coast of cliffs

Our day started at 4:45 in the morning.  We headed to Naulolo Kai on the Na Pali Coast; the mode of transportation was a zodiac boat, an inflatable boat with an engine.  If you have never been on a zodiac, the structure of the boat causes the ride to be comparable to off-roading.  All passengers were sitting on the edges of the boat holding on for dear life.  As you can imagine we soon became soaked with ocean spray.  It was delightful! Our captain was kind enough to take us into some caves that were carved into cliff.  My favorite was an open ceiling cave that had deep blue water and a small rock island in the middle.  Here is an aerial image from the internet to give you a better idea of what this looks like…

Once at the beach, we jumped out of the boat and swam to shore.  The beach lays at the foot of the face of a tall cliff, very dramatic scenery.

In the morning hours, there were 3 learning stations set up of which we  were free to pick our preference: how to pump a well/irrigate, ground penetrating radar (GPR) of a field, and kite flying to gather images of the coast.  I chose to learn how to pump a well in order to irrigate the plants.  We pumped the water into a tank that was at higher elevation than the well and garden; once the tank was full, it released water in intervals where it then finds it way to the garden by gravity.  I also helped with the GPR data collection by manually removing logs and sticks off a field so that the machine rolled on a smoother surface.    Once we were done with the educational portion of our day, we decided to relax and enjoy our location.  There were a variety of activities happening throughout the day: hiking, snorkeling, sun bathing, and napping.  All were done with ultimate enjoyment.  I chose to go on a long snorkel adventure which was well worth the sun burn on my back because I swam with two majestic sea tortoises.  We also found a shallow pool where the water was heated to about 85 degrees Fahrenheit, as relaxing as a hot tub!  We found it difficult to leave this cozy area.  A self-centering yoga session on the beach was the perfect way to end our time on the coast.

My major accomplishment for the day was learning how to skip a rounded rock.  Thanks Jesse!

I saw my first sea cucumber today.  What yucky looking rods!