Ken’s enthusiasm about the Polynesian Cultural Center, we were excited to have him as our guide. We arrived at the gates just in time for the luncheon area, which opened at 11:45, the villages open for their performances at noon. We needed a hearty buffet style lunch before heading out for a day of walking. During our meal we spoke with a couple who winter on Kauai. It was nice getting a personal perspective of the island and how they enjoy their winters there.
After lunch we boarded a canoe styled tour boat, our trip started by passing the Easter Island exhibit with Ken detailing island culture. As each island area glided by, you could see and hear the sounds of the villages as they started their first demonstrations of the day.
Travel to the outer villages of Hawaii at the culturatal center
We docked at the villages of Aotearoa (New Zealand), Tahiti, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Hawaii. Each island region had demonstrations and a talks explaining the history and culture in a wonderfully entertaining way. With six areas to tour, plus the Ha Breath of Life show to take in, a five-hour time frame, the use of our guide was very useful, as we soon discovered.
We started our visit in Aotearoa (New Zealand), we learned a bit about the structures, carvings and cultures of the island; including a welcome celebrations demonstration and war techniques. Next we moved into their meeting-house; we learned the meaning behind: body slapping, tattoos and facial expressions. A few traditional dances, demonstrations of war implements, and their use were also shown. This island had a very serious tone, just as serious as their culture. The dancing also included a stick tossing game demo, traditional training that helped develop hand/eye coordination; the twirling of poi balls, which doubled as another weapon even if the art of twirling them was a beautiful art form.
We walked across a bridge, for the next show, to the island of Tonga. The drumming and clapping involved the audience, this was a very fun experience. Getting the crowd involved helps to both understand and remember the information given. for the rest of the day I knew the sound and feel of the celebratory movements. Three people were selected from the crowd to learn the drumming process by mimicking the islanders, not as easy as it sounds. The last chosen fellow was a true entertainer, he had us all laughing with his interpretation and his impromptu “who let the dogs out” rendition.
Tahiti was our next stop, this was the place to learn the quick dance moves with participation from the crowd. I have a great video of my hubby’s interpretation of the dance, I did the ladies version but luckily we don’t have video proof of that. They also talked about their village structures, we all had a taste of coconut bread along with a recipe to make our own.
At this point it was time for the Rainbows of Paradise parade, a colorful canoe display from each island with lovely island music and dancing. As each island glided by us we saw the performers do various dances, or war displays, this was a wonderful show and we had front row seats. A good laugh was had by all when the Samoan canoe pole person fell in the water, this is choreographed, still it is funny when you don’t expect it. This was a very enjoyable part of the day and we enjoyed this show. I have a video link at the bottom of this page if you would like to view our footage of this event.
After the canoe show we went on to review the Hawaii islands, their housing structures, and hierarchy. We had pictures taken, then moved on to Fiji to learn about the types of war tools and their use. Until this time, we didn’t realize just how deadly these were and perhaps could explain the random scars on the performers. In Figi, they also talked about the honor of rope making and how the chiefs would hold tribal meetings while braiding the ropes twisted from coconut fibers. The completion of this very informative talk we learned to play the bamboo instrument and the different sound patterns
We found that all the villages we visited were very interesting, many used laughter along with seriousness to tell their story. If we had more time on Oahu we could have and would have returned to do a more in-depth tour as the ticket allowed up to 5 days of entry to the park. We arrived to each island and show with just enough time to get the best seating with only a brief wait for the show to start, Ken was a wonderful addition to our tour experience.
In Samoa, we were greeted by the best show of all the islands, if you do a Google search, you will find many people share my feelings about this. Kapeneta Teo-Tafiti (Kap) is a wonderful performer with a comedic approach to his show. We soon discovered that Kap would have everyone laughing from beginning to end. His talk about life on Samoa, how women are revered for being bearers of future generations, how the men not only are hunter gathers but chefs as well. The way their culture raises their children, how they quickly and efficiently men make the daily fire, crack and prep the coconuts plus climbing the trees is amazing. Of course the kids are drawn to this funny man as he includes the audience, giving them a life long impression I am sure. This is one island you do not want to miss as the show is unbelievably funny, so much so that we purchased a video to bring home as a permanent memory of this event.
Our day wasn’t over, we still had our luau dinner followed by time in the gift shops before the theatrical show Ha’ experience. Earlier this morning we wondered if we might feel being on the road from 10am to 10:30pm as it was a long busy day. That absolutely was not the case as our day flew by up to this point, we didn’t want it to end.
