Kula Adventure: Lavender Farm and Botanical Garden

No visit from mom is complete without a trip to some gardens. Keeping with our theme of exploring new places we ventured upcountry to the small town of Kula, nestled 4000ft up the side of Haleakala volcano.

  Here we found the lavender farms where you can find over forty kinds of lavender as well as many other flowers. The views from here are amazing. You overlook the entire valley below from Ma'alaea bay across to Kahului harbor.

After walking through the gardens we stopped at the gift shop to try some of their famous lavender tea and lavender scones. I could eat about a million and a half of those scones. But at $3.50 apiece I settled on splitting one with mom.

Jackson's chameleon strolling
 Our next spot was the botanical gardens. I was hoping to spot a wild Jackson's chameleon and was lucky enough to find one ambling across the top of this wooden fence. This one had three big horns identifying it as a male. These chameleons were introduced here in Maui by a pet store owner who released a few in his back yard. Now they seem quite at home here on the island. They can most often be found upcountry but I have spotted a couple all the way down at Twin Falls before.

The flowers at both the farm and the gardens were breathtaking. So many varieties and colors provide endless photo opportunities. And when your arm gets tired of holding up your camera you can sit back, nibble on a hot scone, and enjoy views like this one.

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Overlook at the Lavender Farm

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