Down in Tainan: Xiao liuqiu Island

This is the last post from my Chinese New Year holidays. Looking back, it actually seems that I did and saw a lot in the two weeks of holiday. But that is the great thing about Taiwan, its such a small place with so much variation, that I can go from snowcapped mountains to white sandy beaches in a matter of hours.

When I first arrived on Xiao liuqiu, I was not that impressed. I had envisioned a tropical island with lush landscape. Instead, it looked like someone had picked up a typical drab Taiwanese town, and dumped it on an island. And it did not help that it was rainny.
However, after a crappy night's sleep in the tent (there were things making noises and touching my tent - blair witch flashbacks!) I woke up to a sunny day. And from there on, the day just got better.

This was the highlight, in the morning, when I was sitting by the cliffs watching the sea, a Green Sea Turtle came up for air for a split second before going under. Fortunately, it stayed near the cliffs, so I was able to follow it with camera in hand, waiting for the moment it came up for breath again. And, after a 3o min wait, I got my shot, its not great, but i don't care, I have proof. I could have been stormy and crap for the rest of the day, but I would not have cared, I saw a sea turtle in the wild!

Afterwards, driving around the island, we came across white sandy bays with crystal clear water, lots of old Fujian style homes, unusual coral formations (some needed greater imagination than I had to be able to see them - a tiger jumping, a scuttling mouse and other such nonsense), caves, and pig mountain; which has nothing to do with pigs, but has a lot of twisting roots and plants.

The view from the tent site; coral cliffs