Djúpivogur Iceland

Our first stop in Iceland on the return voyage from Rotterdam to Boston was in Djúpivogur, a small town with a population of 509 people. I can't imagine what it's like to have a cruise ship with three times as many people as your town, stop for the day. But the local restaurants were doing a booming business. I was sorry we didn't have time to sample some of the local fish and chips but the line was just too long.

For Djúpivogur we had booked a tour with the cruise line. The tour was a 4x4 trip to various waterfalls and other sights in the area. Our first stop was at Nykurhylsfoss (Sveinsstekksfoss), a small waterfall off the beaten track a few miles outside town. Definitely not in the same league as Goðafoss Falls, but scenic nonetheless.

Nykurhylsfoss (Sveinsstekksfoss)

Since we'd be traveling mostly on dirt roads in the backcountry, our tour was given in a converted Mercedes van which had been fitted with a military vehicle chassis and various other car parts, such as a Dodge Ram steering wheel, by our driver who was an auto mechanic. This was just one of the dozen or so vehicles in our caravan. Ours being by far the largest and most elaborate, most of the others looked to be around the size of a Toyota 4Runner.

Our Ride

All of the vehicles in our caravan were definitely made for off road driving. They all had tire fittings that allowed them to adjust the tire pressure from inside their vehicles. This allowed them to reduce the tire pressure when going on loose rocky back roads at slower speeds, and then increase the tire pressure when we returned to the paved road, without even getting out of the car.

This was a waterfall we saw during our tour, this one being the most remote of a number of waterfalls we saw while driving up a valley dirt road.

Unnamed Waterfall

Our final stop before returning to town was at the Eggin í Gleðivík (the Eggs at Merry Bay) sculpture. This work of art created by Sigurður Guðmundsson consists of 34 large granite eggs representing the different nesting birds in the area.

Eggin í Gleðivík (the Eggs at Merry Bay)

Soon we were back to the marina at Djúpivogur.

Djúpivogur Marina

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Djúpivogur Iceland photo album.

Stornoway Scotland

Our last day before reaching Iceland was in Stornoway Scotland, a town of 6,953 people on the Isle of Lewis, so still not in the Scotland mainland. There wasn't a lot to do here so we just went for a walk to Lews Castle where there is a small museum with artifacts from Western Isle history.

Lews Castle

Click this link or the picture above to see more pictures in the Stornoway Scotland photo album.

Belfast and Giant's Causeway

The day after stopping in Cork Ireland we were in Belfast Northern Ireland. This was our only stop in Northern Ireland and we wished we could have had more time to explore Belfast. As it was, we really only saw it on the way to and from Giant's Causeway.

Belfast Port

For our Belfast stop we'd booked a tour to the Giant's Causeway, a UNESCO world heritage site since 1986. This is a area with roughly 40,000 interlocking basalt columns around an hours drive from Belfast.

Giant's Causeway

Much of the interest behind Giant's Causeway is the story behind its name. The legend is that the Irish giant Finn MacCool was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner. Finn then built the causeway to enable him to cross the water between Ireland and Scotland. There are at least two stories on what happened then. The simple story is that Finn beats Benandonner.

The second, and more elaborate story (leave it to the Irish to generate a lot of Blarney) is that Finn, realizing Benandonner is much larger than him, runs and hides. His wife disguises Finn as a baby. Benandonner then tries to find Finn and finds him disguised as a baby, but thinks it's Finn's son, not Finn himself. Seeing such a large "baby", Benandonner thinks the father must be even larger and runs back to Scotland in fear, destroying the causeway behind him so Finn can't follow.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Belfast and Giants Causeway photo album.

Cork Ireland

Two days after leaving Rotterdam we arrived in Cork Ireland. The port, actually Cobh, was the last stop of the Titanic before its first and final voyage. Maybe not the best reminder for cruise ship passengers?

Cork (Cobh) Ireland Port

We'd booked a tour with the cruise line to go to Blarney Castle. I'd say we were a bit disappointed due to the crowds and the intermittent rainy weather. The wait to actually get to the "blarney stone" was an hour or more, which would have taken up most of our time. So instead we just walked around the castle grounds and viewed a few of the other sights. Not one of our favorite tours and maybe a bit too commercialized.

Blarney Castle

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Cork Ireland photo album.

Rotterdam Netherlands

Although we had been to the Netherlands before, we'd never been to Rotterdam. It was an amazingly beautiful city. When we first arrived we were able to look out from the balcony of our cruise ship cabin at the beautiful Erasmusbrug bridge, a modern suspension bridge known locally as "The Swan." The bridge was designed by Ben van Berkel and opened in 1996.

Erasmusbrug Bridge aka The Swan

For our day in Rotterdam we had booked a half day personal tour. It turned out to be one of our favorite tours. It was a walking tour, and boy did we walk! On much of the tour the guide would point out various pieces of street art. There are 174 pieces of art in the Rotterdam Street Art Museum.

Street Art Example

The Rotterdam Netherlands photo album contains a number of additional pictures of street art we saw during the tour.

One of our favorite stops was the Cube Houses. People actually live in these cube houses. It's only because one enterprising owner decided to open up their home to tours that we were able to see the inside of one.

Cube Houses

These are the original "tiny homes" and maybe the inspiration for tiny homes you see in many places in the USA? The Rotterdam Netherlands photo album contains a number of photos showing the inside of the cube houses. They're very "cozy." But you have to wonder how the people of Rotterdam, many of whom seem extremely tall, could live in such a tiny home.

These three pictures hardly do justice to the sights of Rotterdam. So be sure to click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Rotterdam Netherlands photo album.

At Sea

Just a relaxing "at sea" day before reaching Rotterdam.

At Sea Sunrise

Click this link or the picture above to see the At Sea photo album.

Lerwick Scotland

Our only stop after Iceland on our way to Rotterdam was in Lerwick Scotland on the island of Shetland. We didn't have any tours scheduled so we took a walk from the pier on a road along the beautiful seashore we had seen as the ship pulled into port.

Looking Back Towards Cruise Ship

Soon our walk left the town streets and took us on a path that wound its way between the sea and a cemetery we had also seen on our way into port. You can see the cemetery in the first few pictures in the photo album.

The Knab Walkway

This was our first time in Scotland, though I'm not sure if this counts since we were on the island of Shetland, far north of mainland Scotland. We ended up walking 2 miles to a Tesco where we checked out the local beers being sold there. Quite a few as it turned out. The picture on one of the ales in particular, Puffin Tawny Ale from Orkney Brewery, we found quite photogenic. You can see a picture of the bottle in the photo album.

After stopping by the Tesco and buying a few local beers, we headed back to where the cruise ship had anchored and stopped by Fort Charlotte. With its commanding views of the nearby harbor, Fort Charlotte had been built and rebuilt a number of times over the last few centuries. Today it provides a scenic view of the harbort.

Fort Charlotte Cannon - Aimed At Cruise Ship

Our last stop of the day was at the Shetland Museum & Archives. This museum contains displays of various times throughout the history of settlements on the Shetland islands. We found some great photo opportunities in the perfectly still water just outside the museum.

Outside The Shetland Museum & Archives

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Lerwick, Shetland Scotland photo album.

Akureyri and Goðafoss Falls Iceland

Our second stop in Iceland was at Akureyri. Although we knew that Iceland was a land of active volcanoes, bubbling geysers and hotsprings, we hadn't really seen any of those at our previous stop in Ísafjörður. It became more obvious as we cruised into Akureyr and saw steam rising into the air from where water from the Foss Steam Baths cascaded into the sea.

Water From Foss Steam Baths

We had booked an excursion with the cruise line for that day. The first stop in the excursion was at Goðafoss Falls, one of the most amazing waterfalls in the world. If you go to Iceland it's a must see stop.

Goðafoss Falls

Our next stop was at Skútustaðagígar a "series of pseudocraters formed by lava flow, surrounded by Lake Mývatn wetlands, known for birdlife." We didn't get any pictures of birds, but the landscape was beautiful and unlike anything we'd ever seen.

Skútustaðagígar and Lake Mývatn

As in many parts of Iceland, there was steam venting from numerous places nearby, as you can see in the above picture. Some of the steam vents are from power generation facilities, some are from water feeding steam baths, some are both with the runoff from power plants feeding the steam baths. The tour guide had even pointed out a football field at a high school that was heated during the winter using geothermal hot water, so the kids could play sports all year round.

Our next stop was at Dimmuborgir Lava Fields. There we saw a number of rock formations each of which had a fairy tale-like story behind its formation. Most involved trolls who were turned to stone when they were exposed to the light at sunrise, much like you might have seen in Lord of the Rings. Based on the number of stone figures we saw, and there were many, these trolls weren't very smart.

Troll Turned Into Stone By Morning Light

Our final stop of the day was at the Myvatn Geothermal Area. There we saw boiling hot pools of water and rotten eggs smelling steam coming from vents in the ground.

Myvatn Geothermal Area

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Akureyri and Goðafoss Falls Iceland photo album.

Ísafjörður and Vigur Island Iceland

Our first stop in Iceland was at Ísafjörður, a small town in northwest Iceland with a population of 2,736. A fishing village for centuries, it still has one of the largest fisheries in Iceland. For a variety of reasons fishing has been declining since the 1980's and as a result the population has been decreasing. Tourism has been increasing in recent years providing some compensation for the loss of fishing income. The day we were there two cruise ships were docked, our ship and a Viking cruise ship.

On our way to the dock in Ísafjörður we were escorted by the cutest and most colorful tugboat we'd ever seen. Although in the picture below it may appear to be some toy in a bathtub, it was actually a full sized tugboat. In addition to helping to brighten up an otherwise drab environment, colorwise, it might also be part of the Icelandic sense of humor.

Tugboat Escort

It was also here that we first saw another instance of the Icelandic sense of humor, a coaster with the saying "I AM A RAY OF FUCKING SUNSHINE." You can see a picture of the coaster in the photo album. In the following weeks at almost every stop in Iceland we were to see that over and over on coasters, shirts and cups.

The Cruise Director had told us about a place near the dock to get some of the local beers, though he warned us, as with many things in Iceland, the beers weren't cheap. Just a short walk from the pier was the Dokkan Brugghús, an excellent microbrewery serving 12 different beers on tap.

Dokkan Brugghús

The lack of varieties of beer aboard the ship is one of my ongoing complaints about cruise ships. They have a wine list that goes on for pages but only a few, mostly mediocre, beers. So it's nice to be able to visit a brewpub when ashore. My favorite is when they serve beer flights where you can choose smaller servings, usually around 4 ounces give or take, of three, four or more beers. At Dokkan Brugghús you could order any of the 12 different beers on tap as part of a flight, choosing 4, 8 or 12 different beers. You can see the full list of beers in a picture in the photo album.

For this stop we had booked an afternoon tour with the cruise line to Vigur Island, a wildlife sanctuary. Vigur is especially known for its puffin colony, which is the largest in Iceland. I really wish we'd had a long lens to take some better pictures of the Puffins, but there are a few somewhat grainy shots of Puffins in the photo album.

Vigur Island

After a half hour boat ride to Vigur Island they hand you a long pole with a number on it as you exit the boat. The pole is for when the tour takes you to an area near the Arctic Tern nesting area. The unique number on each pole allows them to ensure all visitors have left the island before the boat departs. The Terns are not shy about driving off intruders when you walk in the area of their nests, so you have to hold up the poles so they will dive bomb the top of the pole instead of your head. You can see some of the pictures of the Terns and people walking with poles held up high in the photo album. If you want to know what it must have felt like to be an extra in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds," be sure to visit Vigur Island.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Ísafjörður and Vigur Island photo album

Cruising Prince Christian Sound

Our third and last day in Greenland waters we spent the day cruising through Prince Christian Sound, one of the most scenic areas in Greenland. We've been on numerous Alaska cruises including Glacier Bay, but I'd say that Prince Christian Sound was our favorite.

Below is a link to a map which shows the locations of the three pictures in the remainder of this blog post. On the bottom left of the map you can also see the previous day's stop in Nanortalik. We also passed through Prince Christian Sound on our way back from Rotterdam to Boston 18 days later. You can see the pictures for that passage in another album. You can see the blog post for that day here.

Locations for Pictures Below

At 8:41am we moved close to the mouth of Prince Christian Sound. Passage through the sound is not guaranteed as at times ice can block the entrance or exit of the sound.

Iceberg Near Entrance to Prince Christian Sound

By 10:08am we had moved near the first of many glaciers that can be seen as you pass through the sound

Glacier and Iceberg

By 12:30 we were moving close to the exit for Prince Christian Sound. Below is one of the last glaciers we saw until our return trip through the sound on August 18.

Prince Christian Sound Glacier

There were more glaciers we viewed between this picture and the previous picture and the entire passage was very scenic. On the August 18th passage through the sound we were able to move closer to one of the main glaciers in the sound. I'll add a link to that blog when it's ready.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the July 31 Prince Christian Sound photo album.

Click this link to see pictures in the later August 18 Prince Christian Sound photo album.

Nanortalik Greenland

Our second stop in Greenland was in Nanortalik, which in the Greenlandic language means "place with polar bears" though you're not likely to see a polar bear there (more marketing? :-). Although it is the 11th largest town in Greenland it only has a population of 1,185 people. Another town that when a cruise ship stops there suddenly doubles in size for the day. We hadn't booked any tours for that day, but it wasn't really necessary given the small size of the town. We spent much of the day at the Outdoor Museum.

View From Nanortalik Outdoor Museum Tower

Be sure to go to the outdoor museum when you're there and climb the tower to get a 360° of Nanortalik. The outdoor museum also contains some interesting exhibits from the earlier days of Nanortalik when it was even less populated.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Nanortalik photo album.

Paamiut Greenland

Our first stop in Greenland, and our first visit ever to Greenland, was in Paamiut. I feel a bit sorry for this colorful town of 1,500 people, who when a cruise ship stops, have an equal number of people, maybe more, descend upon the town for a day.

Fun facts: Kalaallisut is the Greenlandic language spoken by most people in Greenland as well as Inuit people who live in mainland Denmark. Greenland is a district of Denmark and has two representatives in the Danish parliament. 80% of Greenland is covered by ice leading to the often heard joke aboard the cruise: there is more ice in Greenland than in Iceland, and more green in Iceland than in Greenland. Greenland was probably named by the head of marketing.

For our first stop in Greenland we had booked an excursion with the cruise company. It was a simple walking tour which lasted an hour or so. There isn't much to the town, but what there is is very colorful.

Colorful Paamiut Buildings

If you visit Paamiut be sure to bring your bug nets and bug spray. We'd brought both on the cruise but made the mistake of leaving them aboard the ship. We were swarmed by mosquitoes which seemed to be common in Greenland when the weather was warm and the wind was calm. Although we never encountered as many bugs as that first day, we never again left the ship without our bug nets and bug spray.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Paamiut Greenland photo album including icebergs on our way into port.

Corner Brook Newfoundland Canada

The day after our stop in Sydney we were at the last Canadian stop we'd have until almost a month later when we were on our way home. This stop was at Corner Brook Newfoundland, the 5th largest town in Newfoundland and Labrador Canada with a population of almost 32,000 people.

We'd booked an excursion with the cruise company which took us on a short 15 minute scenic drive up the Humber River in a rented school bus, which appears to be the only "mass transit" vehicle available in the area. The tour took us from Corner Brook to the Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Tree in Steady Brook. The Heritage Tree is a totem pole carved from a 500 year old cedar tree in 1999.

Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Tree

Steady Brook appeared to be an interesting area even beyond the Heritage Tree. There were ski lifts which operate in the winter and a zip line which operates during the summer. And as with all of the stops in Canada, there were lush green forests as far as the eye could see.

Our next, and last major stop on this shore excursion, was at the Captain James Cook National Historic Site. This commemorates the landing of Captain Cook in 1767. It offered a beautiful view of Corner Brook and the surrounding area. You could even see our cruise ship behind the paper mill, which is the largest employer in the area.

View From Captain Cook Historic Site

There isn't a lot to do in Corner Brook. So when a cruise ship full of people docks in a town of 32,000 people, the Captain Cook Historic Site and statue is literally swarmed by tourists.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Corner Brook Newfoundland photo album.

Sydney Nova Scotia

The third day of our cruise took us into the first foreign port - Sydney Nova Scotia on of Cape Breton Island.

We booked a tour with the cruise company for this stop. It took us on an hour-long bus ride to the Alexander Graham Bell museum in Baddeck. Bell held the patent for the telephone and founded AT&T. He continued to experiment with new ideas his entire life and many of his experiments were conducted at his summer home in Baddeck.

Alexander Graham Bell Hydrofoil Prototype

The museum was somewhat interesting with early telephones, experimental boats and other devices that Bell worked on while in Baddeck.

Returning to port in Sydney we walked around the port a bit. It's not very big and the "highlight" of the area is the Sydney Fiddle, the largest fiddle in the world.

World's Largest Fiddle

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Sydney Nova Scotia photo album.

At Sea

The second day of our cruise was spent at sea on our way to Sydney Nova Scotia. It was a relaxing day at sea without many pictures. Below is the best picture of the day, a sunset.

Sunset At Sea

The "highlight" of the day was a "beer tasting," though I don't know if you can really call it a beer tasting if the beers are Blue Moon, Sam Adams, Stella Artois and Guinness. They also included a few snacks, though I'd say the beer was better than the snacks. All in all the beers weren't bad, but not as good as what we've had at BJ's Restaurant Beer Dinners.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the At Sea photo album.

Bar Harbor Maine

Our first stop was in Bar Harbor Maine, just a hop, skip and a jump away from Boston. We'd been to Bar Harbor a number of times as well, including trips and tours to Acadia National Park and Cadillac Mountain, two must-sees if you're ever in the Bar Harbor area. This time we stayed close to the pier taking a walk along the shore on a nearby path, which was quite scenic.

Elizabeth "Fixing" a Tipped Boulder

After the walk we visited one of our regular hangouts whenever we're in the area, the Atlantic Brewing Midtown. One of Elizabeth's primary goals on this trip was to sample the lobster rolls whenever possible. We hadn't found a good place to get one near the cruise terminal in Boston so we thought we'd check out the one at Atlantic Brewing. Elizabeth was skeptical, never trusting food at breweries, but she was pleasantly surprised to find such a good lobster roll at Atlantic Brewing. It wasn't filled with a mayo based sauce and a few pieces of lobster which she hates. Instead it was prepared her favorite way with just lobster, butter and a bun. It was also cooked just right, another problem we sometimes have with other lobster rolls.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Bar Harbor Maine photo album.

Boston Pre-Cruise

July 22, 2023

We flew into Boston the previous evening and spent the night at a hotel near the cruise terminal. After sleeping a few hours and grabbing a quick breakfast we checked out of the hotel, leaving our luggage for later pickup since it was too early to check in for the cruise. We had been to Boston a few times before so we didn't feel the need to travel into downtown Boston again. What we had missed before though was a visit to the local brewery, Harpoon. It's an easy walk from the pier so after taking in a few sights in the nearby area, checking into the cruise and dropping off our luggage, we spent the afternoon sampling a couple of beer flights.

Harpoon Brewery - Boston

Click the picture above or the link below to check out some of the "exciting" pre-cruise pictures, such as the sign outside the men's room in Denver airport designating it as a tornado shelter, the colorful sunset at Denver airport, and colorful sights near the cruise terminal including the Harpoon brewery beer menu and a beer flight.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Pre-Cruise photo album.

Back Home from Japan

After our last stop in Taipei on May 17, we spent a few days at sea before returning to Kobe on the 20th. We then took a 5 hour bullet train ride from Kobe to Tokyo and then to Narita International Airport.

Click the picture below to see a photo album with some of the best photos from this trip. The album has a summary slide show or you can click any photo in the album and scroll through the pictures manually. The manual review displays a description for each picture. For more detailed information including date and location, click   ⓘ   or   ⋮    during the manual review.

April, May Japan Trip

To see a map showing where the pictures were taken click on the map screenshot below. Click a pin in the map to see a link with a description of where the picture was taken. Click that link to see the picture and more detailed blog description.

Japan Trip Map

Click this link or the picture above to see the Japan Trip map.

Taipei

All too soon the day of our last stop on the Japan cruise arrived - albeit in Taiwan and not Japan. Although we would return to Kobe Japan in three days' time, we would have a hectic schedule that included a 5 hour bullet train ride from Kobe to Tokyo to catch our 6:10 pm return flight. So this, our stop in Taiwan, was our last day to tour.

Our ship actually docked in Keelung, a half hour drive northeast of Taipei. We had booked an excursion from the cruise line, the National Palace & Chiang Kai Shek's Memorial Hall tour that went from 8 am until 1:30 pm. On our return from that tour we'd still have some time left, but the area in Keelung near the ship seemed mostly industrial.

Keelung

Our first stop, after a bit over a half hour in what appeared to be rush hour traffic, was at the National Palace Museum. According to Google maps, this museum has "one of the largest collections of Chinese art & artifacts in the world." Even the outside appears to be a work of art. The looks are deceiving as well, as much of the building is actually below ground, so it's even larger than it appears in the picture below.

National Palace Museum

Our next stop was at the National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine, perfectly timed so we could watch the changing of the guard.

National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine - Changing of the Guard

After watching the changing of the guard we went to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Our last stop was to catch a glimpse of the Taipei 101 Tower. When first opened in 2004 this was the tallest building in the world. It kept that honor until 2009 when a taller building opened in Dubai.

Taipei 101 Tower

Although the tower is meant to represent a stalk of bamboo reaching into the sky to connect heaven and earth, to some western observers it appears to be a set of Chinese food takeout containers.

All too soon it was time to head back to the ship and from there to Kobe, Tokyo and finally San Francisco. It was a wonderful trip, especially the week on our own planned in meticulous detail by Elizabeth. Although this was our second time to Japan, this was by far our most memorable experience in Japan, as well as South Korea and Taiwan.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Taipei photo album

Ishigaki

Ishigaki is actually a prefecture of Okinawa. This was our last Japan stop before returning to Kobe at the end of our cruise. The ship was at Ishagaki from 9 am until 6 pm. We had booked a 6.5 hour "Best of Ishigaki '' excursion that started at 9:30 am and that was pretty much our entire day in Ishigaki.

Our tour started with a half hour drive to the Tamatorizaki Observation Platform. It was a beautiful day with a dark blue sky and white fluffy clouds

View From Tamatorizaki Observation Platform

Next our tour took us to a stop where we could see both Yonehara Beach and Yoneko Yaki Kobo Shisa Farm. Yonehara Beach looked to have some great snorkeling and it was a great day for it!

Yonehara Beach

It would have been fun to spend the day at Yonehara snorkeling. However, that wasn't part of our tour and, besides not being dressed for it nor having enough time to go snorkeling, we wanted to also see the funky artwork at Yoneko Yaki Kobo Shisa Farm. The "farm" (more of an outdoor art gallery) was just an easy walk across the road from Yonehara Beach.

Yoneko Yaki Kobo Shisa Farm Craft Store

In addition to having a craft store where smaller items were available, and of course could be shipped back home for you, there was a large outside area displaying larger than human sized versions of similar funky artwork. They all look like hallucinations from a psychedelic trip! A good trip in most cases.

Our next stop was at the Kabira Park Observation Deck. This location is another great spot for snorkeling as well as jumping off point for scuba diving and tour boats. It seemed to be one of the busier and more hectic stops on our tour with lots of people and boats coming and going.

View of Kabira Bay

By then it was well past time for lunch and so we headed to the Shabu-shabu restaurant for a hot pot lunch - though it was large enough for us to be considered dinner. Don't have any pictures of the delicious lunch as I was, once again, too busy eating to take pictures.

After lunch we headed to the last stop of the day, the Emerald Sea Observatory Deck. It was definitely the high point of the day, both literally and figuratively. We could even see our ship.

View From Emerald Sea Observatory Deck

Although I don't have any pictures of it I'm sure we had some musical send off from Ishigaki. But after the long day and big late lunch I was probably too tired to take any pictures or videos of it.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Ishigaki photo album

Okinawa

This was our first time on Okinawa. We booked a seven hour Princess excursion, "History & Nature Of Central Okinawa" which started at 8:30am. That would take up most of our time in port at Naha.

Our first stop was the Katsuren Castle ruins, a 45 minute drive from the port. Can't say that the ruins were especially scenic or photogenic, but we did get a nice workout on the 300+ foot climb to the top of the hill where the castle used to be. It did have a nice view of the surrounding sea as shown in the photo below.

View From Katsuren Castle Ruins

As a part of the Gusuku sites and related properties the castle ruins are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

On Miyagi Island we visited Kafu Banta, the location of the Hanari Power Spot, the Nuchima-su Salt Factory and with a great view of Ndakachina Beach as shown in the photo below.

Ndakachina Beach

The Nuchima-su Salt Factory has an interesting tour of a salt factory which produces salt using a special method that preserves more of the minerals than most processes and is, of course, more expensive than most salt. Some say that this salt is part of the reason Okinawans live so long, even by Japanese standards. An Okinawan has a 40% greater chance of living 100 years than most Japanese, and three times greater chance than those in the US. Though one BBC article suggests that it is more related to their diet being so high in sweet potatoes and even more a result of a lower rate of smoking, more physical activity, and maintaining an active social life into old age. And, of course, genes.

Our last stop of the day was at the Southeast Botanical Gardens. Though it's billed as a botanical garden and has many plants you can buy, it almost seemed as much a zoo as a garden. It was here that we saw a Capybara.

Capybara

The capybara is the world's largest rodent. A native of South and Central America which is closely related to guinea pigs. Not sure how it made it to Okinawa. A cruise perhaps? They definitely look well fed. According to WebMD: "They prefer areas where they can easily graze and swim" and "must live with other capybaras for their physical and psychological health."

Given that, I'm sure they'd love cruise life.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Okinawa photo album