On Mon, 26 Jan 1998, George Shirley wrote: > >Guess the part of Hawaii I really want to see involves gardens, wild > >orchids, pineapple plantations, waterfalls, and more gardens. If it > >is half as beautiful as the Hawaii Convention and Visitors Bureau > >trumpets, we may decide to stay. I don't even care if they have > >lizards. (Had a sort-of-aunt [from Detroit] who married a > >born-and-reared Honolululan; moved there; saw a lizard, packed > >her little valise and moved to an apartment hotel in LA. Never > >returned. Guess she never noticed the western fence lizards all over LA. ;-) I've not had the pleasure of visiting Hawaii, but after talking to botanist and birder friends, I think I'd head to Kapunakea and Waikamoi Preserve on Maui, Kamakou rain forest on Molokai and Honouliuli Preserve on Maui -- these are all Nature Conservancy preserves with hiking trails. http://www.tnc.org/infield/State/Hawaii/ Given unlimited time and a boat or helicopter, I'd like to be dropped off on some of the little "new islands" -- but then I'm an island biogeography nut. If you can find it, Sherwin Carlquist's _Hawaii: A Natural History_ has some excellent background information. Kay Lancaster kay@fern.com