O'ahu: Waimea Valley

As a break from the beaches, we visited a botanical garden on O'ahu's North Shore, a recommendation from a co-worker who has family on the island. The big draw for Waimea Valley's 1,800 acre botanical garden is not the plants, the Alae 'Ula, or native Hawaiian living history exhibits (which I posit should be the focal point), but the wailele (waterfall) at the end of the trail.

A dip in the deep pool at the base of the waterfall probably feels really good after the humid 3/4 mile climb from the entrance. We didn't indulge, but a lot did. Since the pool is 30 feet deep, they hand out free (and mandatory) life vests. The waterfall is fed by rains that fall in the mountains, and wai (fresh water) is considered sacred to Hawaiians.

The whole valley is sacred in fact. Kahuna nui (high priests) lived here for hundreds of years, including the last kahuna of this district, Hewahewa. Hewahewa watched over the heiau (temples) during the reign of King Kamehhameha the Great in the 1820s and 1830s. You can see the new heiau being built above, with a little help from modern scaffolding.

We took the 12:30 botanical tour. Our guide, who looked like a native Hawaiian, was dressed in jeans and boots, not sweating a drop in the heat and humidity. She's been with the garden ten years, and showed us her favorite endemic plants, including a tree that's sappy fruit traps birds. Feather collectors would regularly visit such trees to collect a feather or two before releasing the birds. We also spent some time at the shrine pictured above. The valley floods about every other year, unearthing field markers (stones that look like large beans), rock candle holders, heirogylphics, and ki'i, images of Hawaiian gods.

In the early 1900s and 1920s, the valley was taken over by cattle, pineapple, sugar cane and yucca fields. But starting in the 1970s, the valley has become a botanical garden, hosting endangered plants from all over Polynesia and Japan, and one endangered endemic water bird, the 'Alae'ula. Our Hawaiian guide led us to the pond where a pair was nesting. We glimpsed the father's red bill amid the rushes and lily pads. There are only about 750 of these birds left in the world!

For a hobby gardener like me, the rest of the park was a delight. Here you can see Steven examining some Jadevine in Aunty Coco's Lei Garden. It is a unique blue green.

Like roses, Hawaiian hibiscus have been bred into many varieties, colors and sizes. Waimea Valley has every permutation.