We left our heart in the rainforests of Kauai

11/29/15

The totally trailer gang ditched our trailer and left the continental United States for some much appreciated island time!

We exchanged our desert hiking gear for swimsuits and rainforest hiking gear as we ventured deep into jungles looking for secret waterfalls.

From the Na Pali Coast to Waimea Canyon, we explored just about every inch of the island and took in the normal tourist attractions too. Hiking to the Ho’opi’ Falls was one of our highlights along with tubing down the irrigation ditch. Being surrounded by so much green was intoxicating. We loved the huge elephant ear leaves, the invasive vines that grew hundreds of feet in the air, the endless rainbows and never-ending WARMTH!!

Our home base was near Kapa’a and it was a great location to access everything we wanted to see and explore. We spent the first day just exploring the “rainy side” of the island and venturing down to Ke’e Beach for an awesome sunset down the Na Pali coastline. What made the journey were the little stops along the way to see rustic churches, jagged coastlines, sea caves, ancient sites, numerous rainbows and fun shops.

The second day we toured the “sunny side” of the island by cruising through Lihue, Poipu and up to Waimea Canyon overlook. From tree-lined roads to protected Hawaiian monk seals, spouting blow holes, Grand Canyon-esque views and more rainbows….we were in heaven!

After the normal “touristy” things, we jumped right into some exploration on our own determined to find the Ho’opi’i Falls, the Secret Falls, rustic swinging bridges and old Hawaiian villages. We kayaked the Wailua River from the Kamokila Hawaiian Village (which was an absolutely perfect day) of seeing the sacred falls, Fern Grotto and the Hawaiian village. We also thoroughly enjoyed our “white water” tubing down an old irrigation ditch with Kauai Back Country Adventures. Our guide “Pooh” was humorous, informative and a lot of fun. We had so much fun, we wanted to do it again immediately after the tour was complete!

The road to the arboretum made us feel like we were lost in some jungle and the rain forest put on a magical display for us.

Between spending quality time with family and enjoying all that this lush island had to offer, it was difficult to get me on a plane to leave. We still managed to get muddy, get wet, get a little lost, find caves and have a ton of fun doing it. Which just proves that you can take the family out of the trailer, but you can’t take the trailer out of the family!