Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
a “normal” winter day in Hawaii can be 78° and sunny, or it can be also be 74° and
rainy. But at least it's warm!
So what's the moral of the story? If you're staying in Kapalua, Napili, or
Ka'anapali and it's windy and rainy at your hotel, don't just assume it's raining
everywhere. If you are planning a vacation at any point in winter (particularly Janu-
ary or February), cross your fingers that you'll enjoy some midwinter sun!
Anyone who loves a mystery will be intrigued by the speculation about how plants and
animals first came to Hawai'i. The islands, more than 2,000 miles from any continental
landfall, are isolated from the normal ecological spread of plants and animals. Even the
most tenacious travelers of the flora and fauna kingdoms would be sorely tried in crossing
the mighty Pacific. Those that made it by pure chance found a totally foreign ecosystem
where they had to adapt or perish. The survivors evolved quickly, and many plants and
birds became so specialized that they were limited not only to specific islands in the chain
but to habitats that frequently consisted of a single isolated valley. It was as if after travel-
ing so far, and finding a niche, they never budged again.
Before settlement, Hawai'i had no fruits, vegetables, coconut palms, edible land anim-
als, conifers, mangroves, or banyans. The early Polynesians brought 27 varieties of plants
they needed for food and other purposes. About 90 percent of plants on the Hawaiian Is-
lands today were introduced after Captain Cook first set foot here. Tropical flowers, wild
and vibrant as we know them today, were relatively few. In a land where thousands of
orchids now brighten every corner, there were only four native varieties, the least in any
of the 50 states. Today, the indigenous plants and animals have the highest rate of extinc-
tion anywhere on earth. By the beginning of the 21st century, native plants growing below
1,500 feet in elevation were almost completely extinct or totally replaced by introduced
species, and the land and its living things have been greatly transformed by humans and
their agriculture.
