Kauai Flora and Fauna

Flora and Fauna

Kauai is known as the Garden Island, and fully lives up to its nickname.

This is a yellow hibiscus we saw outside Kauai Vacation Rentals. Hibiscus are everywhere, (it's the state flower) and this one really caught the eye.

Here's another one. This one was HUGE!

Recognize this field? Harrison Ford ran through here in Raiders of the Lost Ark. This was one of the highlights of the ferry trip to the Fern Grotto. Now, there was some lush foliage!

The ferry docked near the Fern Grotto, where trails led up to the Grotto itself. No matter where you looked, there was vegetation, and it was hot and humid there. The entertainment consisted of a humorous historical account followed by a singing of the Hawaiian Wedding Song, for those who were newlywed.

Easy to see why this was called the Fern Grotto, eh?

The first night we were on Kauai, we were awakened by the crowing of roosters. At first, we thought there was a chicken farm nearby, but it turns out that the chickens run wild. The wild chickens were as numerous as pigeons in Central Park! We saw some really pretty roosters, though...

This nice fella trotted over to the fence to check us out one evening as we were walking to Tunnels Beach. We didn't have anything to offer him, though, so he never came to the fence to visit again. :-(

The soil on Kauai is red. Very red. The tradition of removing shoes prior to entering a home on Kauai stemmed from avoiding staining the carpet with the red dirt from outside. Ever hear of the Original Red Dirt Shirt? One bucket of red dirt is used to dye 500 Red Dirt Shirts. (Scott's wearing one of them in this picture.)

And last but not least, here are some pictures of our favorite Hawaiian creatures...GECKOS! Rarely seen in the daytime and mostly at night, these guys keep the insect population down. At night, you can hear them barking throughout the house. (More like yipping, actually).

No, this isn't a floating gecko. This guy is one of many that hung out on the windows going after dinner (all the bugs that were attracted to the dining room light).

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