First Ride in Hawaii

When Brett and I were in Hawaii earlier this month we went horse back riding on two different days.  The first ride was into the Waipi'o Valley.  The valley is on the west side of the island, very tropical and has very steep sides.  This creates spectacular waterfalls but it also means you can only get in by hiking straight down a very steep road or via four wheel drive. 

We gathered with the rest of our group at the top of the valley and then climbed into an old four wheel drive van for the descent down the single lane, first gear, steep road.  At the bottom we were mounted on our horses.  This was a nose-to-tail walking ride through the streams and rivers that criss-cross the valley floor.  We passed by taro root farms, past trees twining above us dripping heavy with papaya, mango and avocado.

Our guide wanted us to give the Hawaiian hand signal for "hello" in a hang-loose kind of way.  Brett had trouble getting it right.  His index finger kept popping up.  It's a thumb and pinky wave.

On the way back, we came across one of the herds of wild horses that live in the valley.  They seemed pretty accustomed to people and wanted to investigate us.  We were advised to keep moving as they also like "rodeo" a bit.  There were babies... so cute!