Horseback Riding in Waipio Valley

Mom was kind enough to take us on an excursion to the other side of the island - the Hilo side. This is the side of the island that gets much more rain (200 inches annually versus 20 annually in Kona) and is also near where my Dad bought his land to build his Hawaiian home. It's about a two hour drive from one side to the other, so we were up really early to get to our horseback riding session at 9:00 a.m. Thankfully we didn't get lost and we arrived on time with no issues and only one pee pit stop (that's unusual with a car full of girls).

We had to wear long pants, so I grabbed my suspender leggings and BEVERLY THRILLS tank top from Love Culture. So thankful to wear New Rocks. They worked out perfectly for horseback riding since it was mandatory to wear closed-toe shoes. 

When we arrived at the ranch and parked our car, there was a friendly tiny cat that came up and demanded petting. He even jumped right up into the car.

Mom and Eden cracking and snacking on macadamia nuts from the ranch.

A funny sign. As I mentioned previously, many jobs don't pay minimum wage and the employees get paid in tips only.

I managed to get a close-up of one of the dreaded zipper spiders. Now you see why I am afraid of them…so scary!

When everyone on our tour had arrived, we piled into a four wheel drive van and headed down into Waipio Valley. In order to get into the valley, it is mandatory to drive a 4WD vehicle and go through a checkpoint where they make sure you know what you are getting into. The descent into the valley is extremely steep and the road to get down is a windy, one-way affair that is simply terrifying. Down in the valley, all of the land is privately owned. The people have no electricity and live off of the land. If they want food, they grow it and harvest it. If they want to shower/wash their hands/drink fresh water, they generally catch rainwater. What a very different way of living than what we on the mainland are used to.

The van drove through rivers to get all the way to the bottom of the valley where the horses were penned.

The DEAD END sign cracked me up. It made the perilous drive all the more hilarious. (Ok, Ok, so it was only perilous in my head. I'm 100% sure those guides knew exactly what they were doing and have made that drive millions of times.)

The van was parked and we hopped on out. I dropped my sunglasses and the lens popped out, so I had no shades for the entire ride. :(

All the horses started coming out of the pen. My horse is the white one. 

Mom mounting her horse. 

Eden introducing herself to her horse, who was named George. All the other horses had hard to pronounce Hawaiian names, but Eden's horse was just plain old George. She said he was a doofy horse.

Eden mounted her horse and the guide was checking to make sure everything looked good before he let her loose.

Me on my horse. He was the only white one and I was one of the last people to mount. His name meant Scab or Scar in English, but I can't remember the Hawaiian word for it. He was the leader of the pack and got grumpy when any of the other horses tried to pass him up.

One of the streams we crossed on horseback.

The view from atop my horse.

View from horseback down in the valley. It's easy to see how far down were were based on the height and scale of the mountain.

Only at the beginning of the ride was there another person in front of me. Mom and Eden got separated from me and I basically had the entire ride to just look around and take the scenery in. As I said, my horse was at the front and I got to listen to all the things the guide in front of me said and didn't have to talk to anybody else. For an introvert like myself, it was paradise. Hahaha. Although I wouldn't have minded being close enough to Eden and Mom to have a conversation with them.

The guide picked me a pumpkin cherry. It tasted sour and not like a pumpkin or a cherry. Also, my gel manicure held up well the entire trip. 

Very long waterfall.

Me and Eden on our horses.  The horses look kind of sleepy. Maybe because it was very near the end of the ride and they were just thinking about it being their lunch time.

All of us girls on our horses.

I loved horseback riding. It was my favorite activity by far.

This was a wild horse that came up to the van on our drive back up the mountain. 

We made it safely back up the mountain and our next stop was a restaurant to get some Portuguese donuts for Eden.

Up next - the botanical gardens!

Touring a Kona Coffee Farm & Dinner at Eden's Work

We finally got our rental car replaced, so Mom and I did a bit of exploring on our own while Eden was working.

First, we checked out more of the local outdoor markets. Kona is a very tourist-friendly town, so outdoor markets are a dime a dozen. They all have a lot of the same merchandise ranging from locally picked flowers and produce to handmade jewelry and artisan herbs and foods.

Mom getting into the aloha spirit with some pretty flowers in her hair on her morning walk.

My look for the day. Mom picked some plumerias on her morning walk, so I donned one in my ear. I found out later, it was in the wrong ear. You're supposed to wear it on your left ear if you're taken and right ear if you're available, and I had no idea and wore it on the right side all the time. Sorry Kyle!

Not a stitch of makeup except for some mascara. It's so hot and humid on the island that there's no point. My eyebrows would've melted right off.

My look for the day. I bought this hooded maxi dress from Forever 21 specifically for wearing on the island, so you better believe I was going to wear it at least once.

Very fine ukeleles for sale at the market. Upwards of $200 per piece. 

The flowers for sale at the market. There were so many of them it was almost overwhelming.

 We found a family-owned Kona coffee farm, called Greenwell Farms, and took a mini tour of the place as well as sampled some excellent coffee.

On our way to some good coffee!

Chameleon coffee! If it wasn't so expensive, I would've bought some just because of the name. The guide also said they have three-horned Jackson's chameleons like the ones pictured on the bags in the orange tree next to the store. I would've gone chameleon hunting, but it was raining.

Mom supporting the local coffee farm. :)

It was raining so they supplied us with large umbrellas while we walked around.

One of the Kona coffee trees. The red berries are the ones that are ready to be harvested for roasting.  I also learned that Kona coffee comes from a specific stretch of land at a specific altitude, so there were lots of Kona coffee farms in the area, but I think we picked the best one to tour.

View from the retail store's patio. 

I found the farm cat because I am a crazy cat lady and I can't walk by a cat without saying hi to it. Also, I was very much missing my kitties at home, so any contact with a fuzzy little being was bound to lift my spirits. 

A beautiful orange hibiscus from the tour.

Look at all the coffees to sample! It's a bit like going to a boutique winery - you lose your palate after tasting a few. They also had honey and macadamia nuts from the farm that you could taste.

Eden's work was down the street from the coffee farm and it was about dinner time, so we headed to Patz Pies for some pizza. They sell it by the slice for the most part, but you can also get a whole pizza if you want. I learned that most people in Hawaii work two to three jobs and are not paid a minimum wage. Many earn only tips and it is actually out of the ordinary to have a job that pays minimum wage or better in addition to tips. So we tipped Eden well! Hahaha.

The menu at Patz Pies. Mom and I got two slices of different style veggie pizzas and shared.

Outside view of where Eden works.

Patz Pies!

Stay tuned to hear about our horseback ride in Waipio Valley.

Until next time!

Some Hawaiian Market Shopping and Dinner at Huggo's

We wanted to find some souvenirs for friends and family back home, so we hit up some of the local outdoor markets to see what types of wares they offered the tourists.

We got to stay dry on shopping days, so I wore my Blackcraft Cult Poe tank.  

There were little green geckos running around everywhere at the market. One of the ladies had a jewelry booth and she told me that she'd send me gecko photos. She leaves her drink cans out at the end of the day and takes pictures of the geckos that comes to drink the leftovers. Photo taken by W. Greenfield. 

Photo taken by W. Greenfield.

This is my favorite photo she sent. He's just peeking over the edge of that can so adorably! Photo by W. Greenfield.

Photo by W. Greenfield.

Photo by W. Greenfield.

Photo by W. Greenfield.

This is a picture I took. I love how the geckos aren't really afraid of people.

Another gecko picture I took. 

Dinner that evening was at a restaurant down the street called Huggo's. Every time we drove by it during the day, it was hustling and bustling and busy with people, so it seemed like a cool joint to spend a few hours.

Sign outside of Huggo's.

The restaurant was all outdoors with umbrellas as the "roof" and a few awnings set up with grass hanging down. There was even a sandy area where the tables and chairs were outdoor patio furniture-style.

We all got alcoholic drinks. Mine was a traditional lava flow, while Mom got a lillikoi-flavored one.

There was a live band playing cover songs. People were dancing in the sand.

Grilled mahi mahi fish tacos with Hawaiian potato chips - my dinner.

Mom and I with our alcohol. No trip to the tropics is complete without an umbrella drink, am I right?

Up next - a horseback ride, botanical gardens, and ANOTHER car crash.

Until next time!