Location: Island of Hawaii
Attraction: doTERRA Sandalwood Farm
Activities of Choice: Sandalwood Distillery & Tree Planting, Pool Time, Dinner at Sansei
Date: Tuesday, January 21st, 2020

Sleeping in Hawaii turned out to be a bit of a challenge since the time difference is 4 hours earlier then the Midwest. After waking up at 2:00 AM ready to start the day, I talked myself back to sleep and later woke up to a beautiful sunny morning (but what day in Hawaii isn’t beautiful when leaving -2 degree weather?). We walked down to breakfast, stopping first to enjoy the sea creatures playing in the lagoon and those jumping fish I mentioned in Day One. After our delicious, buffet-style breakfast of eggs, crispy potatoes, and fresh juice, we jumped on a large bus and were shuttled to the Hokukano Ranch.

Planting Sandalwood Trees

Tuesday was the day we got to go on the doTERRA sponsored sourcing trip. Along with treating their Wellness Advocates to the stay at The Hilton Waikoloa Village, we were also treated to a tour of their Sandalwood Plantation and Distillery and as a part of giving back to the community, we planted some trees in an area that had long been rid of trees due to, most likely, cattle farming.

We waited at the Hokukano Ranch entrance for quite awhile. We needed to switch vehicles so we could get picked up by the smaller, more nimble vans that could make the trek up the mountain on the bumpy trails that lead up to where we would plant some new trees. As we waited I took a few pictures of some fruit trees that we have nothing even close to back in Iowa.

Climbing the mountain took us over a half our, but it was a beautiful, although jarringly bumpy, drive. We saw a snow capped mountain in the distance, luscious green vegetation, bright specs of orange, pink, and yellow flowers, and a few colorful birds among the rocky hill side. When we arrived to our destination, we were greeted by doTERRA representatives as well as some Hawaiian Natives that did a ritual for us before we planted the trees. It was interesting to find out that we needed to plant two kinds of trees; the Sandalwood trees and also a host tree that would provide the Sandalwood with nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus.

Nursery & Distillery Tour

Once we had our trees in the ground, the vans took us to the tree nursery and distilling area. They had hundreds of trees there getting pampered and ready to put into the ground so that they could be harvested in around 15 years to make sandalwood oil. We were pressed for time, but had just enough time to get an idea of how the operation worked.

Pool Time/Sunset

When we got back to our resort, we were ready for a drink and some pool time. We jumped into our suits, cruised across the lawn to the pool, and jumped in the water for a relaxing float in the sun. I, of course, had to take a trip down the water slide and check out the waterfalls and grotto-style hot tub.

Once we had our fill of beverages and pool water, we decided to get cleaned up and ready to meet the rest of our group for supper. On our way we decided we had enough time to look around at the beautify landscaping and art sculptures and sit and watch another spectacular sunset. We were joined by a couple of turtles that had crawled up on the beach to take a nap. Jill decided to say hi… keeping her distance, of course.

Sushi for Dinner

Tonight’s dinner choice was a place called Sansei, a sushi joint that our driver said was his favorite on the island. It did not disappoint. We got a few sushi rolls and drank plenty of water in an attempt to re-hydrate ourselves after the long day of sun and fun. The rolls were beautiful, some of the tastiest sushi I’ve ever had.

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