Apparently this bit of jungle is privately owned. It was originally claimed and worked as a flower plantation by a Chinese family. It's all but abandoned now. I wonder if that happened because it's obviously so difficult to keep the jungle at bay.
The tour company now pays the family who owns the property for the right to let us haoles have a jungle experience. But our tour guide said he has to come in with a machete or a chainsaw every two or three weeks and hack the trail back out of the overgrowth.
I just can't get over how quickly the jungle swallows up everything in it's path here. The house below isn't even that old! I think we decided it could have been built in the 50's. And surely someone lived in it for a while after that. The above vehicle is clearly not as old as the house even, and it has all but disappeared under all the aggressive vegetation!
The bamboo trees were something else. Our tour guide said they grow one to two feet per day! Unreal. Even though the sun was in full form that day, it was immediately dark and cool once we got into the grove of bamboo trees. Note that in the next few pics the camera flash is on, or else we wouldn't be able to see much of anything in these pics.
Our tour guide also pointed out that bamboo trees are not native to the Hawaiian islands. They were most likely introduced by the Chinese, but as you can see below, bamboo trees are choking out the native plants and taking over the jungles here. It's hard to believe there exists a plant more aggressive than anything in the Hawaiian jungle!
Apparently, due to it's "melting pot" nature, Hawaii as we know it, is continually threatened by all kinds of non-native plant and animal species. They now have strict import laws to stem this, but they can not stop it entirely. And once a new species takes hold, they find it impossible to rid themselves of it.As we continued our hike, we happened upon several alters, left by ancient Hawaiians, probably to thank the gods for the natural springs that run through that land. We also walked through an aqueduct, carved out of the ground hundreds of years ago for all I know. We couldn't get pics of alters or aqueduct because of the tightness of the trees and plants. We couldn't even see them until we were right on top of them.
Eventually, we happened upon this:
This lovely waterfall falls 150 feet or so, down a sheer cliff face, into a pile of rocks and timber below. It was so delicate and just beautiful. 
While at the waterfall, Millie teasingly asked if our tour guide would mind if she took one of the volcanic rocks home with her. He was a pretty funny and congenial guy up to that point, but suddenly not so. In all seriousness he warned Millie that she might offend the goddess, Pele, if she did so, and the Hawaiian tourism board receives hundreds of packages each year of rocks people wish to return to Hawaii in an attempt to rid themselves of the bad luck that followed them ever since their thievery.We all laughed at that, but he kept a very straight face. We teased him a bit, but it was apparent he truly believed what he was saying. Things were a bit awkward for a moment or two after that. I'm sure we were thinking perhaps all the sunning and surfing had bleached his brain.
After our incredible hike we went for a leisurely bike ride down a windy and very picturesque road (are there any other kind in Hawaii?!) in the foothills above our hike site. We stopped for lunch at a little overlook with the most beautiful views of Waikiki and the ocean.
While on our ride, we met up with a Japanese family whose vacation was spontaneously extended by the tsunami. They were rather anxious to get home and learn about the state of their home and belongings, but understandably, no planes were yet flying in or out of Japan due to the destroyed airports and missing runways and such. My heart went out to these people, but I was glad to see that they were still out and about, enjoying Oahu, instead of withdrawing into their anxiety.
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