The Waimea Botanical Gardens, Seven Brothers, And Shark's Cove

Books By Patti Liszkay
​Available On Amazon

​"Equal and Opposite Reactions" http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
and the sequel, "Hail Mary" https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
​Available on Amazon.

​
​THE WAIMEA BOTANICAL GARDENS, SEVEN BROTHERS, AND SHARK'S COVE

...Continued from yesterday:
     On Tuesday, April 12, we drove to the north end of the O'ahu to the Waimea Valley to visit the Waimea Botanical Gardens.

      The Visitors' Center,

...opened up to a trail that meandered through beautiful and lush tropical flora and fauna.

     There were also facsimiles of village life as it would have been centuries ago on this part of the island.

     The 3.5 mile trail - which seemed a fraction of the 1.6 mile Manoa Falls Trail we'd walked the day before (see previous post, https://www.ailantha.com/blog/the-manoa-falls-trail​) - ended at Waimea Falls, where, unlike at Manoa Falls, swimming was permitted in the pool at the base of the falls.

     As Waimea was only a couple of miles from Shark's Cove, the good snorkeling spot Tom and I had visited the previous week (see www.ailantha.com/blog/sharks-cove-oahu), we decided to go there after we finished seeing the botanical gardens.
​      But first we wanted to seek out some lunch. This tuned out to be more of a challenge than we'd anticipated, as this was a rather rural area with little commercial activity.
       However after driving around for a bit we caught sight set back off the road of a little cluster of eateries around a picnic area.

      We opted for a promising-looking burger place called Seven Brothers

     I ordered an intriguing-sounding menu offering: A giant onion ring over half an avocado, mushrooms and melted Swiss cheese with house dressing.

     It was really good, and the French-fired potato slices were out-of-this world. The only problem was that I couldn't open my mouth wide enough to accommodate this mélange of a sandwich, so I had to go back to the counter and ask for some silverware. But that was a good problem. 
​      After our delicious lunch we headed for Shark's Cove where the swimmers did some great snorkeling, 

...while I snapped some great shots.

      In the late afternoon we headed back through the Waimea Valley to Honolulu,

...and the Hale Koa, 

...where we opted for dinner at Happy's,

...topped off by a nice walk around the grounds.