Posts

Showing posts from August, 2019

Hawaii Adventure Series: Waterfalls and Gardens

Image
Waterfalls I thought I would not be able to appreciate a modest 80 feet waterfall after seeing waterfalls that seemed to have started from the clouds in the Norwegian Fjords weeks before my trip to Hawaii. But I enjoyed the Rainbow Falls as much as I did the many waterfalls I saw in Norway. Perhaps, it was because of its accessibility. The Rainbow Falls are part of the Hawaii State Parks and Wailuku River, the longest river in Hawaii, and flow into a lava cave said to be the home of Hina, a Hawaiian goddess. It’s also called Waianuenue Falls which means “rainbow seen in the water”. It's said that a rainbow can be seen arching across the falls on a sunny morning. It was raining on and off during our visit, so we did not see a rainbow. But it was beautiful nonetheless.  We planned on hiking the two and a half-mile route from our friend’s house, but because of the rain, we decided to drive and just walked the short trail to the viewpoint facing the waterfalls (there were

Hawaii Adventure Series: Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

Image
On a recent visit to Hawaii, we hiked through a few volcanic craters in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. We pretty much spent the whole day in the park, stopping first at the Kilauea Visitor Center to get information and hiking trail maps. There were friendly rangers who highlighted our maps and made suggestions as to which route to take. There were also exhibits about the park’s historical, environmental and cultural overview, and a theater where we watched a short film about the island formation, the arrival of life by wing, wind, and wave and the ecosystem from the sea to the summit, the rainforest and stories of Hawaii’s native people. There are 150 miles of hiking trails through volcanic craters, deserts and rainforest and two active volcanoes within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  So, it's easy to spend a whole day  in the park and barely scratch the surface, hiking-wise.   We drove the 10.6 miles Crater Rim Drive and hiked to see the park’s main attractions: the