Ohajima Island

After a swim from Oujima and a barefoot walk along a sharp coral beach, we arrived at the back side of Ohajima. We had wanted to swim out to the sandbars beyond the island, but the very low tide and the time made the swim too dangerous. 

Ojima Island

Unlike most of the islands in Okinawa, the Kume Islands were created by volcanic activity. As a result the island has some very interesting rock formations. The Tatami Ishi Rocks came about from eons of waves wearing some of these volcanic rocks flat. Japanese people have named them after their traditional flooring, because they say the rocks resemble it.

A very interesting hermit crab I came across. The round thing on the left part of its shell appears to a barnacle. When I started messing around with this hermit crab, the barnacle started spewing the pink goo that you can see in the picture. 

奥武島 久米島

Kume Island

The front entrance to Yajiyagama Cave 

Yajiyagama has some of the least disturbed cave formations in Okinawa archipelago. The person holding the flashlight in the middle of the picture was an old man who guides people through the cave for free. 

The rear exit of Yajiyagama, which leads to another cave system. However since this system is much narrower and it was raining, my guide did not want to crawl through the mud.

 A farm along the Aara Forest Road.

 The view from the top of Mifuga Rock. 

Mifuga Rock is believed to be female. People wanting children come here to pray to. Though you have to know what you are looking for, you can see the traditional Ryukyu alter under the trees on the right.

Adjacent to this formation is Gushikawa Castle. While wandering around the mountain below the castle, I found what appeared to be an open entrance to a grave under the castle. The entrance to the grave was aligned perfectly with the hole in Mifuga Rock. 

I had wanted to climb inside cavern to take a picture from inside the grave to show this. However I would have had to beat through some very deep bush, which usually is not a problem. However during this entire trip my friend and I had kept seeing signs of live Habu snakes everywhere. So, that was a picture that I did not want to chance taking.

クミジマ 沖縄

The Little Engine That Could

Hidden away in a park in Ginowan is restroom shaped like a locomotive. If that was not awesome enough, guess where the urinal is located? That's right, in the very front of the engine. Meaning the steam from your pee ensures this little engine can! 

Okinawa, Japan 

Nunumachigama Cave

The lower entrance to the cave

One of the branches of the cave.  

The light from my flashlight refracting off of water droplets on the wall of the cave caused these gold and silver flecks appear.

This is a fire pit found near the entrance of the cave that was used during WWII for cooking. According to a sign outside of the cave, which I may have misread, this cave sheltered about 1,000 people during the war.

Okinawa, Japan

ター滝

Tiny fresh water shrimp hiding on a rock wall in the river. 

Okinawa, Japan 

Yacht Haikyo: クイーンいぜな

While I am not sure how long or why the Queen Izena has come to rest on a beach alongside the 58th, she did make for an interesting adventure. The engine and all instrumentation had all been removed, but the rest of the yacht had been left pretty much intact.

Okinawa, Japan