I love kayaking! That’s not to say I’m good at it, but I love floating down a calm river past gorgeous scenery beneath a bright blue sky. That’s what we did on the Wednesday we were in Hawaii. Here are a few highlights.
For this tour we selected Kayak Wailua from an ad in a tourist magazine. We could have chosen a far more expensive tour, but they advertised $39.95 plus applicable taxes, and by that time we were starting to look for bargains. (Hawaii is NOT cheap!) We were all glad we chose them. It was a family run business, and they took good care of us.
Kawika (pronounced Kuh-vee-kuh) was our tour guide, and he was a lot of fun besides being a wealth of information. The river was calm and the day warm. He led six couples on a 2-mile trip up-river, and then we pulled our kayaks onto the shore and began a several mile hike through the forest. The terrain was pretty rough, but the views were gorgeous!
Several times we crossed rocky creeks, and it was while crossing the third that I slipped and dunked my camera. Yep. A total loss.
We arrived at Secret Falls (which Kawika said is sometimes called Sacred Falls) and ate a picnic lunch. We waded into the COLD waters beneath the falls for pictures.
My sandal suffered a fatal accident there – the straps broke completely off. I was really concerned, since the return hike through the rain forest barefoot wasn’t something I looked forward to! Being quite resourceful, Kawika braided a rope from a fibrous tree to tie the sandal on my foot for the trek back to the kayaks. Between that rope and my lanyard (pretty much useless now, without the camera!), I made it back without incident. The sandal and the camera were a total loss, but the rest of the trip was a huge success. I HIGHLY recommend Kayak Wailua when you visit Kauai.
Back to the condo for dinner, where Bob grilled snapper and shrimp. We sure were glad to have Bob on the trip! We had the best chef on the island.