Day 8 (May 2)

It is the last day in Hawaii! After packing my bags and leaving the Hawaii volcanoes campsite, I headed to 'Akaka falls state park.

Akaka falls is one of the most breathtaking sites I have ever seen.  The waterfall is 442 feet high, which is 2 1/2 times higher than Niagara Falls!  Over 1,000,000 people visit the falls every year.

Not only is the waterfall beautiful, but the vegetation around the rainforest is as well.  On the pathways to the falls, I spotted everything from banana trees to birds of paradise.  Which makes sense since plants like birds of paradise, gingers, and heliconias are distant relatives to banana plants. It would only make sense that they share the same environment.

Despite often being called banana trees, they are not actually real trees or palms.  Banana plants are considered perennial herbs. Banana trunks contain leaf stalks wrapped around each other.  Below the ground, new leaves start growing inside the leaf trunks.  Pushing up from the middle, the leaves and flowers emerge from the trunks and begin to turn into a bunch of bananas.  This process takes around 9 months.

Here are photos of the process:

Photo Reference: tropicalpermaculture.com

Close to the banana plants, there was also some interesting leaves.

The fuzz on the leaves got me thinking.  Why do the leaves have it? Is it for a specific adaptation?  If it is for adaptation purposes, what are the leaves trying to adapt from? After doing a bit of research, I found out that the fuzz on the leaves are specialized epidermal cells that protect from insect attacks.  Epidermal cells are the outermost cells on the outside of the leaves. 

After walking through Akaka National Park, it was time for the last event on the trip...Waipo Valley.

Waipo Valley is most commonly known as the childhood home of King Kamehameha the first.  Due to it's historical significance, it is also sometimes referred to as the Valley of Kings.  The Valley of Kings is 1 mile across and 5 miles deep.  It is surrounded by cliffs over 2,000 feet high.  Translated, Waipo means "curved water" in Hawaiian.   

This entire trip has been such a blast!  I learned and experienced so much and am sorry to leave.  I really hope I'll get to visit Hawaii again the future to experience the feelings of wonder and awe all over again!