-by Edyta-

We are always happy to see familiar faces when traveling which is why we were excited when James & Sheryll came to visit Oahu during our stay there. They traded cold Toronto weather for some Hawaiian sunshine and flowers in their hair (well in Sheryll's, not James; ;-) ). During their week in Oahu we showed them around the island revisiting our favorite spots as well as discovering some new ones, like this beautiful hike to Manoa Falls. 

The Manoa Falls hike is one of the most popular trails on Oahu. It is family and kid friendly, relatively short (about 2h RT), shaded and ends with a rewarding view of a waterfall. Some parts of the trail make you feel like you're in Jurassic Park (which, by the way, was filmed in Hawaii). 

Weather played some tricks on us and it rained the morning we decided to go but it actually turned out for the best because all of the greenery looked misty and mystical. See for yourself...  

James and Sheryll ready for the hike. 

Beautiful droplets of water covered the surrounding plants. They looked like jewels. 

Beautiful droplets.  So green and lush! 

    The first part of the trail is very wide.  ​ We took a small detour to check out this beautiful stream.  Hiking after the rain was a lot of fun. 

Green trailGreen Trail Green was the name of the game here. 

Taking a break. What do you mean this is not where people take naps? Surely they must rest on sketchy roots then. LOL. 

Finally at the waterfall. 

Vlad was the first one to jump in.  Ok so you are not supposed to go in the water because you may die from falling rocks or flesh eating bacteria but sometimes you have to put your fears aside (after checking statistics to assess probability of dying in those ways of course) and have some fun! Some gentleman offered to take photos of us but he just took a very hectic video. I had to take screenshot of it.   Views of Diamond Head without hikingViews of Diamond Head without hiking

If hiking is not your thing but you still want to get great views of Oahu you can always drive up to Tantalus Lookout Pu'u Ualaka'a State Park.

This scenic points offers views from Diamond Head to Pearl Harbor. Tantalus Lookout Pu'u Ualaka'a State Park.Tantalus Lookout Pu'u Ualaka'a State Park.  Another day in paradise well spent.