On land the republic embraces Micronesia's richest flora and fauna: exotic birds fly around the islands, crocodiles slip through the mangrove swamps and orchids sprout profusely in backyards. The Palauan archipelago is incredibly diverse.

Yap

Approximately the size of Manhattan—minus the buildings, concrete and people—Yap sits on the western edge of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), a gathering of small islands. The FSM gained autonomy in 1986.
With the exception of a small town center and the airport (built upon a WWII-era runway), signs of the island’s population are almost completely invisible from above. Most homes, whether they’re constructed from fragile bamboo and wooden planks or modern concrete blocks, are hidden beneath quick-growth foliage. The few that can still be viewed from an eight-person German missionary plane on its way to Yap’s oute r atolls are structures that date back centuries. Great mahogany trunks support peaked roofs of coconut branches, woven tight and held together by thin coconut-husk rope, soaked in mud for weeks before being rolled taut on a bare knee or calf.
A great reef surrounding the island is home to fish, sharks and turtles, all watched over by massive mantas milling away in the coral breaks on the northwest and northeast corners of the island.