Hiji Falls

Between the history and culture of Okinawa and the amazing natural beauty, we never found ourselves with a shortage of places to visit. Our Okinawa Bucket List included "Hiking to a waterfall", but we waited for the weather to cool slightly before we took on this adventure. By November, the air was cool enough to check this item off the list!

We drove north about 90 minutes to Hiji Falls for a 2-mile round trip hike along the Hiji River. Thank goodness we had such a great tour guide and map reader. She may not be able to read Japanese (or English very well), but she's watched enough Dora episodes to follow a map. First, we go OVER THE BRIDGE, then we climb UP THE STAIRS, and THAT'S how we get to the WATERFALL! C'mon! Vamanos! (Where's the Fiesta Trio when you really want them?)

As always, the Okinawan way is one of helpfulness and kindness. The park staff wanted to suggest that we may want to consider avoiding the broken path, and gently recommend the alternative.

Or as Robert Frost put it, "Two roads diverged in an Okinawan wood, and I, I took the suggested route."

There was an awesome bridge that our fearless leaders crossed, followed by an incredible number of stairs. John and I were a bit worried about this hike because, although Maddox could walk, run, and hike all day, Zoe is....well, she's just lazy sometimes. Her God-given legs work perfectly well and we feed her several times a day, but she seems to think that she was put on this planet to be carried.  And watch out if she gets a boo-boo, no matter how microscopic; the day could very well be done.

But kids do nothing if not surprise us, and on this day, Zoe was a rock star. Even when she did trip on our way back, we managed to distract her by asking her to count the stairs back to the entrance. It was the hiking equivalent of the road trip game: "Let's see who can be silent the longest!"

The waterfall runs year-round, and is about 85 feet tall. The waterfall itself is beautiful, but the dense vegetation and surroundings were stunning as well. 

So the hike was great - much better than expected - and once we returned to the beginning of the trail, we waded into the Hiji River. John taught all of us how to skip rocks (How did I not know how to do this? There was a pond in our front yard growing up!) which the girls purportedly mastered.

The girls spent the remainder of the time in the water pretending that they lived "On the Banks of Plum Creek". Maddox and I had finished reading that book, and we decided that it must be *exactly* like being in a subtropical rainforest environment. The girls had a blast getting soaked and looking at fish; the fun was only cut short by an afternoon storm.

WE DID IT! WE DID IT! LO HICIMOS! YES, WE DID IT!