Manoa Mania

“Ua ka ua, kahe ka wai. (The rain rains, the water flows)” 

—olelo no’eau 2801 

We took a break from moving mania to hike the shady, jungly Manoa Falls Trail. It did not disappoint. Thick ferns and creeping, flowering vines, trilling birdsong, trickling water, lots of other hikers, and a guy setting up selfies of himself luxuriating and flexing (alone) in the pool beneath the falls. 

It was less than a mile each way, easy incline, and Eloise did most of it herself. “I strong!” she said, hiking along steadily. 

“Wow, she’s tough!” a man said at the end, watching Eloise charge down the trail in her flowered aloha outfit and muddy pink sandals, her slim walking stick clutched firmly in her right hand. 

“Yeah…she speaks loudly and carries a little stick,” I said. 

“That is so…exactly…Eloise,” said Chris. 

When we moved to Japan, I remember around the 10th day or so realizing we had barely seen anything Japanese. We’d been totally busy with boring moving stuff: getting a car, getting a Japanese driver’s license, looking at houses, checking into the squadron, doing paperwork. 

So I came prepared with a very short list of items I hoped to do within 10 days of arrival in Hawaii, like go to a luau and drive all the way the island. Surprise! We haven’t done anything on the list. Well, except watch a sunrise and sunset from the beach. And now, hike to a waterfall. The first of many, I hope. 

Lest you think we had a fun and carefree hike through beautiful forests, I must alert you to the manifold dangers of the area. Flash floods, falling branches, pig hunting, rock slides, waterborne disease…all this and more awaits you along the Manoa Falls Trail!