It’s our last morning on Kume, so we cleared out of our
hotel room and headed for the tropical fish pool for one last snorkel. We agreed to swim a ways northward to a new
area before stopping to look around. It
didn’t take too long before I found something worth swimming down for:
This is something yummy, but I’ve no idea what it is. When the tide is low, you often see Okinawans
combing the exposed rocks and reefs for either octopus (tako, in Japanese) or
shell. “Shell” is the only thing I got
from a woman on Zamami when I tried to ask her what she was looking for. My few Japanese words and her few English
words came together to say, “shell.” I
presume they look for shells because they are edible, but I don’t know how to
harvest or how they’re eaten: sashimi, soup, fried? Anyway, this is the largest one we’ve seen,
and so we were excited.
More lovely fish and reefs, and a new animal for us: spiny lobster!
Now, we’ve seen these in markets, but that doesn’t count. This was the first one we’ve seen since arriving, and it was much larger than probably comes across in the photo. I noticed it first, and then squealed and squealed in my snorkel until I got Ryan’s attention. He gets credit for taking the photo, but when I swam down to meet him and get a picture of him with the lobster, he tried to grab it. There went the lobster. But we both got a good look.
Time to board the ferry and head back to Okinawa. The ferry ride is a long one, more than three hours, so we hurried to the common room and grabbed some blankets for the ride back. This was another very warm summer day, so sitting outside to look for pelagic birds was not on the agenda. On a personal note, I think I will adopt the removing of shoes in homes when I return to the US, and I think the US should strongly consider the mandatory removal of shoes in restaurants and ferries as well. Actually, the removal of shoes is not mandatory in a legal sense, but you would receive some seriously bad mojo and stink-eye stares if you elected to keep them on when entering someone house or the common area on the ferry.
After a good nap, we did find a shady spot on the side of the ferry. With only about an hour before reaching Naha, we reflected on our trip to Kume, speculated on which island(s) we would explore next, and enjoyed the fresh, fresh air.
The islands of the Ryukyu chain are amazing places, but it is always so pleasant to return home. Okinawa has become familiar to us, but never ceases to amaze and astound. For example, this gentleman walking his goats outside the gate to Kadena AFB:
More lovely fish and reefs, and a new animal for us: spiny lobster!
Now, we’ve seen these in markets, but that doesn’t count. This was the first one we’ve seen since arriving, and it was much larger than probably comes across in the photo. I noticed it first, and then squealed and squealed in my snorkel until I got Ryan’s attention. He gets credit for taking the photo, but when I swam down to meet him and get a picture of him with the lobster, he tried to grab it. There went the lobster. But we both got a good look.
Time to board the ferry and head back to Okinawa. The ferry ride is a long one, more than three hours, so we hurried to the common room and grabbed some blankets for the ride back. This was another very warm summer day, so sitting outside to look for pelagic birds was not on the agenda. On a personal note, I think I will adopt the removing of shoes in homes when I return to the US, and I think the US should strongly consider the mandatory removal of shoes in restaurants and ferries as well. Actually, the removal of shoes is not mandatory in a legal sense, but you would receive some seriously bad mojo and stink-eye stares if you elected to keep them on when entering someone house or the common area on the ferry.
After a good nap, we did find a shady spot on the side of the ferry. With only about an hour before reaching Naha, we reflected on our trip to Kume, speculated on which island(s) we would explore next, and enjoyed the fresh, fresh air.
The islands of the Ryukyu chain are amazing places, but it is always so pleasant to return home. Okinawa has become familiar to us, but never ceases to amaze and astound. For example, this gentleman walking his goats outside the gate to Kadena AFB:
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