Ishigaki, Day 2

After breakfast, we decided to explore the interior of Ishigaki. While perusing Google Maps, we saw a fairly large park in the southern portion of Ishigaki and in the "center" of the island, not bordering the coast at all. From my eBird research, I knew this might be a good place to see some other species that do not usually occur on Okinawa. These southern islands are to Japan as Florida is to the US when it comes to bird species: there are birds here that don't exist anywhere else in the country! We stopped at a convenience store for some snacks, and we began our day.

Before taking off for the park, we wanted to purchase some weights for snorkeling when we finally got in the water. Weights are a pain when traveling by air because they add, well,...weight to the already heavy bags. Ryan read on some of the spearfishing forums that it was possible to rent weights once you got to your destination. Sounds good! We tried this once in Indonesia, and the girl at one dive shop had to stop herself from laughing as she tried to politely say, "No, we rent scuba gear and the weights are included, but we never rent just weights." Here in Ishigaki, while we can't understand everything that's said to us, we can be 100% certain the Japanese are not being rude, or at least, not being rude to our faces. We found a fishing store that had cheap weights, so we bought them outright. Souvenirs! Finding a new manhole cover that features the Ryukyu Crested Serpent-Eagle was my favorite part of the trip.

Now, onward to the park, which is large and beautifully kept! We drove around for quite a bit first to get a lay of the land. The park is on a relatively elevated area of Ishigaki. Towards the top, I saw a sign and knew we had to stop.

We parked the car, followed a path the led to a staircase, and at the top we found the best bird-watching perch I've ever seen:

Unfortunately, the winds were really kicking up at the top of the egg tower. We did spot a couple of raptors gliding in the distance, but they were too far to make out a good ID. Plus, I had a difficult time keeping steady in the strong winds. WE tried going inside the egg tower and gazing from the small view holes, but these seemed to funnel the wind into my face even more forcefully, which in turn thrust my binoculars uncomfortably into my eye sockets. The hazards of birdwatching - you'll put your eye out!

Back in the lowlands and just outside the park, I saw some interesting movement in one of the agricultural fields. I found a safe place to leave the car and went in for a closer look.

We didn't really explore the southern end of the island yesterday, so we completed our trip around the coast of Ishigaki. The winds made the seas look a bit rough. There would be no snorkeling for us today, despite the success in locating our snorkeling weights. At one viewpoint, we found evidence that these high winds must be a fairly regular occurrence: some of the trees and shrubs had clearly surrendered to the strong winds some time ago.

The winds only got stronger as we approached the lighthouse and view of the rocks beyond. The waves tell the story. I could barely stand upright to take in the view! 

Ryan seemed completely unfazed by the winds, but I was not enjoying myself at all. I enjoy living near the ocean and snorkeling, but the winds can make or break a day near the water. Even in Okinawa, our plans of enjoying many a meal on our large 2nd-floor porch were cut tragically short by how frequently the winds rush through, knocking things over, chilling the food. Back to our trip on Ishigaki: Ryan seemed completely unfazed by the winds.

We followed signs to a "point of interest," as best as we can gather from our limited knowledge of kanji. We followed a gravel path to a small house. The view from this point was amazing, and the location seemed very well-protected from the winds. The house was riddled with small holes in the outside concrete walls on all four sides. We wondered if the end of residency here coincided with WWII? 

Our explorations and bird chasing took us nearly to dinnertime before we realized it. We cleaned up at the hotel and then walked to the restaurant area to see what we could find. 

Many places look interesting, but we finally settled on one that already had a good crowd of people established. A look at the menu showed an assortment of local beers, three to be precise. We tried two of the three; the third of the trio was not available on this evening. I ordered the red, which was supposed to be a wheat bear, and Ryan got the blue, a lager. I liked Ryan's beer better. He liked his beer better as well, so we both took the blue beer on the second round.