Back on Ishigaki Island again. Finally out of the "city". Pushing my way up hill, looking for a good spot to set up camp for the night. It's REAL HOT down here and the sun is absolutely INTENSE! Ishigaki is very different from Hateruma. Hateruma is rather flat above the cliffs of the coastline. Most of the native forests have been cleared to cultivate the island's most (only?) important crop - SUGAR CANE. The overall landscape is wide, vast, green and rather dry - almost like a green dessert.Ishigaki Island on the other hand is VERY mountainous and very lush. Ishigaki is a true jungle island. The coastline is laden with mangrove trees rooted in orangey mud - it may not sound very appealing, but it's actually magnificent. So beautiful and So Asian. The mountainous interior is a thick rainforest and uncannily reminds me of the tropical forests of the Maya mountains in the country of Belize, where Atsuko and I once lived.

波照間島から石垣島へと帰ってきました。今回はキャンプをするための場所探しに一生懸命。一日中　自転車で走り回っていて、日焼け止めをつけたにも関わらず、体中日焼けで真っ赤で痛いそうです。白人やから他の人より何回も厚塗りするべきという意識を持って欲しいもんです。毎回のことながら・・・。






Estuarine deltas along the coast. Here loads of people come to swim, relax and collect clams and other edible sea life.







Mr.Green and I LOVE it here too!

Pineapple plantation on the Ishigaki mountainside.

An Ishigaki dan-dan batake　(terraced rice field) and a Wakayama dan-dan batake are very different. Both are beautiful though!

写真を見る限り、これは「段々畑」ではないのでは・・・？でも、ちょっと微妙に段になってるかな？？？？・・・ということは段々畑か。

Mr.Green has worked hard today. He's taking a rest!