I'm sure you all know, but just in case you don't, you can click on any of the pictures and they will be enlarged so you can get a better view. Travis was just saying the other day that these tiny pictures really don't do justice to the beauty that we say. But blowing the pictures up bigger does help!
I'll let the pictures do most of the talking here. The Garden was beautiful! I couldn't have imagined a better place to see Hawai'i vegetation. The photos are a mix of what Travis took with his camera and what I took with mine. I have to give him credit; most of the pictures are his!
The boardwalk down into the jungle.
Heliconia were everywhere in all different colors. They are really interesting plants!
Travis loved these photos where he shot looking up into the treetops. They're all good enough for post cards!
Oh, all of the orchids were beautiful! I might have gone a little overboard with all of the pictures I took of them, though! You'll know what I mean when you scroll down!
Hmm...not sure why this photo didn't rotate correctly. It rained on us while we were walking through the Garden. Luckily, the gift shop provides free umbrellas for visitors to use!
Crud. This one didn't rotate, either! The waterfall here was gorgeous.
Who are those people ruining the view? :)
I wasn't kidding when I said there were interesting plants in the Garden!
This is the tree that sends massive roots down to the ground to support its weight. This tree was much smaller than the one we saw earlier.
Oh, the orchids!
I could have photographed them forever. Actually, I did. Travis had to coax me away from them. There was no way I could post all of the orchid pictures here, there were just too many!
This was such a neat palm, it only has fronds growing in one plane.
Massive vines of all types climbed up the towering palm trees.
The Garden sits on Onomea Bay. We took quite a few minutes just soaking in the great views!
This is the statue of Ku. He was an ancient Hawaiian fighting god.
I would highly recommend this stop if you're ever on the Big Island! It was worth every penny! While it did rain on us for a few minutes, I'm glad that it did! Rain in a rain forest is so different from rain in Texas. It just adds to the atmosphere of being in a jungle! All of the plants look so fresh and, for lack of a better word, happy after it rains! Who knew?!