We secured a spot in the lounge area and got comfortable for the 2.5 hour ride. We were fine for the first hour, but then the seas got rough and the temperature inside seemed uncomfortably warm. I must had had a strange look on my face, because Ryan asked if I was OK. I looked around before answering, saw other people throwing up politely in plastic bags, and then decided that I was not OK. The bathroom was outside, and as I burst through the outside doors preparing to turn towards the bathroom, I saw a Brown Booby - my first in this part of the world.
I can't explain it, but suddenly my need to vomit subsided as I watched the bird soar, pivot, dive, and repeat. It came very near the boat, as if eyeing me and the other gentleman who were taking pictures and gaping in amazement. I returned to Ryan all smiles, and explained that birds make everything better.
We made it to the port, and joined the mad rush to disembark. Usually, the ferry trips to other islands are very calm, chill, and no one is in a rush to go anywhere. The water in the port was causing the boat to jostle a bit, despite the mooring lines. I gathered our things and rushed to meet Ryan, who had been asked to drive our vehicle off the boat. To speed things along, presumably? I surveyed my fellow passengers once I was alone to do so, and enjoyed the little reminders that I am in a completely different part of the world.
We found the hotel: Japanese-style tatami room with private bath. After tossing our things into the room, we set off to explore Aguni and get a lay of the land. Usually, this means find nice places to either go snorkeling or launch the kayak. The unique thing Aguni is that one can access very deep water without having to swim hundreds of meters away from the shore. This easy access to deep water was also on our list of things to find, and it turned out to be our first stop.
A little stairway down to the shore gave us a good vantage point from which to see just how close the deep dark blue was, and we agreed to swim here as soon as the weather allowed. The waves were rough, so we settled for a quick skip down the stairs and then some exploring along the rocky coast.
Onward around the northern tip of the island led us through some pastures, where we got our first look at cows in this region.
We also saw our share of Brown Shrikes - they were EVERYWHERE. This is the island of the shrike, for sure. Sadly, none of them came in close enough for a good picture. I instead settled for a Zitting Cisticola.
More viewpoints and information boards about the history of Aguni. My kanji STILL being a bit rusty, we had to make up the story for ourselves. It was here I saw my first Little Plover. It gave me a good look through binoculars, but did not hang around for a picture.
Our terrestrial circumnavigation of Aguni-jima also included a self-guided tour of a cave. The lights of the paths lit up as we crossed the top-most plateau of steps, and we had all the illumination we needed.
The portion of the cave we could explore safely was not terribly extensive, but the map at the top showed that cave system was present underneath most of Aguni. We enjoyed the opportunity to look at the stalactites and stalagmites up-close, a luxury not afforded most caves in the states. We quickly found out the benefits of keeping people at a safe distance: some of the cave structures were broken off, perhaps by people's poking fingers (that's what she said) rather than a storm or other non-human event. People suck.
We enjoyed the cave for both the novelty and the temperature. Temperatures in Okinawa in September are still quite warm, so to descend into a cave with cool humidity was wonderfully refreshing! We admired two trees engaged in a wrestling match on our way out, and then headed back to the hotel to eat some dinner, plan the remainder of our visit, and get some good sleep.
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