Friday, February 12, 2010

Na Aina Kai Botanical Garden

This is an old post i forgot to post.....so I'm doing it now........
Today was Kamaina (resident) Day at the Na Aina Kai Botanical garden just around the corner and down the highway a bit from my house.  I go by this place whenever i take my bike ride, but i have never gone inside to see it.  It  was a $5 donation to see the primary garden (normally $30).  This is a 2 to 2 1/2 hour walking tour.  There are other gardens here, too, that weren't open.  an ocean garden, a children's garden with play pools, a wild garden, etc.  Click on the link above to read more about it.
The entire garden is about 240 acres that extend out to the ocean.  it was donated by Joyce and Ed Doty. Joyce still lives on the far end of the property near the ocean, but the rest of the property was donated to Kauai and is maintained by donations, volunteers and sustainable hardwood forest lumber.
The gardens were stunning.  Interspersed everywhere were bronze statues - some commissioned specifically for the park.... sculpted by many different artists.   The trees were filled with bromiliads and orchids.  The gardens also had a waterfall and a huge botanical maze.  Just delightful!  Here is a slide show of my tour.

3 comments:

Mila said...

Hi Cetta :),
nice to meet you!
I'm Mila from Livorno - Tuscany, Italy.
Thank you for visited and follow my blog :). I read your profile...so you have a Italian "origin"?
I visited Hawaii - Oahu island- in '95...great trip!Wonderful memories!
Hugs,
Mila :)

Natasha Burns said...

Wow those gardens look really beautiful, so lush and tropical! Lucky you living in Hawaii!!

Julia Phillips Smith said...

Hi - I'm returning your visit from the One World One Heart event. Lovely slide show. *waving* hi from Nova Scotia, Canada.