Along the north-eastern Hilo coast, you will find the beautiful Akaka Falls State Park. This was a pleasant and leisurely stroll and only takes about half an hour to walk through; but of course, more time is obviously needed to admire and photograph the wonderful scenery. I wound round paths through a lush rainforest full of ferns, vines, bamboo, ginger and wild orchids. There was a lovely well-made path that wound through the flora and fauna and eventually opened up at two amazing waterfalls: Kahuna and Akaka. Akaka Falls is an impressive waterfall that plummets 442 feet into the stream-eroded gorge below, and its neighbour, Kahuna, plummets 100 feet to the water below. The Falls are also home to the endemic goby fish that has a suction disk on its belly, enabling it to cling to the wet rocks behind the waterfalls. I really enjoyed this trip, and the array of foliage also offered some much-appreciated shade from the hot sun.
