Beauty within.

The Tropical Botanical Garden bursts with green life.

Ginger red.

Once you pass through those gates, you down a long flight of wooden stairs, both sides flanked with exotic plants.

Exotic.

The backstory told us that the original caretakers found this breathtaking piece of land basically trashed as a dump. They nurtured it, loved it, and brought it climate-appropriate botanical life from around the world.

Everything from everywhere.

George Three called it his favorite place.

Walk this way.

The path snaked us through a wide variety of rain forest lushness and various surprises for my the five of us.

Big Tiki.

My dear wife Karen took in the legend of the tall tiki with another tourist.

We wish we didn’t have to walk back up those stairs.

My terrific daughter Elisabeth and her sensational significant George took in the Wishing Well in the orchard garden.

Match game.

Siblings Scott and Karen attempted to make good use of the plant glossary in the guide they gave us when we purchased our admission tickets.

Serenity now.

We found a peaceful pond.

Dang that fence.

We discovered a cage of colorful birds.

Hello, Pacific.

My favorite moment came when we rounded a corner and I discovered all this while we’d been mere strides away from the ocean.

The kids dig it.

My dear wife knows it’s special.

Hover over a gallery photo for a description. Click on an image for an enlarged slide show.

This meeting place of water and earth totally mesmerized me.

On the rocks.

Between two trunks.

Foliage to foam.

Close to nature.

Currently dangerous.

Leave this behind?

Alas, we had to tackle this stairs back to reality.

Bye-Bye.

Even the exit was gorgeous.

Tuesday: Onward to the big national park