A Hawaiian Botanical Garden

I’m fond of Botanical Gardens and have visited them here in places like Tacoma, Seattle, San Francisco and Denver, but visiting the small botanical garden in Hawaii seemed like a whole different adventure.

When orchids

grow outside, in the open, you know you’re no longer in your Mom’s garden.

Even having eaten bananas for 75 years, it came as a bit of a shock when I actually saw them hanging from a branch.

This tree/shrub was just plain un-believeable,

as startling as this garden within a garden.

No Ignoring Hawaii’s Flowers

The landscaping at our resort was so spectacular it was impossible to ignore. Not sure if any of the flowers were native or not, but we did see the same flowers in several different places.

Native or not, this was one spectacular flower

no matter how you looked at it.

This red beauty looked similar enough to at least belong to the same family.

Though it was impossible to ignore these two, I think these delicate pink flowers were actually more to my taste.

Color Me Surprised

I’ll have to admit that I was very surprised by the birds I saw on Maui. When this bird showed up in the parking lot, at first I thought it must be some exotic tropical species. But the more I looked at it, the more I thought it must be a Cardinal,

a bird I’ve never seen but identify with the East. Turns out they were imported about 1929. 


I’d never seen a Red-Crested Cardinal

before, either, but they aren’t a native species either, having been imported from South America in the 30’s.

I worked hard to get a decent shot of these two, thinking I’d never see another one, but a few days later both a male

and female Cardinal Cardinal

landed next to us to eat a piece of bread someone had left on a nearby rock

.

On our last full day on the island this Red-Crested Cardinal landed on the extra chair at our table.

I’ll have to admit that if I’d known what birds to expect I would probably have brought a different camera with a better lens. There’s definitely a reason I’ve invested so much money on camera and lenses as I’ve gotten more interested in birding.

Snorkeling on the Trilogy II

Everyone agreed that the highlight of our Hawaii vacation was the snorkeling trip on Trilogy II.

I was too busy trying to stay afloat to take photos but Margaret purchased several shots from the Trilogy photographer.

It’s clear that the kids who had snorkeled the day before (Kel and Mira) had an advantage over

Grandma Leslie

and yours truly.

If I ever go back to Hawaii, I’ll buy a mask, snorkel, and fins several weeks before I leave and practice in the local pool. Long, long ago I actually had a face mask and fins and spent most of the summer at the bottom of the pool and the lake, but it turns out any skills learned 60+ years ago are largely forgotten.

All the flailing and splashing were soon forgotten, though, when I caught sight of a sea turtle swimming into the depths.