a grotto by the sea
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
Today we had a later start, hitting the road at around 10:00. We went to a place on the coast where there are natural caves and toured the site.
The kids had some Okinawan donuts at the tourist shop, and then we parted ways. Mari and the kids went to another hotel to use the inflated playground on the water there.
For my part, I went on a hike down the coast to see what was there. What I found was a very rugged terrain sharp and uneven volcanic rock and a surprising array of both flora and fauna. Along the way I spotted a mongoose, the first I've ever seen.
But the fauna that really intrigued me were the people. For instance, there were fishermen perched on the knife's edge of jagged shapes standing up on the shore. They were not only fishing, they'd set up tents on a near-vertical surface to give themselves a space to return to.
Further down the shore I came across people collecting shellfish and other invertebrates, and also people relaxing.
And caves. I wound up exploring four of them.
On the far side of the first cave, I found myself back where I'd already been, it was a dead-end; I didn't have the footwear to get through. Time to find another way!
Entering a cave at low tide, I found kids with three-pronged spears hunting fish, and teenage girls in bikinis taking selfies in one of the grottoes.
The grotto photo - minus the girls - is below.
Further still, I found a cave that opened on one side to the rugged interior, and on the other to the sheer face of the impossibly sharp basalt(?) right above the water. One curious thing there was that despite copious warnings in Japanese and English, there were people swimming in extremely dangerous conditions where swimmers are known to be taken by reef currents. In their defense, the corals right off the shore looked amazing. But .. c'mon!
These two had been snorkeling at low tide *exactly* where the danger was highest.
I walked to the hotel where Mari and the kids were, a five kilometer jaunt at least.
Where I saw the mongoose.
Okinawan tomb - very different from mainland Japan.
the ubiquitous guard dogs (or lions?).
The hotel where Mari and the kids had been splashing about in the ocean was the one from my fishing tent photos above. It looked like a luxurious place, but the kids said our hotel's marine playground was better.
We went for a cheap and cheerful "taco rice" meal, something of a local specialty (along with dishes including Spam). The kids were easily convinced by stories of cave exploration to ask that we go back to see those sites.
A bit different at low tide.
The cave with my grotto was now inaccessible.
But the one up on the cliff was okay.
We returned to the hotel and had a meal at the hotel's restaurant.
Anyway, I've learned that it's actually called the "Mermaid's Grotto" in English.