# From 100 acres of dense rainforest in Hawaii to... something



## HawaiiDavid (Jul 26, 2009)

Oh god, what have I done? I'm either 98% excited and 2% overwhelmed or 2% excited and 98% overwhelmed, in part, because I have few to no skills or knowledge about all this (which is part of the reason I'm here). I recently purchased 100 acres of incredibly dense rainforest on the big island of Hawaii. My intent is to build a home and educational center over the coming years with a focus on permaculture, sustainability, and building all kinds of badass stuff. I want to get to a point where the land is almost completely sustainable in the way of food via raised fish, chickens, fruit trees, gardens, etc. We're yoga teachers and have named the ranch, Samadhi Village.

Hawaii has seen a significant amount of highly invasive species take over. My desire is to return the land to as much of a natural habitat as possible. I have a LOT to learn about everything from native plants to permaculture to construction and god knows what else and am going to need a LOT of help.

Let's get to know the land, shall we?

The acreage is on the east side of the big island about 25 minutes south of Hilo and about 30 minutes from the nearest beach. If there wasn't big ass trees in the way, I could sit and watch where lava from the world's most active volcano spews forth steam as it hits the ocean. The elevation is around 2,000 feet and we receive over 200 inches of rain a year!










The above image is the google satellite view of my land. On the north side is a very rough county road that is not maintained. That squiggly line running through the land, that's a wet weather creek. I've only seen about 1/2 acre of the land because it is so exhausting cutting through the dense rainforest. That line on the left side that looks like a road? It WAS a road about two years ago when the previous owners cut it, but what does it look like to stand on it now?










I kid you not. That vegetation comes up to my shoulders and I'm over 6 feet tall.

The land slopes from west to east with a drop of about 100 feet. With that much load and over 200 feet of rain per year, I'm thinking I MAY be able to do something with micro hydro for electricity generation. A view of the slope of the land as seen from the road on the north side:










Below are additional images I've taken while hacking through the western overgrown road and venturing maybe 100 feet into the actual jungle. I'm familiar with the hapu'u ferns, ohia trees, and strawberry guava, but if any of you know the names of any of the other vegetation in the pictures, I'd love to know it. Note that these pics were taken during the day, it's just that shrouded from light as you get into the jungle.























































I'm heading back to the land tomorrow (and most days from here out) to explore and begin cutting trails. I'd love to hear any ideas, thoughts, suggestions, etc from you guys as I go along. And hey, if any of you are ever on the big island and need a place to camp (for free of course), hit me up 

*Please note this information is a couple months old, but I want to start from the beginning to get this forum up to speed on the project.


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