Last Sunday, we decided to get out and do some exploring again. We hadn't really done anything for about a month and I was eager to get out and enjoy some scenery. Due to my recovery and a lot of work for Chris even over the weekends, there weren't a chance to go on our normal weekend adventures.
This day the rain was lingering in the horizon and it was VERY humid. Due to the overcast though, it wasn't as hot as other days, so we decided to get out for an afternoon to hit the road and go over to the west coast.
There is a very well known scenic view point on a cliff called "Manzamo" here on Okinawa. It looks like an elephant's trunk and it's in a lot of pictures from Okinawa.
Walking down toward the cliff, there were several things to look at, both historical...
...and commercial. Here little moneybags made out of frogs. We were not impressed!
Yuck!
The vegetation on the coast line is very different from the jungle vegetation that we normally see all around the island. Very bright colors on these bushes and grass areas! We almost got stuck in what it seemed like, three bus loads of students from Naha that were there. In uniform, with a little guide with their number to keep behind and they walked down the same path as us like ducks in a row. No one would even think about to get out of line, run over the grass or cut in line..Very disciplined students here!
While they were passing us, they were all super friendly like always and kept saying how cute our kids were, saying hello and there were lots of smiles. They are so friendly here! After the last group had passed us, we continued, as we didn't want to get stuck in between groups, as they were most likely going to take a lot of pictures, and so would we and I didn't want to feel stressed.
So after a little waiting, we finally got to see "Cape Manzamo". Due to the gloomy day, the pictures doesn't give the scenery it's bright colors as they deserve. The sky here in Okinawa is dark blue, the waters are turquoise green and in it's deeper spots darker blue. This day, it all blended together and you could hardly see the horizon. That was a shame, but on the other hand, it would have been unbearable to walk around here in the burning sun, so we have to go back another time, when it's not so hot but still sunny!
The history behind the name of this cliff:
When visiting Cape Manzamo, 18th Century Ryukyan king Sho Kei is said to have noted that the top of the cliff was big enough for 10,000 people to sit. The kanji characters of the Japanese written form of Manzamo reflect the king's expression: 万 (Man - 10,000) 座 (Za - to sit) 毛 (Mo - field).
The cliff is facing East China Sea, so it's very popular to go here to view the beautiful sunsets of Okinawa. Maybe we do that another time!
Tried to get some nice pictures with the family, but our Benjamin was not happy about all the posing...
Around the bottom of the cliff, it's a popular diving spot. There is also a spot called "Mermaid's grotto" where the snorkeling and diving is supposed to be something spectacular, but I'm not sure if it's the cave at the very bottom here on the picture. I would believe it's a pretty unsafe place for diving and snorkeling, as the waves can be very strong against these cliffs. The waves are the ones that have cared these cliffs after all...
After a little bribe of ice cream before we left, the boy was smiling again..
With so many tourists around, in this case Japanese students, it was easy to ask someone to take a picture of the family. It's nice to have all of us on the same picture, it's normally me and the kids or Chris and the kids.
I love that my oldest like to take pictures and here we got a selfie together!
With a little cropping, I got a nice picture with just me and the elephant rock too!
My beautiful daughters!
Cassie & Ben
We walked around the coast line, and it was beautiful views all around!
Toward the bay, there are several Hotel resorts
Yup, we stayed on the path, no need to see a poisonous snake up close - or at all for that matter..
Lots of nicknacks, shisas and buddas at the market stands by the parking lot.
This was a sad sight...I thought that these turtles were sacred.
After the bribe ice cream, it was time to move on, the rain had already started and there was no need to hang around the parking lot any longer. We decided however to continue exploring and went to another place. Pictures from that in another post!
