Hilo (Hawaii) - November 3, 2013

After another night at sea, we arrived in Hilo.  Because we arrived at the port about 45 minutes late, there was total chaos on shore, with people trying to get rental cars and others trying to get to tour buses.  David took the shuttle to the airport to get the car, and we finally set out to visit the Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Garden. 

Once outside Hilo we took a short scenic drive to the garden.  The road was narrow, with several one-lane bridges, and very jungle-y. 

Much of the drive was along the coast.

After several miles we reached the garden. The Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden was founded by Dan and Pauline Lutkenhouse.  They purchased the 17-acre property in 1977 after discovering it's overgrown beauty and wishing to preserve it.  For the next 8 years Dan and three helpers worked by hand clearing out invasive plants, establishing paths, and planting tropical plants from around the world.  Today there are over 2000 species of plants.  The garden opened to the public in 1984 and later a foundation was established to ensure that the garden would be preserved for the future.   

From the entrance visitors go down a rather steep boardwalk to enter the garden.  There is a lily pond and a lovely waterfall.

The garden is full of beautiful and unusual flowers and foliage.   Here are just a few samples.

By the time we left the garden it was lunch time, so we went back to Hilo.  The downtown area was not very interesting, and because it was Sunday, almost everything was closed.  We had a really terrible meal at Ken's House of Pancakes.  We had hoped to see some of the sights around Hilo, but many of them were also closed.  The weather had turned rainy, so we just returned the car and went back to the ship.