Mangroves, birds & crabs

Yesterday we joined a two-hour-long boat tour of Sicao, an area of wetlands, mangrove swamps, creeks and abandoned salt pans that's exceptionally rich in birds and marine life. Sicao will be part of Taiwan's eighth national park, Taijiang National Park.

The tour is a good introduction to the ecology of lagoons that came into existence almost 200 years ago after a strong typhoon reshaped the coastline. and sediment blocked river mouths.

I'm posting details of this on the blog but won't put anything about it in the guidebook because English-language tours are not available; indeed, the guide seemed to prefer speaking Taiwanese to Mandarin.

The Mangroves Protection Association of Tainan City can be contacted at tel: +886 6 284 1709; fax: +886 6 284 0701; e-mail: mpatc@msa.hinet.net