Today we start the morning with the only other well maintained trail on Lanyu that we know about, the Green Grassland Trail. It is close to our accomodation and also to Flycatcher Creek where we plan to spend the rest of the time before the ferry leaves. The day before the parking lot was full but today we are the first people, not even the nearby kiosks are open.
The trail in the beginning is quite large, in fact it likely was a road previously. From here we here a weird sound and looking around we notice a weird bird, looking more closely it is a Lesser Coucal, a new lifer for us and an unexpected one. And then after a turn we see a statue of a fisherman with a flying fish that gives us quite a scare as it is too life like.
The views are also quite interesting as we reach the shore. We can see the ship being dismantled further down the road that we noticed also previously but now we can also take photos. There is also another island in the distance, likely it is uninhabited except by birds.
The trail now is actually out in the open and splits in two. We are not sure which direction to go but one ends quite quickly in dense bush so then the other direction it is.
Now we are passing through the rare grasslands that gave the trail the name. Given the topography of the place grasslands are quite rare so this is quite an unusual sight for Lanyu. The trail follows the shore with some beautiful views of the rock formations.
Towards the end the trail climbs slightly towards a viewpoint, luckily at this point the clouds have moved in as otherwise it would have been quite hot as we make the climb while enjoying the views inland where a fortress like structure is now visible. We assume it is military but who knows.
The views from the viewpoint are worthwhile the climb and we spend some time just relaxing and also finding the only active cache on Lanyu, another reason for us to take this trail.
Then it is time to return to the car while keeping an eye on the many goats enjoying the grasslands. They are so full that many are just laying on the stones and sleeping. That is not true of the Lowland White-Eyes they are active and quite difficult to photograph but we manage in the end. And then we are at the parking lot, which is now much more full, it is time to drive to Flycatcher Creek for one more look and exploration before taking the ferry back to the mainland.
