Finally back to civilization and the first order of business is FOOD! I could survive the rain, the wind, and the mud, but two days of dry granola, nuts, seeds and crackers will drive a woman crazy! I was literally feeling greens withdrawl symptoms (don’t ask).
Although Hana was gorgeous and sleeping under the stars was fun, I was so glad to be back in Paia town and even more glad that the internet cafe had such a pleasing menu. This is a green smoothie made with organic kale, chard, cucumber, apple, and coconut water. The acai bowl had acai and berry purees, yogurt and banana, and my favorite yogi green tea that reminds me to “Be happy so long as breath is within you.” Oh and the grapefruit I picked up from a fruit stand on the side of the road was saliva slurping good.
Green smoothie, acai bowl, green tea
An hour later, I met a friend for lunch at a flatbread place that makes everything from local organic ingredients. This veggie special with tomatoes, basil, mozz, pineapple, and roasted bell peppers with balsamic drizzle was so good, I ate the whole thing!!! A 12″ round! It felt good to eat 
The veggie special for the day
I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging at Baldwin beach and did some yoga graffiti so I’d feel better for pigging out on all that flat bread pizza.
handstand yoga graffiti... I think I needed to wait another hour or so to digest more before doing this
Then it was off to look for Eco Retreat Center that is somewhere in the boon docks. I needed to make sure I found the place before dark because in Maui there are so many nooks and turns that are often not marked clearly.
The eco retreat is beautiful! Statues and culturally themed rooms make the property so peaceful and meditative. I mean who wouldn’t want to meditate in this room:
Meditation room overlooking the ocean
My favorite hale (house) on the property is the Thai Hale:
Thai themed hale with hand made door frame from Bali
My favorite statue on the property is this Thai woman playing a stringed instrument. She’s gonna be my inspiration for learning how to play my ukulele. Anyone know her name or the significance of this statue?
Thai woman statue playing an instrument
It was a quiet and relaxing day… just as I wanted it to be after the last two days of camping adventure. But I spoke too soon… the volunteers at the property gave me a tour of the place and suggested a few activities that I should try before leaving: propelling down the cliff to the ocean and a hike to a nearby waterfall. Since I just saw the most epic waterfall in my life, I opted for the cliff. I didn’t choose the cliff just because I already saw a waterfall, but because the moment the volunteer started talking about it, I could feel my skin try to crawl underneath itself with fear and I could hear in my head, ‘oh hell no, girl!’
The beginning of the trail... doesn't look scary right?
Well after surviving the first part of the hike that went thru a crazy jungle of trees, shrubs, and SPIDERS, I said, what the heck.. what’s next? A jaw dropping DROP….. oh how I thought it would be so convenient to forget about my mantra at this point, “Don’t lose your breath in challenging situations but find things that take your breath away.”
The first rope. It was rinky dink and tied to a very skinny tree stub that was shaking already
I don’t know what was worse, the rinky dink rope that was tied to a skinny tree shrub that shook like a kid’s tooth that is about to fall off, the slippery slope or the gust of abrupt wind. My hands are sweating again just looking at the pics and writing about that moment:
The second rope
And I don’t know what made me happier… each successive rope getting thicker because of 1) I am getting closer to the bottom or 2) the rope’s getting thicker because the path is getting narrower, or 3) that it’s getting dark and I could quit before getting to the bottom but that would mean I would have to go back up and through the now even darker forest:
I think this was the 5th rope
I think I lost count of how many ropes there were… I wanted to stop debating with myself whether I should stop and go back up or continue a little further. My insensible self won…. so down a little further til the last rope. At the end was this:
the prize... a gorgeous view that took my breath away
I later find out that I wasn’t at the end of the path… only at the end of the path that had ropes. YIKES!!!! In my book, my breath was taken away… mantra complete! … and all those carbs burned
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