Chillin' in the Rain Forest

Maui is an island of many extremes. One side of Haleakala looks like a barren Mars landscape. The beach outside our condo is a picture-perfect white sand. On Tuesday we're supposed to see some black sand beaches. Today we visited a rain forest in West Maui, referred to as the Iao Valley.

Think steep, jagged mountains, covered with lush greenery. Trees with vines, just begging for Tarzan (take note of this comment). Exotic flowers we'd expect at a florist, not in the wild. Trees with bananas (or plantains?), bridges over running streams, water flowing over smooth rocks, roaring in a peaceful chorus that lured us to spend more time than we planned.

During a self-guided tour at a state park we came across a part of the stream that had a local family splashing around in it. We had our swim stuff in the car so on a whim we headed back up and did a quick change in the car. Back to the stream for a couple hours of fun in the refreshing (Hawaiian for cold!) water.

On the drive out of the park we came across a forest of trees with vines hanging down. We couldn't help ourselves--we must get a picture! Before long the temptation to swing from the vines was too much to contain. Z did it first. The vine held him--no problem. Next was Christa, who swung like a little monkey. Barrett was about to try but wondered if he would be too heavy. Being the wise, protective father, I told him I would try it out first. A tight grab on the vine, a big step back, a leap into the air, and SNAP! Tarzan hit the ground hard, right on his butt! Ouch! Between bruised elbows, back, and pride, we piled back into our Grand Cherokee and headed back home.

After dinner in the condo we're heading to a local restaurant known for amazing desserts. Something tells me we're going to sleep well again tonight (and that I'm going to wake up a bit sore)!