam-powered sugarcane mill (back in the 1860s). It's supposedly the first of its kind in O'ahu. 


However, it fell into disrepair when one of the owner's children fell into the boiling liquid sugar. It also just became too dry for sugarcane in Kualoa Ranch. And so the family decided to switch to other agricultural produce... like vegetables, ornamentals, fruits, and animals (cows, prawns, and fish, mostly).







Then during World War II, after Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, Kualoa Ranch served as an airstrip for fighter planes, albeit temporary, only to be used over the duration of the war. There's even a gun battery up in the cliff called Battery Cooper. It's supposed to be used to defend O'ahu in case enemy forces showed up on this side of the island.




I thought that this aspect of my tour at the ranch was a good way to catch up on my walking world history lesson... because I was bent on finally making one of my dreams come true on this trip: visiting Pearl Harbor.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for dropping by!

Before moving on, please share your thoughts or comments about the post. :)

Thanks again!

Popular posts from this blog

10 things I learned while driving on Marcos Highway to Baguio City

I went on a day trip to the City of Pines, which was around a 700-km drive from my house. I drove  going up there and then from the city to Victoria, Tarlac. After that, my dad took over the driving duties. It was day trip with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing with us. Anyway, this trip was my first time to go to Baguio City with me behind the wheel. As everyone who drives up knows, there are three main routes to Baguio from the lowlands: Kennon Road, which ascends from Rosario, La Union. It was out of my options because it's too dangerous to use that road in the rainy season. The second route is via Naguilian Road, which makes my trip a lot longer because the beginning of the ascent is in Bauang, La Union (further north). The last route, and the one I took, was the Marcos Highway, now known as the Aspiras-Palispis Highway. This 47-km road starts from Agoo, La Union and is touted as the safest route among the three.  As I drove up and then down (on the same day; we were in Bagu
4 comments
Read more

How MALDI-TOF-MS makes mycobacterium diagnosis faster and more accurate

The laboratory I work in has plenty of instruments that help us characterise and identify microorganisms causing diseases in patients. One of my current projects is to validate an instrument called "matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometer" (MALDI-TOF-MS) in identifying members of the Mycobacterium  species. Many of these organisms are opportunistic, meaning they only cause illnesses in people whose immune systems are not strong enough to fight infections. Mycobacterium leprae  is known for causing leprosy, but we cannot grow this bacterium in culture media, so we cannot isolate it. Mycobacterium tuberculosis  complex, on the other hand, is a group of several species of Mycobacterium  that causes tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a disease that killed 1.6 million people in 2021 alone. It is a leading cause of death globally, second only to COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Identifying the Mycobacterium species that has infected a patient is
Post a Comment
Read more

a crash course on traditional Filipino houses

On Dr Jose Rizal's birthday this year, I was back in historic Manila with Ate Bing, Ate Mary , and Manuel . But instead of visiting him, we opted to soak up on Philippine culture. Our first stop: the Cultural Center of the Philippines ' (CCP) Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino .  Aside from the musical instruments, I noticed the dioramas about Filipino homes. Filipinos living by the sea (the 'sea gypsies', Sama Dilaut or Badjao ) have boathouses; those who live in the mountains, like the Bagobos , have developed interconnected houses in the trees; Filipinos who live along the path of the strongest typhoon winds, such as the Ivatans , have developed houses of thick limestone walls; and people who live in calmer conditions used bamboo and nipa to construct their houses, like the lowlanders and the Agtas . Sama Dilaut 'lepa' and houses on stilts (in the background) Ivatan limestone house nipa hut Ifugao 'fale' Maranao '
Post a Comment
Read more