hiking hawaiian style. oh and sharks too.

Rachel talked us into a hike to Manoa Falls while we were in Hawaii. We had to be back to our house by 11 a.m. so Rachel, Melanie and I took off at 6:30 and drove across the island through morning rush hour traffic, with an insufficient map, and on a ridiculously unorganized freeway system. Traffic was a mess, but we got through to the other side of Honolulu and it was nice to be there early before any other crowds came. It is one of the more popular hiking trails on Oahu. We had the place to ourselves. Let me remind you where I have been hiking for the last few months.

Arizona trail:

Hawaiian trail:

Yeah, just a bit of a difference. Man oh man, it was the most gorgeous hike I've ever taken. It was so jungle-y and so Jurassic Park-ish, I was expecting a Pterodactyl to emerge from the forest at any moment.

The trail was about a mile in, and a mile back out. It had been raining all night so we were worried about the mud. It was quite wet, but not too bad for hiking. This picture was taken just prior to Melanie stepping backwards and toppling off head over heels over the "Danger - Keep Out" sign:

Then we had to get back to the north side of the island because we had booked a trip out on the ocean for a "Shark Encounter" little adventure. Dave's business partner told us we just had to do it (but suggested that we take the kids out later in our week because they might not want to go back in the water once they have seen the sharks, haha). We got out on the boat in windy conditions and once we got out to the shark infested area, the boat captains decided the water was too choppy to put the cage down in the water. That was a bit of a relief as we saw a shark on the surface. It gave us an easy out for not wanting to get in the water with the sharks. So we just fed it from the safety of the boat's railing and called it a day. WHEW!