Ok, so I managed to catch a cold somewhere along the journey, but what are you going to do?  I signed up for some half day tours that involved hiking just to keep the exercise regimen going while on holiday.  This enabled me to take some great naps in the afternoon, which after all is part of the vacation experience as well, don’t ya think?

So Friday morning I took the “Manoa Waterfall Hiking Adventure” through an outfit called Echotour.  On the way out to the trailhead, we drove past President Obama’s high school and the tour guide said he had been a classmate of Barack’s.   He said they didn’t really run in the same circles and he was a year ahead of the Prez in school.  He told a story about how during one class assembly some guy sitting behind Obama was throwing pieces of paper in the future president’s Afro.  I thought how things hadn’t changed much except now it was two bit dictators and despots from around the world bullying the world’s geeky nerd.  Ah well.  On with the hike:

So, we parked in this foothill neighborhood to begin the hike.  According to our guide, one of these modest houses could be purchased for $700,000 or so, but they rarely came on the market.

Soon enough we were into the woods, a moist rain forest like environment.  I don’t recall the name of these trees, but they were soft to the touch, almost sponge like.  Also,  we were warned that the tree could not support the branches and a gust of wind would snap them off like twigs.  Although there was evidence of limb failure along the trail we luckily did not witness any first hand.

You know, things always look cooler in real life than they do in the photograph.  At least that’s true when I’m holding the camera.  This was a natural bowl within the trunk of a tree retaining water from a recent rainfall.  Although it doesn’t look too tasty, I’m sure in a pinch it would suffice.  But then, we were hiking along side a babbling brook so I guess dying of thirst wasn’t much of a risk anyway.  Never mind.

Yours truly taking a break beside a stand of wild bamboo…

Look up there in the distance, can you see it?  Yes sir, I do believe that is our destination!

Manoa falls in all her glory.  Ok, so it isn’t exactly Niagara.  Or Yosemite.  But it is water.  And the water is falling.  So, technically speaking you have received what was advertised, right?

So, what we have here is what I call the “upper falls”…

Which inevitably winds up in the lower falls and pool.  It was sorta pretty although I mighta been a tad disappointed.

Wanting to get my money’s worth I claw my way to very end of the trail.

And so ended my Manoa falls adventure.

Tomorrow I will bring you the harrowing tale of my hike to the very top of the famous Diamond Head crater.  Stay tuned!

Hale Koa in the Hawaiian language means Warrior House.  That was the name of hotel where I stayed during my just completed visit to the island of Oahu.  Since the Hale Koa is an Army MWR (morale welfare and recreation) property, I suppose you could say it was aptly named.  Although nice place to stay works equally well, but I guess that is a pretty lame name.  Unless it translates to something cool sounding in Hawaiian.  Here, see for yourself:

I paid extra for the ocean view room, and this was the view of the ocean from my balcony.

From another angle I could also see the hotel sprawl that is what makes Waikiki Waikiki.

This pigeon was enjoying the view from my balcony every morning I was there.  I don’t expect he paid extra though.

This big old Banyan tree was a dominant feature in the courtyard.

And the coconut trees were nice as well.

As far as that goes, the entire property was pretty nicely landscaped.

The Hale Koa also features a big open air lobby, in the Balinese style…

All in all, not a bad hotel to spend a few days at a decent price (although you have to be military or a DoD civilian to partake).

Yes, I have returned safely from my adventures in Hawaii, aka America’s Cheju-do.

The weather was cloudy and cool most of the time.  And I was also sick for most of the trip.  But other than that I enjoyed my first visit to the 50th state.  Well, technically, I saw only one of the eight islands, Oahu.  But it was quite beautiful.  I especially enjoyed the parts that did not include Waikiki.