On Sunday, we had decided to take a trip to the southern part of Okinawa. We hadn't been to
Okinawa World yet, a park with lots of things to see and do. As most of the things to see and do would be inside, we didn't think that the rain would really bother us too much, but we really should have done this on a day when it wasn't raining to get the most out of it. Now we were struggling to keep dry, running from one building to the next, and even with umbrellas we got pretty wet. There were several things we had to skip, which we will have to do another time.
Still, it was fun to get out, and one big part of the day we spent inside a huge cave, but more about that in the next post, as there would be too many pictures to post here otherwise. Cassandra's friend Z, came along for the day, and the kids had a good time.
One of the big attractions is the
Habu Museum Park. I'm not a snake person at all, and have been really scared of snakes since early age, so getting to close is not my thing. Still, it's a good thing to educate and learn more about them, and the risks and what to do when bitten, so checking out the Museum was a good thing.
As everything was in Japanese, they provided little listening devices with everything said translated. Ben and Bella thought that it was fun, even if it was hard for them to keep the pretty big earbuds in their little ears.
Showing off the Habu's poison. Can't see in the picture, but it was dripping down..
She also showed that
the snake is attracted to warm blood, and feel if there is a live animal nearby. Here she demonstrates this with two balloons filled with warm and cold water. Holding the white balloon very close to the snake, he didn't even move, but as soon as she switched and reached the green balloon with the warm water inside, the snake immediately reacted and attacked and broke the balloon.
Here she is showing off a Cobra, and as it's only sees what's in front of him, she could even "pet" it on the back without getting bitten...NO NO NO, I had to tell my kids, don't even think about EVER trying to touch a snake that you see somewhere!!!
And speaking of touching snakes....After the show, people could hold and get pictures taken with a huge snake, and Cassie and Z waited in line to hold it and get a picture.
It was huge and heavy!!
They got a cool picture, but I almost fainted just standing this close to take a picture!!
And as it wasn't enough, by brave little Isabella, wanted to try to hold it too! So said and done, she went up there with her sister and got in on the picture. Wow!! I did not see that coming! Ben, very much like his mom and dad was happy to skip this part!! I asked him if he wanted to come and stand next to Cassie and the snake without touching it, but I got as an answer - No thank you!
Brave daughters!!
Lots of little lizards.
Look at the snake around that wooden branch!! It's enormous! And look at the skeleton displayed. It's easy to see that some snakes can swallow bigger animals, and even humans!! Yikes!!
The Okinawan boar and a mongoose, a kind of weasel behind Ben.
If bitten by a Habu, seek immediate medical attention!! Here in Japan, they recommend to apply suction to the wound. I don't know if that's a good idea. I have heard several different opinions on this that if you have a cavity or other wound in your mouth, you could even endanger yourself to spread the venom in your own body. I guess if this happens in a very remote location, out in the jungle and it would take long to get to the hospital, I imagine that it might be "worth the risk". Otherwise I'd just rush to the hospital.
Luckily, we don't hear about Habu bites very often. Actually, sometimes when there is a Habu on base, Animal control has to come and get it and dispose it out in remote area, but I haven't heard about a bite. An interesting fact though is that IF one of the family members of a military family that are here on orders get bitten - they have to leave Okinawa and go back to the US. It's considered a health risk to have been bitten, and have gotten the antiserum. They don't want to give it more than once, and if you were unlucky to get bitten AGAIN- it might be life threatening to you as the serum might not do it's job.
We shall keep away from jungle areas and any kind of snakes that we see and hope for the best that we don't ever get close to one!
Ben checking out the Cobra and the little Mongoose.
After the museum part, we looked around in a little gift shop. Something that you can get here is the
Okinawan Awamori with the Habu inside!
It's pricey! 250,000YEN = $2,132
Here you could give money to the great Habu, and pray that you don't ever get bitten.
Packing and brewing area of the Awamori.
Habus ready to be put inside the jars...
I guess, there were no English translations at this station.
Shark posters, that the kids wanted to pose with!
In an other building, it was a Museum of the different Shisa. Very many displayed to show off the older versions, the versions of Shisa not only from Okinawa, Japan but also from Indonesia, China and other places.
One of the things that is well known here in Okinawa is the
Ryukyu glass. It was interesting to see and read about the true Okinawan designs and kinds of glass.
It wasn't very busy when we were there, and maybe they were preparing or closing down, as we didn't get to see any glass blowing while we were there.
There was a huge fruit orchard, but due to the rain we didn't explore it further. Next time. I did get this picture of the growing starfruit on hanging off the tree. It's still exotic to me to see these fruits that we mostly only know from the produce section of the stores, to see them growing on trees!
While the kids enjoyed an ice cream, me and Chris checked out the fruit juice bar. So many delicious juices and so fresh!
Coconut!
After this, we called it a day, as there was nothing else to do inside, and outdoor wasn't too appealing in the cold rain. The best part was the cave this day, but more about that one in a separate entry coming soon!!
