Hiking in 5 Dollar Flip Flops

Welcome to the very first post on my new site! Whether you followed me on Travelated or just stumbled upon this, I’m glad you are here. I won’t normally annoy you with this, but since it’s the first post, don’t forget to check me out on Facebook and Twitter. Now on with the story!

During our stay at the Villa Del Palmar Loreto (VDPL) resort, the invited media group was taken on several different tours that I really enjoyed. So when Ayngelina and I had the chance to go on another tour with Wild Loreto to Isla Coronado during our extended stay, we were pumped. Especially since a really nice lady we met at the hotel (who asked if she could get online and “blog us back”) told us we could see some sea lions.

The tour ended up just being Ayngelina and I, plus 2 scuba divers who were sharing the boat ride. As soon as we pulled up to Isla Coronado, I was in love, The water was bright blue and turquoise and the landscape was made up of white sand and huge volcanic rock formations. The Wild Loreto tour guide, Said, told us we should go on a short hike before snorkeling so we could get some nice photos.

I don't know about you, but I think the view from the beach looks just fine.

We hate to hike

One thing Ayngelina and I bond over is our absolute hatred of hikes. The mere mention of the word gets our minds reeling with excuses. This time, we both pointed to our flimsy flip-flops and explained we were not properly dressed. However, Said assured us it was more of a walk than a hike, on soft sand for most of the way, and that the pictures would be worth it. So we agreed.

Lured into a false sense of security

For awhile, the terrain really was just soft, white sand. Said told us all about the trees, rocks, and fossils on the island and we happily snapped photos of everything. Slowly, the sand shifted into a higher rock-to-sand ratio, but we trekked on. Then, all of a sudden the clearly marked path stopped and opened up into an area made completely of jagged rocks. We figured this was the end of our little stroll and we’d be turning back now, thank you very much. But Said insisted.

Such inappropriate attire for this sort of terrain.

Hiking in 5 dollar flip-flops and a sun dress

Ayngelina and I giggled incessantly as we teetered and tottered over the rocks, letting out surprised squeals when we hit an especially unstable stone. But hey, at least the ground was fairly level, right? Not for long!

Rather abruptly, the flat ground ended and we were staring up at an incline of around 45 degrees. Said promised we’d love the view from the top. Ayngelina and I looked at each other just said “well, this is where we die.”

Check out that hill in the background - Where are these people going? Why are we not turning around?

But we kept going. My flip-flops that have never been asked to do much more than protect my feet from the hot ground near a pool were now being depended on to grip onto rocks and keep me from tumbling down a rocky hillside. Oh, bargain footwear, don’t forsake me now!

We made it!

So, where’s our helicopter?

We made it to the top and I do have to say, the view was worth it. Looking out over the rocks and seeing the amazing color of the water momentarily allowed me to forget that we were going to have to make it back down. Once we had snapped our photos, Ayngelina looked at Said and said “So, will they be sending us a helicopter or what?”

The trek down was significantly more treacherous. The was a lot of hand-holding, heart-dropping foot slips, and more nervous giggling. At one point, Said had us stop so he could get a photo of us from below. We joked that the photo would be shown on the news later with the caption, “The last photo ever taken of Rease Kirchner and Ayngelina Brogan.”

Can't you just see this on the news? "Moments after this photo was taken, the girls with inexplicably ill-suited footwear tumbled to their deaths"

Of course, here I am writing this, so we all know I survived. The real hero of this story is my pair flip-flops. Here’s to you, 5-dollar flip-flops, for going above and beyond your call of duty. May you never again be called upon for such treacherous work.