Just shy of nineteen years ago, I first visited
Waimea Falls Park for the first time. I took a narrated tram ride to the Cliff
Diving event at the 45-foot waterfall where world champion divers put on quite
a show, not just swan dives like the divers in Acapulco, but also double
somersaults, something that had my stomach doing flip-flops just observing.
After watching an Ancient Hawaiian Hula performance
and taking a short tour of a burial temple, I found a quiet picnic area to
relax and enjoy my lunch. The valley, cradled between two mountain range
structures with a rainforest of trees and plants and flowers, includes hiking
trails, water lily ponds filled with fish, many species of birds, including the
Nene goose (the state bird) and a huge variety of plants and flowers.
Pikake, the Hawaiian word for peafowls, roam free and
are always happy to pose for pictures. One of them, whether peahen or peacock, befriended
me while I ate. He kept sidling up to the table until I finally tossed him a
few pieces of bread with a side of cheese, which he gobbled up quickly. Then he
let out a "honk" that sounded louder than a semi-truck
horn! Maybe he was announcing that I had overstayed my welcome.
As I left the area, I spotted another peacock behind
a building and hurried over to take a quick picture. I wasn’t satisfied with the
shot so I attempted to direct him to greener pastures. Not only was this pikake a
willing subject, he slowly spread his tail feathers and all I could say was, “Oh,
thank you” as I snapped more pictures.
Pikake
Surprise
Feathers
Tipped with Many Eyes
Paradise
Alive
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