Frommer's Kauai - Jeanette Foster [21]
MAUI When two volcanoes—Mauna Kahalawai, a 5,277-foot ancient volcano in the West Maui Mountains, and 10,000-foot Haleakala—flowed together a million or so years ago, the event created a “Valley Isle” with a range of climates from arid desert to tropical rainforest. This 728-square-mile island is the only place in the world where you can drive from sea level to 10,000 feet in just 38 miles, passing from tropical beaches through sugar and pineapple plantations and rolling grassy hills up past the timber line to the lunarlike surface of the top of Haleakala. In addition to 33 miles of public beaches on the south and west shores, Maui is home to the arid lands of Kihei, the swampy bogs of the West Maui Mountains, the rainforest of Hana, and the desert of Kaupo.
MOLOKAI Roughly the shape and size of Manhattan, Molokai is 37 miles long and 10 miles wide, with a “thumb” protruding out of the North Shore. The North Shore begins on the west, with miles of white-sand beaches that fringe a desertlike landscape. The thumb—the Kalaupapa Peninsula—is cut off by a fence of cliffs, some 2,000 feet tall, that line the remainder of the north side. Molokai can be divided into two areas: the dry west end; and the rainy, tropical east and north ends. Its highest point is Mount Kamakou, at 4,970 feet.
LANAI This small, kidney bean–shaped island—only 13 miles wide by 17 miles long—rises sharply out of the ocean, with cliffs on the west side that rise to a high point of 3,370 feet. Lanai slopes down to sea level on the east and south sides. The only town, Lanai City, sits in the clouds at 1,600 feet. The island’s peak is covered with Norfolk pines and is usually shrouded in clouds, while the arid beaches survive on minimal rainfall. One area in particular stands out: the Garden of the Gods, just 7 miles from Lanai City, where oddly strewn boulders lie in the amber- and ocher-colored dirt and bizarre stone formations dot the landscape. The ancient Hawaiians formed romantic legends explaining this enigma, but modern-day scientists still debate its origins.
KAUAI This compact island, 25 miles long by 33 miles wide, has Mount Waialeale, the island’s highest point at nearly 5,000 feet and the Earth’s wettest spot, with more than 400 inches of rain annually. Just west of Mount Waialeale is the barren landscape of Waimea Canyon, dubbed “the Grand Canyon of the Pacific”—the result of the once 10,000-foot-tall Olokele shield volcano, which collapsed and formed a caldera (crater) some 3,600 feet deep and 14 miles across. Peaks and craters aren’t Kauai’s only distinctive landscape features, though: Miles of white-sand beaches rim most of the island, with majestic 2,700-foot cliffs—the spectacular Na Pali Coast—completing the circle. Lush tropical jungle inhabits the north side of the island, while balmy, palm tree–lined beaches are located in the south.
THE FLORA OF THE ISLANDS
Hawaii is filled with sweet-smelling flowers, lush vegetation, and exotic plant life.
AFRICAN TULIP TREES Even from afar, you can see the flaming red flowers on these large trees, which can grow to be more than 50 feet tall. The buds hold water, and Hawaiian children use the flowers as water pistols.
ANGEL’S TRUMPETS These small trees can grow up to 20 feet tall, with an abundance of large (up to 10-in. diameter) pendants—white or pink flowers that resemble, well, trumpets. The Hawaiians call them nana-honua, which means “earth gazing.” The flowers, which bloom continually from early spring to late fall, have a musky scent. Warning: All parts of the plant are poisonous and contain a strong narcotic.
ANTHURIUMS Anthuriums originally came from the tropical Americas and the Caribbean islands. There are more than 550 species, but the most popular are the heart-shaped red, orange, pink, white, and purple flowers with tail-like