Hawaii-Day 5, Part 1

Waipi'o Valley is such a beautiful place with its steep cliffs and waterfalls around the perimeter. Once a thriving community, the valley was wiped out when a wave came 2 miles inland as a result of the 1946 tsunami. Now, there's a handful of hippies that live off of the beautiful land, mainly taro farming. They have no power, water, phones, or TV. They use solar power and generators for electricity and gather their water from a nearby spring. The one-lane road down into the valley is at a 25% grade, which is about a 45-degree angle (that's STEEP, y'all). It drops 900-feet in less than a mile! Of course, we did not attempt to drive our vehicle down in there but instead road down in a 4-WD van. We went on a horseback ride and took in some of the most beautiful sights I have seen on the island. My sweet horse, Smokey, was a really good boy...but he was a hungry boy. He liked to eat avocados, apples, and mangoes off the ground. I had to keep him moving; he was not happy about that. He also wasn't very happy with me when I tried to get him to move on out of the stream; he actually stomped his feet. This crazy horse stuck his entire face in the water while drinking, blowing bubbles! It was such a funny sight! Check out this beauty...