Hawaii Adventure Series: Waterfalls and Gardens


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 a big drop and a tiny one on the side) and the trail alongside the waterfalls to the top. So I was able to follow the river flow as far as the eye or my camera lens could see. Also, the trail led to a jungle-like area with humungous Banyan trees that I was able to climb. 

A short drive from the Rainbow Falls, we found Pe’epe’e Falls or Boiling Pots, named because of the pools that look like pots of boiling water. 


The view was amazing that my friend and I were so excited to take pictures. So we followed the young men filming below the viewpoint. I did not realize that visitors aren’t allowed in that specific area. It was dangerous and we should not have gone outside the fence, below the viewing area.

There are a few waterfalls in Hilo. I noticed that every time we crossed a bridge, I would also see a waterfall. So watch out for a waterfall when crossing a bridge in Hilo.

Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Garden  

I’ve been to a few botanical gardens in my life, but I would put the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden at the top of my list for reason not only because of the exotic tropical plants and flowers but for its natural feature. It has natural waterfalls and it is bordered by the sea. Described as "A Garden in a Valley on the Ocean", the garden was founded by Dan and Pauline Lutkenhouse in 1978. They spent six years hand-clearing the tropical jungle to create the winding trails and outstanding garden. They later purchased an additional twenty acres and donated the entire thirty-seven acres to Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden to preserve the natural beauty of Onomea Valley.  

 From the road level, we walked down the boarded trail, enjoying the exotic flowers like the heliconias, bromeliad, and orchids (to name a few). As the boarded trail ended, we walked through trails named after plant groupings like Heliconia Trail, Torch Ginger Trail, and areas like the Fern Circle, Orchid Garden, Lily Lake,  Anthurium Corner, Palm Jungle, Monkey Trees down to the ocean.

 Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden Photo Gallery
Entrance 
Hanging Heliconia

Ginger Flowers

Malay Rose (Origin: Malaysia)

Rose Grape (Origin: Philippines)

Crimson Medinilla (Origin: Philippines)

Anthurium


Spider Lily
Bat Plant Flower

The Orchid Garden






Tiger






The Lily Lake
Lily Lake


Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo and Botanical Garden  

The Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo and Botanical Gardens are said to be the only tropical zoo in the United States.  We were invited by a local organization for lunch in the park so we had a little time to explore the whole zoo and garden. I saw some endangered animals like nene geese (Hawaii State bird), lemurs, spider monkeys and the most famous attraction in the park: the two Bengal tigers - one orange and one white.



I was also able to take pictures of the vireya gardens (varieties of tropical rhododendron), bamboo, orchids, and purple hibiscus. 



Bamboo

NOTE:
All photos by the author

Comments

Post a Comment

NEW POSTS

NEPAL: Durbar Square Before the Earthquake

Image
I was writing my blog about Nepal’s UNESCO World Heritage and historic sites very late last night (05-12-15 in Nepal) when I happened to check my Instagram and saw a posting about Kathmandu after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal yet again. I get emotional just by looking at the photos and videos I took from my recent trip to Nepal let alone a video of a chaotic Kathmandu. I must confess to telling a co-traveler on our way to Patan's Durbar Square that I was ‘templed out’ (the term I used to describe how I felt after visiting so many temples).  Who would have thought that the visit to that last Durbar Square and seeing all the temples that day was a great blessing.  I have said many prayers of gratitude for the opportunity to see and capture in films and photos Nepal’s UNESCO World Heritage sites and the irreplaceable temples and statues before the April 25, 2015 earthquake. The Kathmandu Valley is comprised of three cities: Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan. Each city features
Read more

The Banaue Rice Terraces: A Living Cultural Landscape

Image
My interest in exploring the northern part of the Philippines started from looking at a piece of art at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, California.   Among the display of ceramics and pottery engraved with gold and other decorative stuff,  a wooden carving of a male figure squatting on a platform with the lower arms on top of each other, resting upon his knees, caught my eye.  According to the docent, the wooden sculpture was called "Bului" which literally means "granary guardian" in the "Ifugao" tribe dialect. The carved wooden sculpture was set on a platform on top of another platform, a mortar.   Our docent explained the significance of the wooden mortar (which was used with the pestle, to separate the husk from the rice, sort of rice mill) and linked the story to the Rice Terraces in the Cordillera Mountains of the Philippines built 2000 years ago by the “Ifugao” tribe. So two years and three hundred kilometers north of Manila later, we explo
Read more

Poland: The Wieliczka Salt Mine

Image
One of the most spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Sites I visited this year was the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow, Poland. It was founded in the 13th century to mine the rich deposit of salt. Salt mining stopped in 1996 when the low price of salt on the world market made it too expensive to mine and the mine was slowly flooding. But miners did more than just extract salt. They left behind them a breathtaking record of their time underground in the shape of statues of mythical, historical and religious figures.  Part of the salt mine became an art gallery, chapels, cathedral, and underground lakes. Today, Wieliczka Salt Mine is one of the most visited National Monuments in Poland. For safety reason, less than one percent of the mine is open to visitors, but even that is almost four kilometers in length. There are 20 chambers to visit and 800 steps to climb of which 350 at the beginning take you down into the mine. You can’t just visit and wander around on your own. All of the visits
Read more