Okay so it’s almost Thanksgiving, and I’m failing miserably on keeping this blog updated. But whatevs. It’s mostly just for me, anyway. Gives me something to do when I’m bored or when I don’t have my hands full of babies and work.
So, Ale and I bought a Kelty kid carrier for Sebastian because I’m not so hot on the Snugli front carrier now that he’s getting bigger. Back strain. So our first outing with the Kelty was to Manoa Falls near Honolulu.
So if anyone is looking for cheap things to do in the Honolulu area, this is a good place to visit. If you park in the parking lot, you pay five bucks and the hike is less than a mile to the falls, and the climb is not a steep one at all.
I saw plenty of people try this hike in flip flops, and I guess they fared pretty well, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Sturdy shoes or hiking sandals would suffice, but the trail is very muddy. You’re in the rainforest, people. Think ahead a little bit.
So we only had a little issue with the mud. My biggest problem was the mosquitoes. We got a bug spray and I must have reapplied it every 15 minutes, and still came home full of welts where I was sucked dry by mosquitoes. So go prepared.
It was a really beautiful waterfall, though. Unfortunately, there was a landslide a few years back and the pool at the bottom of the falls is kind of blocked off, so there’s no swimming there. I guess there used to be, and it would have been a refreshing little dip, but no luck.
The attendant from the parking lot gave us a map with information and an outline of all the trails around the falls. We took another trail that was only another mile and a half up, but we made it about half way before we headed back. The mosquitoes got worse the further in we went, and it would have been dark anyway had we gone to the top.
If you’re not from Hawaii, you might not realize that even in the summer, the sun sets super early. It’s like 630 in the summer and about 550 or so in the winter. It works out pretty well if you’re from the mainland, since you’re likely to get up early here anyway because of the time difference. Take advantage of the beach in the mornings. It’s delicious!
Aloha!
