Day 7 Molokai

Today was the first day at our new camp. After a stellar dinner made on the campfire last night, we broke our fast with Molokai pineapple coconut bread with a goat cheese spread and a side of fruit. Delightful! We were up early to get to Halawa. Our fingers were crossed we'd get to do the hike to the falls today. Molokai Fish and Dive is a great place to get local info (and they have snorkeling/scuba trips). We booked our hike to Halawa Falls there and we were lucky. You can easily find a guide to the falls, but our tour came with a healthy dose of Hawaiian Culture. One of the family members who lives in the valley begins the hike with a traditional greeting in Hawaiian. Then you get to hear about his life growing up in the valley. As the last living survivor of the Tsunami that crushed the Halawa Valley on April 1, 1941 this Hawaiian Elder is extremely knowledge and willing to teach about his culture. After our culture immersion we started our hike. Remember that Tuesday there was a flash flood? Today the river was pretty high, but we forded it and only got a little damp. Our hike included stories about the plants and trees the Hawaiians use and explanations of the ancient customs and the ruins left behind. The waterfall was worth walking through the squelchy mud! We got to take a cool swim and after lunch (leftovers+fruit) we felt refreshed and ready to hike back to the modern life. If you come to Molokai, plan to do this hike on day one or two, then you can pick your guide's brain for local tips! We got a lot of answers for questions we'd been pondering as well. The road back was awesome, beautiful and sunny. Apparently the weekend starts on Thursday here on Molokai since everyone was out at the beaches and on the water. After a quick stop in town to get apricot bread we started back to our camp. Mentally ready to swim, sun and eat we were stopped short in our day dreams by rain. Wet, wet rain. At the campground we reconoitered and then headed back into town making a beeline to the laundromat. After a consolation dinner and mope at the Cookhouse (mixed plate with beef/veg stir fry, teri chicken, fries and mac salad with a slice of chocolate mac nut pie for dessert) we ventured back to our original campsite. Now we're ensconced in our dry tent, making new plans for tomorrow. We were going to hike to Kalupapa, but we don't want to slide down the cliffside. There is an option to take mules down the hill, but we don't want to pay that much when it will be more adventurous to hike it. Hopefully we'll be able to go on Saturday.