One of the goals of our trip to Hawaii was to see a water falls. There are plenty around but not all are that easy to get to. Some of them require “pay to view,” others are illusive by way of their lofty locations, and there are those that are a nearly impossible hike to get there. Manoa Falls, located in beautiful Manoa Valley where rainbows are manufactured on a daily basis, is not any of the above. A hop on the bus with one transfer and a 45 minute ride out of the hustle and bustle of Waikiki and the easy to moderate hike begins.
This was taken in Waikiki, but I am pretty sure it originated in Manoa Valley.
The hike begins as soon as you are off the bus. We walk up the hill, and past the few houses at the bottom of the majestic mountains that lay before us.
Suddenly we have entered a tropical rain forest. The beginning of the hike was definitely easy, but progressed to moderate as we steadily climbed on.
Picture stops were frequent as there was dense forest beauty on every hand.
The picture below reminded me of two other rain forests I’ve been in. One in the Blue Mountains of Australia and the other on the climb to the first base camp of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. I have similar shots of the two large trees framing the path.
The rain begins.
The mud is sure to follow.
Photo ops abound. Look closely, we are now passing through a bamboo forest.
The “are we there yet” questions begin about here.
Our first glimpse of the falls, still an uphill walk in the distance.
Higher and higher we go. Later we learn that you can hike beyond the first falls to other ones farther up the path. Two falls in one day was not on our agenda.
And there it is, Manoa Falls. Very high, very much worth the walk. Not as much water coming over as usual, but we had talked to folks earlier in the week that told us the falls were dry several weeks prior. So we were happy that there was indeed, to quote from the first page of A Wish Called Wanda, “white water cascading over the cliffs high above the glistening pool.” I can’t say much for the roar of water pounding in my ears, but who is to say whether this could have been the very water fall on the calendar picture that inspired my dream to come to Hawaii in the first place.
I was happy to be there, and I chose to dub Manoa those falls. I had the joy of briefly sharing a small part of my story of going to Hawaii fifty years ago with a young gal, who joined me here at the base. We had but a few moments of telling each other our stories but, in that time we made a connection of two people who love to travel, meet people and share stories.
At that moment I really needed to share. I was bursting with excitement of having returned to Hawaii with the memories of my own youth fresh in my mind. And She was there, excited to listen and sweet gal named Hillary made my day!!!!
A Wish Called Wanda 