Zoe was trying to kill me

I thought I bonded with Zoe from the Kohala Center (see previous post), but I think maybe she was trying to eliminate one human from the planet by suggesting I hike the Waipio Valley.

It's beautiful from the top:

And it would be lovely if you made it all the way to the bottom:

But I cannot emphasize enough that the path down is exceptionally arduous (this is misleading as the road literally tilts at about a 45 degree angle):

Though I was (as usual) not carrying the camera, I did see images of the taro fields Zoe promised that looked like this:

Another adventure I would like to have but will ultimately leave to more intrepid students is to WWOOF Hawaii.  I lament that WWOOF- whether worldwide or the in States- appears to be age biased in favor of the young- but I still have to advocate for students giving it a shot if interested.  I joined the Hawaii chapter (link above) but ultimately did not find any vacancies that overlapped with my tenure.  I was disappointed, but yet I was not as I'm not sure I'm ready for the realities of a composting toilet.  Just saying.  A few years ago, I did have a student work on organic farms throughout Europe.  While physically taxing and a bit imperfect at times, I think she had a fabulous adventure working with wine, olives, and meeting new folks.  Peace out.  B.