Dutch Tulip Season

holland.com

It's spring, and the flowers are blooming!  Even in your home garden or local park, it's wonderful to see color returning to the trees - but there are a few spots around the world where spring is particularly magnificent.  Last year, I wrote about the Japanese Cherry Blossoms (in Japan, not DC).  This year, I'm feeling inspired by the tulips of Holland (in the Netherlands, not Michigan)!

The Dutch are world famous for their tulips.  From mid March to mid May, the land becomes a sea of color, and flowers bring new life to the region.  Holland.com explains it starts with crocus early in the season- then daffodils and hyacinth.  Tulips are the grand finale, blooming brightest by mid April.  Supposedly, all you have to do is board a train or ride a bike through a rural area to see fields full of them... but for the full experience, imagine over 7 million bulbs at the Keukenhof flower park!

holland.com

Not far from Amsterdam, Holland.com says the Keukenhof is the largest flower park in the world.  It attracts over a million visitors and is only open for the season from mid March through May.  I did the math, and that's about 17 thousand guests per day.  I'm not sure what's more impressive, the number of people, or the number of flowers.  I'm sure the pictures don't do it justice.

So why Holland?  There's a lot of history to tulips in the Netherlands.  They were originally brought from the Ottoman Empire in the 1500s, and were such a big hit they ended up being used as currency for a period in the 1600s (when the flowers became worth more than the money in people's pockets).  In fact, The Amsterdam Tulip Museum (ATM) says "tulip mania" is a term still used today when talking about an economic crisis.

holland.com

But of course, since this is a weather blog, climate has a lot to do with the flowers' success.  Holland.com says the long spring season and cool nights provide perfect conditions, but ATM elaborates.  It's not just springtime that makes the Netherlands prime tulip territory.  Winter temperatures are mild, averaging between 35-40 degrees (F) from December through April.  That's warm enough to protect from a prolonged deep freeze, but cool enough for bulbs to convert starch into sugar for energy.  Summers in Holland are relatively mild as well.

Another plus is the country's location along the North Sea.  ATM says tulips grow best in maritime climates, so within 30-50 miles of a coast.  In dry periods, the Dutch use polders for irrigation to create constantly watered but well drained soil [Yes, I had to google what a polder is, so for those of you who don't know, it's a low-lying spot of land that's protected by dikes and locks from outside water sources - unique to the Netherlands].  Water can easily be funnelled through canals and ditches to keep the tulips hydrated.

Sure, you can grow tulips in your backyard.  You'll see them all around the US this Spring.  But I'm not sure anywhere can compete with the Netherlands.  They've got this flower down like the backs of their hands!

Stas Sedov, airpano.com

Safari in the Serengeti

tanzaniatourism.com

It might not be every kid's dream to go on a safari, but it was certainly one of mine!  To see wild animals in their natural habitat always amazed me... and the older I get, the more I want to go.  But there's a reason you have to fly all the way to Africa for the experience, and weather has a bit of a role to play... especially when it comes to "The Great Migration" of wildebeest herds.

Before we talk about the animals, let's talk about the people who have made the Serengeti home.  LiveScience says the native Maasai tribes named the Serengeti after their word for "endless plains."  The Serengeti spans about 12,000 square miles in northern Tanzania, half of which make up Serengeti National Park.  The miles of grasslands are interrupted by one active volcano.  For most of the year, the weather is warm and dry.  Two rainy seasons return moisture to the area (and play a big role in animal life).

Courtesy of Cayla Ann Photography

Because of this, the Maasai people live a semi-nomadic life, much like the Bedouin of the Middle East (see my previous blog post).  Their lives revolve in large part around livestock, which have to move with the water.  What's unique to the Serengeti is the threat of lions.  The Maasai Association describes handmade fences made of acacia thorns for protection.  Women build the houses, and men defend them - facing lions that get too close to the cattle.

Can you imagine living with a handmade fence between you and a lion?  Not likely.  But to watch them from the relative safety of a tourist convoy is a more realistic dream.  You can go on safaris in a few African countries: Botswana, Kenya, and South Africa to name a few.  CNN Travel ranked the top 8 from a safarbookings poll which put Tanzania at the top - partly thanks to the Serengeti wildebeest migration.  To find the animals, you'll have to plan your trip around the weather and time of year.

According to U.S. News & World Report, here's how it works: In November, brief rain showers signal the "Great Migration" for animals to return to their breeding grounds in the southern grasslands.  That's where they stay for much of the winter, making the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in southeastern Serengeti a prime destination for that time of year - filled with wildebeest, zebras, and wildcats (oh my!).

Courtesy of Cayla Ann Photography

Then the spring comes with heavier and prolonged rains that last through April and May.  In June, the Great Migration makes its way back north.  The plains are covered in a batch of freshly watered flowers - a gorgeous setting.  Animals graze in the park's Western Corridor in the early summer, and then move north to Lobo and Bologonja Springs for July through October.  That's where you can see wildebeest and zebras hanging out with elephants and giraffes, like something out of "The Lion King."

This is a more direct instance of climate affecting animals than people.  But with safaris becoming such a big tourist attraction, it's also a reminder of how beautiful the natural cycle can be.  Hundreds of thousands of wildebeest making their way across the Serengeti because the weather told them it was time?  The tour companies can count me in.

Christmas Down Under

Christmas in Florida has always been a strange idea to me, with highs in the 80s and palm trees all around.  But when you think about it, it's still their 'winter.'  The sun sets at 5:30pm, nights can be on the 'cooler' side, and students are on winter break.

Can you imagine Christmas falling in the summer?  Not just summer weather, but astronomical summer.  No school for 2-3 months, sun out past nine, the whole deal.

That's what it's like for everyone living in the southern hemisphere (which according to brilliantmaps.com is actually only 12% of the world's population).  When the north pole is facing away from the sun (our winter), the south pole is facing toward the sun.  So summer break in Australia goes from December to early February.

Kids got off school a few weeks ago and are enjoying the beach, making sandmen instead of snowmen.  According to Santa's Net, it's not unusual to have a Christmas Day near 100°.  Local news says Adelaide hit 104° this year - a temperature not hit since 1945.  Instead of celebrating inside by the fire, a lot of families take their Christmas dinner to the beach!  Can you imagine?  Apparently, Bondi Beach outside of Sydney gets thousands of picnic-ers.  Families swim, play cricket, and pretty much celebrate the way we would on the 4th of July.

Of course, it's not just the activities that are different.  People are out wearing t-shirts and flip flops.  So what about Santa in his big red suit?  Whychristmas.com says Santa swaps out his outfit for something a little cooler, and gives the reindeer a rest by hopping from house to house with kangaroos.  Christmas songs with winter themes are reworded, and carolers are able to enjoy a warm stroll through town.

One thing that doesn't change?  The Christmas tree.  This is a photo I took in an Australian mall in late November (a few years ago) - an evergreen next to the palms.  There's also something called a Christmas bush that grows down under... a native plant with red leaves, that's often made into wreaths.

It seems like the warm weather doesn't stop Aussies from getting in the Christmas spirit.  So wherever you're celebrating from... Happy Holidays!