Hakalau Forest NWR, Hilo, Hawaii: "Hakalau" means "many perches" in the native Hawaiian language, and it is an apt name for this refuge, which boasts dense tangles of forest and tropical birds and plants found nowhere else. A visit to this refuge is not for the faint-of-heart. The Maulua Tract is open the last weekend of every month for hikers and birders. Access is by foot or by 4-wheel-drive vehicle only and it is a 2-hour drive from any hotel or gas station. Rain gear is a must and visitors must register with the staff 3 weeks ahead, if at all possible, for safety. Parts of this mystical place are still unexplored and all but impenetrable. But if you go, the rewards are unimaginable. The brightly colored native birds with all-but-unpronounceable names (akiapola’us, amakihis, iiwis, apapnes, akepas) are abundant. The native ohia tress flower all year long, attracting insects and birds by the dozens. Many endangered species can be found here, among them Hawaiian creepers, ‘los (Hawaiian hawks), and pueos (short-eared owls). Fallen logs become gardens of huge ferns and other tropical plants, many of them rare.
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