A Walk Through the Jungle

 

Deep into the wild and thick forests at Waa Waa, an unruly and almost untamed part of East Hawaii.  Even the roadway to this wilderness is pock-marked with deep potholes, water filled ponds collect everywhere and make it almost impossible to move along the muddy dirt road especially after a heavy rain.

It feels very magical here, like time has stood still for a very long time and you can almost imagine dinosaurs from a very long time ago actually living in this Jurassic Park like zone, even though that only happens in movies.

 

 

Amazing plants abound and grow way up in the tree canopy including this wild birds nest fern (Asplenium nidus), the leaves growing over five to six feet in length alone. I wish some were closer to the ground for me to bring back a plant for my garden, but these plants live way up in the trees hard for the plant collectors to reach.

 

Here is a longer shot of the fern high above the forest canopy and magically

it up by the shaft of light illuminating its beautiful leaves.

 

Large limbs or aerial roots drape from these large trees and are very solid as you can see

from a friend swinging here to test the strong roots.

 

 

 

Eventually we make it to the clearing at the end were deafening sounds of the ocean crashing

can be heard…we see the huge waves battering the coastline and throwing huge boulders onto the rough shoreline.  I took a shot of this imaginary piece symbol with the two rocks lit up the waves in the background.

 

 

This huge arch at the end of the rocky beach is the highlight of the hike, the waves are fierce and hurling huge sprays along the shoreline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a wonderful and short hike, I’m glad this area is rarely traveled except for those who live in this area.