Exploring Waipio Valley on Horseback

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This morning, we got up early to make the drive to Waipio Valley, on the north side of the island. We were going on a horseback tour through the valley at 9:30. It's about a 1.5 hour drive from Kona, and we didn't want to risk being late, so we left at 7am.

The plan was to stop at the Hot Malasadas Truck on the way to the valley. We arrived at the location at 8am, but the truck wasn't there yet. So, we continued on our route. About 5 minutes later, we passed it on the road! It appeared to be heading to the location for the day. We thought about doubling back, but we worried the extra drive time and waiting for them to set up would be too much. So, sadly, we skipped the Hawaiian-Portuguese donuts this time.

Our route there followed the ocean on the west side of the island. Then, when we reached the north side of the island, we sort of followed the ocean as we drove east, but we were too far inland at that point to really see it. On the drive back, we'd drive through the center of the island in a more mountainous drive. We got to see a lot of the island, and we saw everything from old lava flows to ocean, from forest to mountains. It's really beautiful.

Our destination was really the W. O. H Ranch near the Waipio Valley Lookout. We were joining the Waipio on Horseback tour. The drive down to the valley is extremely steep. There are signs posted that you need all-wheel drive (4 wheel drive is not good enough). There were also signs posted that it was a 25% grade! I'm glad we went with someone experienced at driving this route. Our tour group was small. It was our family of four, a French couple, and a family of three. The van was open air. As we drove down, we passed many people who were trying to make the descent on foot. Once down in the valley, the tour van forded rivers to get to the ranch at the bottom of the mountains. We saw many wild horses on the way (apparently, there are about 100 wild horses down in the valley).

When we arrived at the ranch, they asked us our experience and paired us with a horse. We were taught how to make our horse go (give a kick), how to stop our horse (pull back on the reigns), and how to turn left and right (pull the reigns to the left or right). Mostly, our horses would follow on their own, but sometimes we had to use our limited knowledge to stop our horses from passing another, or to get them going again after they stopped for a snack.

I wish I'd asked our guides how to spell the names of our horses. My horse was pronounced something like U'koola. I was told it meant backside, because when they first got this horse, he would always turn his back side to the trainer. My horse liked to trot. I have no experience with horses, but he seemed like a really good horse. The only thing he didn't seem to like was when other horses passed him by!

Oliver was paired with one of the older, most experienced horses. He was sturdy and had long, shaggy hair. His horse was content to follow the horse in front of him. I was often behind Oliver's horse, and sometimes my horse seemed to think that Oliver's went too slow. Oliver had to do very little to guide his horse. That is, until we started passing avocadoes. His horse loved avocadoes! After awhile, Oliver would need to give a kick to get his horse moving again.

Joanna was paired with a sleek little horse. He seemed young but was very reliable. He liked to snack a lot, so Joanna was often spotted with her horse at the edge of the trail or road, her horse snacking away. The guides would try to help get her horse moving again. It was really cute.

Andrew was paired with a stubborn but sweet horse. He simple didn't listen to commands if he didn't want to. I think Andrew had fun moving his horse around. He'd stop sometimes to check on one kid, or ride ahead to check on another. By the end, he and his horse were working really well together.

We moseyed around the valley. We had some beautiful views of waterfalls. The views of the rolling, green mountains were stunning from the valley below. Many were covered by low, rolling clouds. We saw many native flowers and plants, as well as food being grown for consumption. A lot of that food was native, but not everything. We saw many different types and colors of coconuts, a few coffee trees (which he said were being impacted by a blight or something this year), a few nut trees (possibly macadamia, but I was too far away to hear), some fruit trees that looked like grapefruit, some tangerine trees, some cocao trees, and even some banana trees. We had the best time. Yesterday, Oliver had said the manta rays were the highlight of the trip for him, but, after the horseback tour, he said it was a tossup. For the rest of us, the horseback tour of Waipio Valley was the highlight of the trip.

At one point, near the end, they spotted a herd of wild horses in the pen. A gate had been left open, and the wild horses let themselves in to enjoy some of the horse food. Our guide rode in and drove them out. The wild horses ran from the pen, and it was surreal to see them galloping away through the valley.

My body--specifically my knees--were ready for the tour to be over when we arrived back at the ranch. However, I still felt a little disappointed for it to end. It was just so much fun and an incredible experience. All told, we were probably riding for about 1 hour and 45 minutes. When we were done, we said goodbye to our horses. We tried some fruit grown down in the valley, and then we boarded the van again for the very steep climb back to the top. I didn't envy the people we passed who were climbing up on foot!

We loved our experience on the tour, and I'd absolutely recommend this to anyone physically able to ride a horse for a couple of hours. Afterwards, I was so tired that I slept for four hours upon returning to our resort. I guess Andrew took the kids swimming, but I slept through that! I woke up briefly as they were heading to bed for the night, and then I fell back asleep and slept through the night.