Tropicality at its Finest

Hi all,

It's so great being lazy on vacation. Sleeping in, lounging around, doing whatever we want... ahhhhh. We did leave the condo a few times, though:

On Wednesday we went to the Kauai museum in Lihue. T's a history buff, so it was right up his alley. They allowed photos, so I played around with my new camera a lot, which was right up MY alley. :)

We also drove ourselves around the East side of the island and explored some more. More waterfalls, more scenic views of the valley and the Waimea River. We kept talking about Jurassic Park, because of course it was filmed here. Once we got back to the condo, we popped it in the DVD player and watched it! Every rental condo must come with its own "claim-to-fame" copy.

Yesterday we went on a cultural culinary tour in the Waipa Valley. We learned a lot about Taro, and got to see the fields close up and learn about everything from planting, to tending, to harvesting, to preparing & cooking, to eating! We tried Taro in several different ways. My favourite was the dessert type that they mixed with coconut milk, brown sugar, and butter. It was yum. :)

The woman who led our tour was SO informative. She knew so much, and was passionate about bringing Hawaiian culture back to the people (locals, and visitors). It was a great experience (and of course I went camera crazy!). My only complaint is that it was too long. If they want to keep my attention for five hours, they have to feed me more regularly! Haha. We did have an amazing lunch at the end: organic chicken, vegetables, poi (taro paste), kim chee cucumbers (too spicy for me), kale salad, and iced tea. It was pretty good. Then came dessert: lilikoi cheesecake (passion fruit). It was the best thing we'd eaten so far on the trip!

In keeping with the Hawaiian culture theme of the day, we then went Hanalei for a guitar concert. But not any old guitar concert. This type is called "slack key" guitar which is named so because when the Hawaiians were first given guitars, they did not know anything about key, or notes, or chords, or anything. So they just made up their own tunings and went from there. Also, because of the scarcity of instruments, they learned how to play rhythm with their thumb, while their fingers of the same hand played the melody/harmony. That's crazy! Anyways, it was beautiful guitar music and we are coming home with a couple CD's.

However, it was on Thursday that we've had our best experience so far. We headed to Princeville on the North Side of the island to a ranch. We went horseback riding through amazing landscape with killer views. My horse's name was Poi, and T rode Makai. T easily had the biggest horse of the bunch, and it was a stubborn one! Poi was stubborn too, but I eventually showed him who was boss (the teacher in me!). I'm just glad he didn't show ME "natural consequences." Haha.

It was amazing. We rode down to the edge of (I can only describe it as) a jungle, where we hiked down to our own private waterfall. Swimming in there was delectable. It was truly paradise. Plus, it had been stinkin' hot, and it was perfect. Perrrrrrfect! Then we had a picnic, and relaxed some more. Ahhhh. Then we hiked out of there, including a mini rock-climb which T scoffed at because it was so short and easy. Then, a horseback ride to the start. It was a super highlight, and so far, one of the best things I've done on this trip, maybe ever!

Gosh I feel spoiled.

Today we are going on a sunset cruise, and we are thinking about doing a river cruise as well. Tomorrow we leave Kauai and meet up with friends on Maui!

Cheers and love,
E & T