No visit to the island of Hawaii is complete until you spend a morning at the Hawai’i Tropical Botanical Garden. Perched on an outcropping of the rocky north coast of the island, on and around a cheerfully gurgling stream

which runs into the surf

planted with thousands of tropical flowers

the view is stunning in any direction.

On the way there you can drop in on Akaka Falls, with Mauna Kea and its astronomical observatories in the background.

It has been my very great privilege to have spent a lot of time on Hawai’i. I think if I’d been born there instead of in Alaska I would never have left.

Chatter Random Saturday Akaka Falls Hawai'i Tropical Botanical Gardens Hawaii