Independence Kume, Day 3

Most of Kume-shima is dedicated to agriculture.  Most of the fields we could recognize were sugarcane, but at the higher elevations there are pastures for goats and cows as well.  While not a natural landscape, the fields and occasional tombs offer pretty views.

The road from which you can tour the entire island is relatively new and modern in the sense that two cars can pass each other easily.  As you wind through the residential areas of Kume-shima, they look more like the roads near our home in Okinawa, meaning they are a bit too narrow for our island SUV.  This was the prettiest of the narrower roads, draped with hibiscus and teeming with birds and insects.

Day three of our Independence Day holiday took us to the Tropical Fish Pool first thing in the morning, but we mixed things up a little.  We drove a bit further south than the boatramp, closer to what we think is some sort of fish farm just inland from the ocean.  Our thought was that maybe some larger fish would be closer to the fish farm, taking advantage of extra food or nutrients.  Some serious deductive reasoning, or guess work, depending on your point of view. Yesterday, Ryan broke his pole-spears - yep, he broke TWO in one day - which made for two of us really hoping to see a sea turtle or something different.  Today was not the day for anything new, but we should not really complain when we have some of the best reefs in the world.

After lunch, we opted for some of the terrestrial oohs and ahhs of Kume.  Our first stop was at the Kume Firefly Nature Center.  First off, I love that there is a nature center dedicated to fireflies. Kume has its own species, best seen during April.  There are other fireflies as well, and the center had postcards taken on slow exposure of firefly light shows - brilliant!  My favorite was this firefly fishing rod.  Apparently, there is a seed pod of some kind that is perfect for housing a firefly.  One of the guides at the center had a very good handle on English, and he explained that children would place a firefly inside the pod, attached it to the end of a stick with a bit of string, so that you have a natural lantern of sorts.  I loved the idea!

Next, we drove around the island to some of the other viewpoints and short trails to natural features.  Most of the coast of Kume is rocky or absolute cliffs, limiting access to the water to only a few places.  While not great for snorkeling or kayaking, we could not complain about the scenery.

We ended our warm afternoon with a trip to the castle ruins that adorn the tallest point on Kume: Uegusuku Castle.  The ruins are just that: ruins.  It's difficult to imagine just what the structure looked like back in the day, but there are signs letting you know at least which floor off the castle you're on.  

The best vista of the day came from the castle: