I JUST FINISHED READING THE ROAD TO LITTLE DRIBBLING, Bill Bryson’s hilarious account of his second foray to “discover” Britain. Bryson is a walker. His destinations are often the birthplaces, gravesites and stomping grounds of the obscure and unheralded, taking him to unlikely places most definitely off the beaten path.
Finding our own path
Connie is a birder. (I am just attracted to bright, shiny objects.) Our destinations — when we’ve exhausted the National Parks and World Heritage Sites — are places where birds congregate. And just like Bill, we end up in some out-of-the-way places.
Nagura Anparu Wetlands
Like Ishigaki-jima, 50,000 people living on as many acres between Okinawa and Taiwan. We may be the only intentional occidentals on the island. WBF Hotel is painted rusty-orange on the outside but the walls in our room are unadorned gray concrete. The minuscule bathroom makes the one in our RV look like a spa. Half the room consists of 4 tatami mats, ideal for stretching but otherwise useless. The other half has our twin beds and a kitchenette. TV is strictly Japanese, perhaps the worst programming in the world, but the wifi is excellent. A Japanese restaurant, a supermarket and McDonald’s are across the busy street, making for a supreme location.
Long-Toed Stint
Using birding as an excuse, we spent the past couple of days exploring the island. We are too early for the fall/winter migrations but we have managed to find some interesting feathered friends including a Long-toed Stint hiding in a rice paddy. It took several tries before I got a photo in focus.
Replanting so this . . . becomes this!
It always seems to be low tide so there are more rocky mud flats than sandy beaches. The mangroves look generally healthy and where they have been washed away, the folks at the Nagura Anparu Wetlands have been replanting. It’s a difficult undertaking but mangroves are essential for a sustainable tidal ecosystem. I happened upon a cluster of hermit crabs waiting to exchange shells. When one moves up into a larger shell, another is ready to take the newly vacated home. And so on . . . and so on. . . until everyone is happy as a crab can be.
The flourishing housing market, hermit crab version
The center of the island is hilly — mountainous hardly seems the right word — one of the hills reaches 500 meters into the sky! But they are so green and forested that this could be South America. We stumbled upon a wonderful trail halfway round Sokobara Reservoir this morning. Sometimes I think we should study butterflies instead of birds. They were more numerous today and equally colorful.
Hirakubozaki Lighthouse, top end of Ishigakijima
Except for the barrier reef and the Japanese writing, one could be mistaken into believing the lighthouse at Hirakubozaki was really on the coast of Ireland.
