Memorial Zamami, Day 4

Our last day on Zamami, and we are sad to leave.  Truly.  I must admit that I was a tad disappointed that Zamami was our destination for Memorial Day.  We live in an amazing part of the world, and we always talk about the exotic destinations that are just at our fingertips!  Why would we use one of our 96-hr liberties to go to a place we've already been?

What we lacked in novelty we more than made up for with quality.  We so enjoyed our time with Shozo and Tokako, our hosts at the Okinawa Resort.  It is more of a hostel/B&B than a resort, and Tokako's breakfasts gave us enough fuel to take us all the way to dinner, not to mention our surprise breakfast of African Pompano delight!  Shozo is one of our favorite personalities so far.  We had a (mis)conception that Japanese people were stoic, reserved, and quietly affectionate.  I guess Okinawans are the party animals of the Japanese, because we will never forget Shozo.  He greeted us with a sign at the port, but quickly discarded it so he could grab Ryan's biceps and chest and exclaim, "Macha!"  We both hope that means "strong," but it was funny regardless.  Also, the animated way he tried to communicate with us.  When words fail, pantomime is the way to go, and Shozo is king.  We will stay with them again and get a picture, because they are wonderfully warm people who will make your trip all the better.

Ah, the lovely waters off of Zamami.  It is with great shame that I think I could ever be "bored" with these waters.  When you have some of the best of the best, why complain about seeing it again?  Because it isn't new? Oh geez.  Feeding the eel was great fun, although next time I'll have to get some video: those eels don't mess around.

So ends another 96-day liberty.  We had a wonderful time, got to share this area with a friend, and feel refreshed and invigorated to go back to the daily grind.  Thank you, Zamami!  We'll be back!