The Philippines: Nature

As large as Manila is, its suffocating urbanity is an aberration in the Philippines. Most of the country's nature is beautiful and amazing:












Every conceivable surface is farms, even the steep hills:


The fauna includes the largest toad I have ever seen (discovered behind a fountain at our house in Manila):


Also, here are two strange beach creatures - a huge sand-digging insect, and a tiny crab (the rocks on which it is standing are actually individual grains of sand):