Wailua River paddle

I had an idea of what we were getting into when I showed up at the headquarters of the Wailua River Guides in Kapaa, but I had no idea how much I was going to really enjoy the kayak and the hike up the river that we did today with Wailua River Guides. The story actually starts before I got to the headquarters when I was getting ready to leave my house. I was having one of those mornings where it was just taking me forever to get everything ready. Then, because I was already behind, I started feeling pressured for time and lost my rhythm. This resulted in a feeling that I needed to be constantly double checking to make sure that I had all my photo equipment (which there is a lot of in my bag). Lets just say, when I got there I was still feeling little bit of lingering anxiety from earlier in the morning. Once I got on the boat and got wet, then paddled for a few minutes and got my blood pumping it felt like the rocky start to the day had never even happened.

When we got up the river to the trail head I opened up the dry-bag that the Wailua River Guides provided and gathered together my camera gear for the hike. It was a slippery hike, but at no point was I worried enough that I was going to fall enough to want to put my DSLR camera back in its pelican case that I had in my backpack. As we traveled through the jungle our guide shared many interesting facts about the plants and areas that we passed along the way. We learned about the "Hala" tree that was used by the ancient Hawaiians to create the thatch roofs that were common in their buildings. We also learned about many of the farming techniques of old as we passed through ancient agricultural terraces on the way to the waterfall.

The waterfall was well over a hundred feet tall and had a rather large pool that was calm enough to swim in. It was shallow at the edges and much deeper towards the center. The stones at the edges were loose and slippery which made it difficult to get in and out, but I managed to make it unscathed by staying on all fours and getting low. It is dangerous to swim under any waterfall because it is possible for rocks or even pebbles to fall with the water with enough force to cause injury to anyone in their path. I felt it was worth the risk and went for a shower under the falls, it was amazing!

On the hike back we took a different path that led us next to a small pool that the guide said was man made by ancient people as a private bath. After further investigation, experts now think that it was meant for the exclusive use of royalty. It was an absolutely beautiful place. At first when he said it was man made I was a little skeptical. He continued explaining and pointed out that all of the stones in the waterfall were standing strait up vertically, which is opposite from how nature arranges them. This observation made complete sense and my mind could not help but to imagine what life was like for the people that created this amazing water feature.

The paddle back was a very leisurely one, my friend Chris and I finally got our timing down and ended up making it back in a bit less time then it took us to paddle up the river. We pulled up next to a dock in front of one of the houses and talked with one of the residents that was sitting at the end of his dock drinking a beer out of a green bottle. He was an entertaining guy and we were kinda sad when the rest of the group caught up and we had to say "bye" to him.

After going on the paddle up the river I was in such a good mood. The exercise and the mellowness of the paddle of the river completely erased the rough start to the day. I was already smiling as we were driving home, and then my smile got even wider when I saw a woman on the side of the road selling Ahi. We stopped and picked up an 8lb Yellowfin Tuna for $25 and then went home and spent the rest of the day eating sushi hand rolls and giant sashimi platters. It was a perfect ending to an amazing day!