The Garden Island

The weather sucks in Portland right now. Let's visit somewhere warmer. To the Kauai vacations photos!

Photo by Greg

We had a wonderful time in Kauai, despite a couple of hiccups. It rained off and on the whole time, which made us panic that we were going to have another experience like we did in Oahu. About halfway through our trip we got word that one of Greg's team members, who was only 53, passed away. We had a pretty sad three days processing that and it was hard to feel okay enjoying a tropical vacation. But if there's a better place to be sad than the ocean, I'm not sure where it is.

It helps that we stayed in Koloa, where you can see sea turtles frequently. We got to swim five feet from them while we were snorkeling. Another time we were floating aimlessly on boogie boards and one popped up right next to me. They are gorgeous animals.

Not a sea turtle (red-crested cardinal)

We visited Hanalei town, which was a wonderful little town.

Waimea Canyon was foggy but it was still beautiful.

By the time we got to one of the best viewpoints, it was so foggy that you couldn't see the canyon at all. It happens to be one the wettest spots on earth, receiving an average of almost 374 inches of rain per year.

We visited blowholes. We were underwhelmed.

We drank wine and contemplated on the beach.

We visited Ke'e beach, which sits at the base of Bali Ha'i. The waves were huge that day, as we were getting a lot of rough surf from Typhoon Haiyan.

We visited Opaeka'a Falls and it was pouring so hard that we snapped this photo and ran back to the car. There were flash flood warnings that day.

We drank a lot of maitais.

We admired the plumeria and chenille plant that surrounded our condo.

I still think I like Maui a smidge more but Kauai gets two thumbs up. And I thought its sunsets were better than Maui's.

Stay warm, Portlanders! Maitais help.

A visit to the Limahuli Garden

Toward the end of our trip we headed to the north end of the island and took the highway as far as it goes, to one end of the Na Pali Coast. The Limahuli Valley was one of the first inhabited areas of the Hawaiian islands and it has been established as a National Tropical Botanical Garden (other gardens I've toured include McBryde and Kahanu).

"Set in a narrow valley framed by soaring cliffs, Limahuli Garden and Preserve evokes the history of Kaua`i, and of the Hawaiian Islands. Born of volcanoes and isolated by thousands of miles of ocean from the rest of the world, those few species of plants, animals, and insects that arrived on these remote and barren shores had millions of years to evolve into unique forms found nowhere else on Earth." [Source]

The terraces at Limahuli Garden were built 700 years ago and incorporate canals that carefully divert water from a stream to water the crops of taro grown here.

Taro

Hawaiian kava (Piper methysticum)

Song of India (Dracaena reflexa)

Indian mulberry (Morinda citrifolia)

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

This is my color! I love it!

Dwarf poinciana (Caesalpinia pulcherrima)

Croton (Codiaeum variegatum)

Unlabeled, I think it's a Pandanus

Unlabeled

Ornamental ti (Cordyline fructicosa)

Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa)

Cape plumbago (Plumbago auriculata)

Sweet sop, custard apple (Annona squamosa)

Laua'e (Microsorum grossum)

Makou, a celery relative that is endemic to the Hawaiian islands (Peucedanum sandwicense)

Soil not necessary

Hau (Rauvolfia sandwicensis)

Rasp fern (Sadleria cyatheoides)

I'i (Dryopteris fusco-atra)

Palapalai (Microlepia strigosa)

Hawane, endemic to Kauai (Pritchardia limahuliensis)

Akia (Wikstroemia uva-ursi)

Strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum), pretty but invasive

Pandanus tectorius (I think)

Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis)

Dwarf 'iliau (Wilkesia hobdyi)

The finest sign ever.

Brighamia insignis (endemic)

If you're ever on Kauai I really recommend this garden. It's beautiful and it's stuffed with incredibly rare plants that you won't see anywhere else in the world.