1.9.2018 - Day 17

Zelma was super excited for today. We woke-up early and after getting breakfast supplies we headed to the bus station. Our goal was to visit the famed Okinawan Churaumi aquarium. Zelma was so excited that she went on a different bus than we were suppose to go on. Thankfully the bus also went to the aquarium for the same price so it was fine. On the way it was noticeable that there was a major effort in many areas to build new resorts as it seems like a lot of the coast is untapped. Hopefully it will help the local economy as all across the island (and Japan in general) it is obvious that the boom days were in the 1980’s.

After almost three hour trip we have finally arrived at the aquarium. Or to be more precise it was a large complex that also included various gardens, culture museum and other attractions as well beside the aquarium.

The aquarium is grand featuring the world’s second largest tank with two whale sharks. The aquarium focuses a lot of their research on sharks and has many exhibits focused on that. Their main goal is to reproduce the whale sharks in captivity which has not been done yet, but they are optimistic. After enjoying the great tank with the two grandiose whale sharks we walked the compound looking for lunch, which we found nearby at the dolphin tanks which were accessible for free.

After lunch we walked to the tropical botanical gardens to which we arrived completely soaked in our sweet. Halfway through the gardens it started to rain heavily, which was very unfortunate for us as the first half was mostly in glass houses. That meant a longer stay at the bug exhibition.

Japanese grow up surrounded by various bugs and most of them have a lot of hands on experiences with them so they are not squeaky nor afraid of them like Zelma and me. Though I prefer to avoid any physical contact even from humans.

As the rain lightened we made our way through the gardens and back to the main entrance where we left our luggage. On the way we went through replicas of houses from Okinawa and other islands in southern regions of Japan. The closer to Japan one could notice more of Japanese influence, like elevated floor and tatami mats. One common thing between them was that kitchen was separate in its own building, which was in stark contrast to the houses of Shirakawa-go. This was probably to keep the main house cooler and in case of fire to prevent it destroying the entire building.

Getting on a bus we went few more stops and arrived at a village that had ruins of a castle nearby. No surprise that they were also world heritage. Our hotel was just a few steps from a beach, which was another thing that Zelma was excited about. Given that we saw all the nasty things that live in Okinawan waters we were worried and hence careful. When we were in the water it was revealed that Zelma isn’t a good swimmer (I have to question if she is from Puerto Rico at this point). I swam around a little and enjoyed a school of fish swimming by.

Our stay was quiet interesting as this was truly a village on its own, not some suburb or something similar. As such there was only one convenience shop and one dinner restaurants. The dinner restaurant was the same type as the one we had previous night and it looks to me that it is the traditional Okinawan style. This means that you order multiple plates that are shared with everyone at the table.

Heading back we enjoyed a grand nigh sky with so many stars that I don’t remember when was the last time I saw so many stars, I also saw milky way galaxy dust.

PS: 1.9. is Disaster Prevention Day in Japan.