The beautiful Na Pali coast

This morning I dragged Gavin to our last, longest, most strenuous, and most challenging hike of our trip: two legs of the Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali coast.  Our plan was to do eight miles: two from the start at Ke’e Beach to Hanakapi’ai Beach, two miles in to Hanakapi’ai Falls, and back to the start again.  Since we didn’t big enough bottles of water to attempt a long hike, we had to wait until the Last Chance Wainiha General Store to open so we could buy a couple liters of water for the trail.  Our tree house was conveniently located about 10 minutes by car away from Ke’e Beach, but we discovered we weren’t the only people interested in this trail; we had to park almost a half mile away from the start of the trail!

The first mile of the trail hiked up the cliffs to awesome views of the coast from above and huge waves crashing onto the cliffs below.

The Na Pali coast.

Gavin is smiling now, only 1 mile into the hike...  :)

The second mile started to get a little muddy and slippery, and led down to the Hanakapi’ai Beach.  The water there was so tempestuous that we couldn’t even see any sand, just the worn-smooth lava rocks out of which visitors had made many balanced stacks.  No swimming is allowed here, before the final descent to the beach is a wooden sign with a death tally of more than 80 people killed there!  We stopped for a snack and some water, then continued inland to Hanakapi’ai Falls.

Hanakapi'ai Beach. 

Definitely no swimming here! The photo doesn't do justice to the waves
crashing in all directions on the beach!

Lots of little man-made rock piles on the beach.

The trail to the falls immediately got quite a bit more challenging.  It wasn’t any more challenging in steepness, but the terrain got more difficult – the trail was mostly mud and various sizes of rocks covered in a layer of slippery mud; each footfall had to be absolutely precise!  My five fingers shoes were GREAT for this since they allow so much more feeling of the ground underfoot and use of grippy toes!  :)  The interior of the jungle was still really beautiful, though we couldn’t spend too much time looking around; we’d trip/slip and fall if we weren’t careful with every step!  We also had to traipse back and forth across Hanakapi’ai stream tiptoeing across rocks and trying not to fall in.  :)  Our hike was also delayed by people coming back the other way; many parts of the trail only had room for one person at a time so slip and slide over the rocks, and there were quite a few people on the trail.

After two miles of slugging through mud and dodging peoples’ hiking poles (we were one of the few people without them  :)  ), we arrived at Hanakapi’ai Falls.  Several other people were leaving as we arrived, so we ended up having it to ourselves with one Australian guy who was kind enough to take a photo of us.  We swam for a bit in the frigid water of the 300 foot (!!) pool at the base of the falls.  

Our first view of Hanakapi'ai Falls.

We made it!

Falls and the pool underneath.

Gavin and I at Hanakapi'ai Falls.

Time for a swim!!

The hike back down from the falls seemed to go much quicker, as there were fewer people on the trail, and it was all downhill.  It started to rain, but we didn’t mind since we were already wet and muddy.  :)  The hike back from Hanakapi’ai Beach to Ke’e beach was rather tiring, since that was much steeper and it was the last two of our eight miles.

Rainstorm on the Na Pali coast on our way back. It was only sprinkling
a bit where we were standing. 

The hike back up from Hamakapi'ai Beach.
The strip of red is part of the trail.

Gavin trudging up the last two miles of our hike.

All in all, the whole hike, including the extra mile to the car, a couple water/snack breaks, and swimming in the waterfall pool, took us about 6 hours.

We went to dinner in Hanalei again, this time trying the Kalypso restaurant.  We got to sit on the outdoor deck and had a decent meal.  I also tried a lilikoi margarita (lilikoi is passion fruit), which was delicious!

After dinner we went to Tahiti Nui, a “tiki dive bar” in Hanalei.  This bar was the only time on the trip that “felt” like how I expected Hawaii to be.  We sat in the fresh air, listening to an older man sing slow, sensual hula music. Two of the waitresses (the singer’s nieces) took a break from serving food and danced hula to a couple of his songs; one of them was like 9 and a half months pregnant and could STILL dance hula!  We ended our night there, sipping mai tais and passion fruit margaritas in the warm night.

Pleated cliffs, red dirt, and waterfalls

Gavin is tired of me dragging him out of bed early for activities, but we did one last early morning on this trip.  We got up today to drive back to the airport and take a helicopter tour of Kaua’i, including a landing at the waterfall featured in Jurassic Park (Manawaiopuna Falls).   The helicopter tour was about an hour and a half, and it was our first view of the sharp cliffs and canyons carved out of the north end of the island and through the middle, the Na Pali Coast and the Waimea Canyon.   Gavin got a window seat, but we both got stuck in the back row of the helicopter, and I was stuck in a middle seat with views obstructed by everybody’s heads.  <sigh>

Sunrise at the airport.

Our ride for the morning.

Ready to fly!

My view from the helicopter.

Waimea Canyon from above.

More of Waimea Canyon.

Look at all the little waterfalls!

The north coast of Kaua'i.

A green river valley. 

The Na Pali coast. 

"Pleated" cliffs. 

The Na Pali coast.

Jurassic Park falls was nice, about a 300-foot waterfall.  The helicopter pilot played the theme from Jurassic Park on our headsets as we approached. It was a good thing he played it, otherwise Gavin said he would have sung it for everybody.  :)

Maniwaiopuna Falls (Jurassic Park Falls)

Gavin and I at the helicopter landing place at Maniwaiopuna Falls.

After the helicopter ride, we decided to drive right to Waimea Canyon to see it from the ground, as it is hard to have size perspective when one is flying.  The scenic drive through the two parks (Waimea Canyon State Park and Koke’e State Park) that make of the canyon is full of lovely viewpoints.

Waimea Canyon from the ground. 

There were several lovely viewpoints along the Waimea Canyon Drive

That little waterfall in the left side of the photo is actually an 800 foot waterfall: Waipo'o Falls.  We hiked to it!

A closer viewpoint to Waipo'o Falls.

We also stopped to do a hike from the Pu’u Hinahina lookout to the Waipo’o Falls inside the canyon.  It was about four miles and not too strenuous, though it was mostly downhill on the way to the falls and uphill on the way back.  The hike also included a stop on a plateau inside the canyon with a vertigo-inducing sheer drop off on the side.

View from the end of the Cliff Trail, a short detour from our hike to
Waipo'o Falls.

Waimea Canyon Trail, a tree clinging to the side of the cliff. 

On a plateau inside the canyon.

Looking over the edge of the cliff.

Bright rusty-red dirt on the trail.

Gavin on the Waimea Canyon Trail.

The waterfall itself had nice little pools to get wet in, but we hadn’t brought any swimwear and the water was COLD!  We were able to stand at the top of the tall part of the fall and look over the edge.  Helicopters passed by for views of the falls and our group of 15 or so tourists lounging on the top of them.

We made it! This is just a small part of the Waipo'o Falls; the rest is
below us.

Panorama of Waipo'o Falls.

Gavin admires the view.

Looking over the edge of the falls.

View of the canyon from Waipo'o Falls.

After hiking, we headed to the end of the Waimea Canyon drive, ending at the Pu'u o Kila Lookout.

Pu'u o Kila Lookout with views of the Honopu Valley and the ocean.

Panorama of the Pu'u o Kila lookout.

After our scenic drive, we headed back to our tree house to get ready for a fancy dinner.  We headed over to the St. Regis Resort in Princeville to have dinner at the Kaua’i Grill, the top recommended restaurant on the island of Kaua’i in a massive resort that had basically taken over an entire peninsula of Kaua’i.  The restaurant had a large wall of windows facing the ocean, and was supposed to have a good view of sunset.  We had some tasty, fru fru expensive food, but it was delicious.  We couldn’t actually see the sun from this point on the island, but we got to watch the colors of the sky change and darken.  After dinner, we went to the less-fancy Makana Terrace restaurant in the resort that had actual outdoor seating facing the ocean.  We ended our night with tea, coffee, and fresh ocean breezes.

What, more hiking?

This morning we got another early start. We had a nice breakfast on our veranda: fresh papaya, watermelon, toast, fresh squeezed orange juice and some really tasty biscuits filled with coconut and something like chai spices. Our guide for the day, Julien, picked us up at 7am to head to Mayflower Bocawina National Park. Our (*read "My") plan for the day was to hike to the top of Antelope Falls and do some zip lining. Why is it my plan and not Gavin's? Because Gavin despises hiking and would never plan any kind of hike as part of a vacation. Especially not today's particular brand of hiking...


After Julien drove us out of Hopkins and down another typical Belizan bumpy dirt road, we arrived at the national park. The hike up Antelope Falls is only about two miles. No problem, right? Lonely Planet had warned that this hike was "strenuous," but I tend to ignore Lonely Planet's advice on physical activities because they tend to be over cautious on their listings; a hike labeled "strenuous" would be strenuous for people whose only form of exercise is lifting the remote control to change the TV channel.


Here's how I describe the hike to Antelope Falls: 1 mile of easy walking, 1/4 mile of STEEP stairs, and 3/4 mile even steeper so that you have to grab a rope or tree root every step... Yes, I believe strenuous fits the bill. Plus we were in the jungle - not a breath of breeze below the canopy, plus even in the morning it is 80-90 degrees here. Our guide did not set a fast pace; he was so slow going up the stairs and climbing the path that I was actually getting MORE tired having to follow him! Gavin and I thought he was going to go into cardiac arrest and we'd have to carry him out! I don't see how he can guide tourists on these hikes almost every day and still get so out of breath!


Despite the "hardships" of the hike, there were some really nice things to see and smell on the way up. There was a HUGE tree with above-ground roots as tall as me; I of course had to get a picture doing tree pose inside the roots of this particular tree. :) We also smelled the scent of "bear cedar," smelling like freshly cut cedar though it was just live trees... We got to see a beautiful blue morpho butterfly, incredibly electric blue. Gavin pointed out an unpleasantly large spiderweb with an equally unpleasantly large spider chilling out in it. (but still no tarantulas, thank goodness!) Also at one of the look-out points we got to see two pure snow-white hawks lazily circling in the valley below.


We paused a the bottom of the main part of the falls to take a couple pictures (and let our poor guide have a sit down break :) ). The falls were pretty high, and really lovely. Then we continued hiking/climbing up beside the falls. By this point we were completely drenched in sweat, hot and getting exhausted. Then we finally reached the top of the falls.


The whole hike was SO TOTALLY WORTH IT! At the top of Antelope Falls is a deep pool fed by the waterfall - perfect for a chilly, refreshing post-hike swim! I have always wanted to swim in a pool under a waterfall, and I finally got my chance! The water was clear, clean and cold. I walked in with my water shoes, then swam across the pool to stand on the rocks under the falls. What an amazing feeling to have the water pounding on my head, washing off gallons of sweat, smears of sunscreen and greasy bug spray. It is probably the most clean I have ever felt in my life! There was also a little rope with knots so we could climb out of the pool onto higher rocks and then jump in ( I cannonballed. :) ). I could have stayed there all day, but I eventually started to get cold and hungry, and lunch was waiting at the bottom of the hike...


The hike down went much faster. (though I almost dragged Gavin over a cliff with the rope we were both holding on to for balance...) We stopped at a beautiful viewpoint on the way down that overlooks the the jungle and the Maya Mountains. The mist from humidity added a bright haze to everything below... I noticed that despite the bug spray being washed off, I was actually bothered LESS by bugs on the way down than I was on the hike up!


We had a nice lunch that had been cooked by our guide's sister in law, and then continued on with our jungle adventure. :) We headed a bit deeper into the jungle to do some zip lining. Julien has been guiding tours for 17 years, but he had only done the zip line once just yesterday! He decided to do it again with us today. We got all our gear and joined our two zip line guides in yet ANOTHER uphill stair hike to the first platform. From there we did eight different zip lines - a couple really fast and a couple really long. Julien looked a bit terrified every time he jumped off the platforms. :) This was probably the most fun zip line I have ever done. Gavin and I tried to take a couple videos. One video I made as I was zip lining I barely made it to the platform, despite not braking at all... So on video, I have myself losing speed too soon, flinging my foot forward so the guide could grab my leg and drag me to the platform. Lovely, clumsy landing. :)


After zip lining, we drove back to Hopkins through the orange groves. I have been dying to see how a fresh-picked orange tastes. I mentioned that to our guide, but told him I didn't want to pick any off the trees because that would be stealing. Our guide replied, " It is only stealing if you pick three or four bags of oranges, one or two isn't stealing." With that said, he pulled the car over, got out and wandered into the orchard to find me an orange! I had no choice but to follow. Julien said the best oranges were higher in the tree, and I was about to say, "Oh well, I guess there will be no orange stealing today..." But then he picked up a fallen orange and threw it at the high bunch of oranges knocking three of them down. I quickly grabbed them off the ground and ran back to the car before anyone discovered our thievery.


We arrived back in Hopkins where we discovered we had a flat tire on the POS rental car. Luckily it had a spare, so we changed the tire and the spare was also low on air! Greg hopped in the car with us and took us to a local mechanic who had an air compressor. Greg also suggested we have the owner, James, fix the original flat tire, too, just in case we had another tire problem on the way to the airport tomorrow. We left the tire with him and dropped the car back at our inn. Then, for lack of anything else to do in Hopkins, we walked to a gift shop we had seen on the way to the tire place. We got a cute little wood sugar bowl that we will probably never use as such - we just wanted it for decoration. :) Then we went back and picked up our tire; James only charged us $5 US to fix the tire!


After fixing the tire, I finally got to try my fresh orange. None of the oranges we saw in Belize looked like what I am familiar with as an orange; none of them were actually the color orange. The three Julien nabbed for me were mottled green and yellow, but he assured me that they were ripe. They were really hard, like a softball... and they had about that much taste. They were virtually impossible to peel because the rind was so hard, and once I finally got the rind off, the oranges were ALL pulp, as unchewable as the sole of a shoe. The only thing we could do was squeeze the juice out with our teeth, then spit out the rest! I guess fresh is not always better...


Starting early in the afternoon, the house next door to our cabana was blaring BAD music, so we decided to find somewhere else to sit on the beach. We walked down to Windschief, where we had had drinks last night, and got some nachos and used their internet. I got to catch up on journaling, finally! Then we came back to the cabana to finally shower of the day's grime. Gavin fell fast asleep, so I let him nap for a while before dinner while I sat on the veranda.


Learning our lesson from the last time we went to Driftwood Pizza, we called our order ahead so we wouldn't have to wait so long to get our food. We decided to walk down the street to it and see what was going on in Hopkins on Saturday night. Pretty much nothing. The street was dark, several people were walking and biking by, loud music was playing in some of the houses, but there did not seem to be any "nightlife." On the way one of the Rastafarian guys we had met on the beach a couple days ago came over to us and annoyingly walked with us for about 15 minutes to Driftwood, jabbering on about nothing, complaining that his family wouldn't give him money for sandpaper to finish his driftwood mask carvings (which we KNEW would result in him asking us for money at some point...) He showed us a "back way" to the pizza place, basically through some people's back yards in complete darkness. I turned on my flashlight so we could see where we were going. Once we got to the pizza place, he of course asked us for $3 Belize dollars so he could buy "sandpaper." We gave it to him in hopes that he would leave us alone! But he came into the pizza place, too! He sat at the bar and chatted with some other guy at the bar, talking loudly enough that we could hear him making fun of us, saying we were afraid of him and using the flashlight, etc. And he used our $3 Belize dollars to buy beer and cigarettes. Of course we knew he wasn't going to be buying any sandpaper, but he could of at least kept up the pretense and bought his beer and cigarettes at A DIFFERENT BAR where we wouldn't see it! At least the pizza was fabulous. :)


When we left Driftwood Pizza to head out for dessert, Gavin made me put our cash in my bra in case the Rastafarian guy had pegged us for a robbery or something. We joked that I was turning into his grandmother, who at our wedding in Mexico was discovered t be carrying $2,000 in her bra! Our walk back was uneventful, and we saw no sign of the guy. We had planned on going to Thongs Cafe for banana bread pudding. (someone needs to tell the German owner of the cafe that the word "thong" now refers to skimpy underwear rather than beach footwear...) Hopkins is such a small world that we happened to run int Jimi and Sabi, the couple we had talked to for a while last night. We sat with them as they finished their dinner and had a couple drinks and dessert, then we all walked back to Windschief together for some more drinks. The bar was dead; only the four of us and a couple obnoxious drunk American tourists, but it was fun to have another couple to talk to, especially since there is not much to do in Hopkins.


We say goodbye to Belize tomorrow...