McDougall Newsletter: June 2013

June 2013

Volume 12 Issue 6

Hawaii McDougall Adventure, January 18 to 25, 2014
Pricey for Good Reasons

Our (John and Mary McDougall’s) visit last month (May 2013) to the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel on the Big Island of Hawaii left us with no doubt that travelers will understand why we have taken this noticeable leap in quality for this McDougall Adventure. Take a tour through the property at their website.

The rooms are spacious and all have ocean views. Fishponds with hammerhead sharks, rays, jacks, and colorful reef species decorate the perimeters of the buildings. Pi’i, caretaker of the Royal Fish ponds, will conduct a private tour for our group. Within 100 yards of the beach lies one of the most beautiful and populated natural reefs that I have seen in Hawaii and I have over 15 years of snorkeling and SCUBA experience in these Islands. Even those of you with little experience would have been able to swim with yellow tang, black trigger, parrot, butterfly, blue angel, and puffer fish on the day I snorkeled last month. Daniel Akaka, our Hawaiian historian, leads the private tour of the petroglyphs, koa outrigger canoes, and the plantation house where Mary, Heather, and John McDougall stayed 38 years ago at the site of the Mauna Lani Hotel (long before any hotels were built in this area).

Speaking of the formative years of the McDougalls; those interested in how the McDougall Program was started on the Hamakua Sugar Plantation in Hawaii between 1973 and 1976, will visit a few of the places that stimulated their ideas about the importance of a starch (like rice) based diet for the prevention and cure of common diseases.

We have four days of adventures planned for you during this trip.

Adventure 1) Float down the flumes that once irrigated the sugar plantations.

Adventure 2) Whale watching: From our private catamaran sailboat we will be looking for humpbacks. We will also be snorkeling.

Adventure 3) The Volcano National Park is one of the world treasures we will visit.

Adventure 4) After visiting Waipio Valley, the Valley of the Kings, we explore the lush eastern coast with a trip to Honokaa to see how life once was for John and Mary on the Hamakua Sugar Plantation.

The food is all McDougall-style, low-fat and vegan. By the time we arrive in January of 2014, Mary will have spent 5 days working with the chefs at the Mauna Lani Hotel (and countless hours on the phone) in order to make this the most delicious and bountiful dining experience ever prepared for McDougall Adventure travelers. (And that is quite a claim considering we have entertained more than 2000 people over the past 20 years.) John and Mary McDougall (with a large number of their family members already signed up) will be actively involved in the entire trip. John will be providing daily lectures.

Room reservations must be made now because this is the high season for Hawaiian travel. Our first block of rooms has already been sold out. But Mary has another small block of rooms available until the end of July. Don’t hesitate.

This all-inclusive adventure includes transfers to and from the hotel and Kona International Airport (KOA), an ocean view room with free Internet access, food and non-alcoholic drinks with meals, adventures, and entertainment. One unique feature of this trip is that all gratuities are included in the price.

Total cost: $4,295 per person (based on double occupancy, all inclusive.) Call (800) 941-7111 or (616) 874-8155. Or write carol@drmcdougall.com.