Hawaii (part 3)
One afternoon we were scheduled to take a boat tour along the Kauai's Na Pali coast. This tour would take us to the shores along the bottom of the cliffs we'd seen on our earlier hike. Unfortunately, the ocean was a little too choppy that morning, and the tour was cancelled.
We opted to go for one of the other big tourist activities on Kauai: a helicopter tour around the island.
On the pad
On board
We lucked out and got the two front seats right next the pilot. The pilot was a strange man. It was hard to hear him above the noise of the whirring blades because he spoke very quietly, and often mumbled or slurred his words. He sounded, frankly, a little bored at seeing the most amazing island on the planet for the thousandth time. The juxtaposition of the dramatic visuals and the jaded voiceover made it difficult for passengers to decide whether to be amazed or fall asleep.
Helicopter tour pilots relieve their boredom by flying as close to
steep cliffs as they can
In the end, of course, the view really was spectacular, and we had a great time.
Kauai's stunning Na Pali coast
Here's a little tip for you if you ever want to take a helicopter tour: try to remember what you're looking at. Helicopter tours have the same problem as scuba dives, which is that you're looking at such cool or weird stuff from such an unusual perspective that it's really hard to remember anything specific when you're done. You remember, "Wow, those were some cool cliffs", or "What weird fish", but it's hard to keep the image of a specific cliff or fish in your mind.