On Kalalau Permitting System
By Léo Azambuja Left to right, Halli Holmgren, Todd Yamashita and Léo Azambuja during sunset in Kalalau in June. Kalalau, the crown jewel of Napali Coast and one of the most beautiful places on Earth,...
View ArticleBe a Winner for Life, Save a Dog or a Cat
By Léo Azambuja Licorice was a foster dog from the Kaua‘i Humane Society. When they called me back to return him to the shelter, we decided to keep him. I became a 'failed foster.' As I sit down to...
View ArticleAre You Afraid of Ghosts?
By Léo Azambuja My mother has always told us, “You’ve got to be afraid of the living, not the dead.” It didn’t work much. While growing up, my siblings and I were still terrified of ghosts. I wish I...
View ArticleOur Time Is Ticking
By Léo Azambuja National Tropical Botanical Garden Plant Extinction Prevention Specialist Steven Perlman doing research at Wailau, a remove valley on Molokai's North Shore. Photo courtesy of Hank...
View ArticlePutting the Ink Where My Mouth Is
By Léo Azambuja Léo Azambuja I wanted to write about traditional Hawaiian tattooing for quite some time. As a writer, I always appreciated Ernest Hemingway’s style; he would rather go through the real...
View ArticleThe Far, Dark Side of Men
By Léo Azambuja Léo Azambuja Mark Twain once said, “Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.” To begin with, the moon has no dark side, Mr. Twain. The moon orbits around...
View ArticleBig Red Buttons in Children’s Hands
By Léo Azambuja In November, we will be celebrating 100 years of the end of the War to End All Wars. Apparently, World War I, disgustedly also called the Great War, was neither great nor it ended any...
View ArticleMarch For Our Lives
By Léo Azambuja At the end of this month, more precisely March 24, children and families will take the streets in the March For Our Lives in Washington D.C. and in many communities throughout the...
View ArticleGrowing Money on Trees
By Léo Azambuja Léo Azambuja About 10 years ago, I spent a year on Molokai working for their local newspaper, The Molokai Dispatch. It was during that time that I heard for the first time the term...
View ArticleThe Sun Also Rises
By Léo Azambuja The Hanalei Pier is seen here 10 days after the April 14 flood. Just down the beach from the pier, volunteers were working with the National Guard to provide transportation and supplies...
View ArticleFire, Rain and Aloha in the Land of Pele and Lono
By Léo Azambuja The lava flow on the Big Island making its way to the ocean. Photo by USGS The rain and subsequent flooding that pounded Kaua‘i and destroyed many homes and roadways in mid-April left a...
View ArticleAre You Afraid of Ghosts?
By Léo Azambuja My mother has always told us, “You’ve got to be afraid of the living, not the dead.” It didn’t work much. While growing up, my siblings and I were still terrified of ghosts. I wish I...
View ArticleOur Time Is Ticking
By Léo Azambuja National Tropical Botanical Garden Plant Extinction Prevention Specialist Steven Perlman doing research at Wailau, a remove valley on Molokai's North Shore. Photo courtesy of Hank...
View ArticlePutting the Ink Where My Mouth Is
By Léo Azambuja Léo Azambuja I wanted to write about traditional Hawaiian tattooing for quite some time. As a writer, I always appreciated Ernest Hemingway’s style; he would rather go through the real...
View ArticleThe Far, Dark Side of Men
By Léo Azambuja Léo Azambuja Mark Twain once said, “Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.” To begin with, the moon has no dark side, Mr. Twain. The moon orbits around...
View ArticleBig Red Buttons in Children’s Hands
By Léo Azambuja In November, we will be celebrating 100 years of the end of the War to End All Wars. Apparently, World War I, disgustedly also called the Great War, was neither great nor it ended any...
View ArticleMy Paniolo Days
A gaucho painting by Lielzo Azambuja By Léo Azambuja My father was born and raised in a cattle farm in the very south of Brazil, where it gets as cold as it can get in this large nation. He grew up...
View ArticleHave You Refused Plastic Today?
The Western and Eastern garbage patches, and the Subtropical Convergence Zone in the North Pacific Ocean. Image courtesy of NOAA By Léo Azambuja We have only began to understand the impacts of plastic...
View ArticleMusic for Life
By Léo Azambuja Back in 2009, I was doing a lot of freelance writing and photography gigs. One of them was a weekly article on local musicians. I was really fortunate to meet some of the best musicians...
View ArticleMahalo for Your Service
By Léo Azambuja Kapa‘a High School ROTC members lead at a past Veterans Day Parade in Old Kapa‘a Town. Photo by Mike Hough/KBA On Nov. 11, 1918, an armistice was signed in France between Germany and...
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