Adventures in Okinawa: Big Birds, Strange rocks and beautiful sea views

On my adventures to the northern end of Okinawa and Cape Hedo...I got sidetracked and ended up in a couple of unexpected places..........

The first strange item was the GIANT statue of the rare Okinawa dodo bird. OK, it's not really a dodo bird....it's some other rare, endangered flightless bird found only on the northern end of Okinawa. In its' honor, someone has created a gigantic statue hidden in the rain forest. For those folks lucky enough to not only notice it but also find the sort of hidden road up to it....much fun can be had climbing around inside the bird!

The views out over the beach and ocean were quite gorgeous.....once I got passed the idea that I was inside a giant chicken statue, LOL!

The rare Okinawa bird is so endangered, there are multiple roadsigns dedicated to it and people who spot the thing. I'm not sure but strongly suspect this sign says "Call this number if you see this bird". Of course, the poor thing can't fly so it's easy pickin's for the mongoose (? mongeese?) and other animals that find it a tasty treat!

The birds might be in danger from the pigs that apparently wander around the island too??

Once I finished playing around here, I took another road....OK, yes, it was a wrong turn, and I found myself in a parking lot. Turns out I had managed to find a botanical garden of sorts. Since the nice man in the parking lot had already waved me in, I felt obligated to check things out. Of course, when I was told it involved a bus ride up a rather steep hill...I almost changed my mind! It ended up being a pretty cool spot. The official name of the place is Kohgoh Sekirinzan Park - it is a sort of botanical garden hiking trail. The paths were separated into three distinct trails - each identified by the color of string marking the path. There was the strange rock course, the beautiful sea view course...and last was the 1/2 miles hike down the hill that the bus had taken me up! All-in-all, a neat and unexpected find on my day of adventures!

The rocks were quite strange...and large, LOL! The rocks are a specific type of volcanic ocean that is found only in the south pacific seas. More information and pictures can be found at this site: http://okinawahai.com/2009/04/april-24.html

Next up....beautiful sea views!

OK, so this isn't exactly a beautiful sea view but it was a very interesting "spirit" rock.....and in the interest of maintaining my physical and spiritual health, I put a 100Y donation in the box and placed my hands on the rock for a few minutes.....one should never pass up the opportunity to protect their souls is what I figure!

This is one of the beautiful sea views...it was incredibly gorgeous! Interesting that there are so few people inhabiting this end of the island - I suspect it has to do with sea port access more than anything. I found the northern end to be very peaceful and was by far my favorite end of the island.

Banyan trees make me think of the Swiss Family Robinson ....or Tarzan! How fun it would be to build a treehouse in one of these things!

After my adventures for the day, I headed back to the south end following along the east side of the island. I was hungry and looking for ANYTHING to eat when I came across what looked like a pineapple packing plants with a small market alongside. Sure enough, there was a small restaurant.....and not one person working there who spoke English! Thank goodness there was an English-speaking women having lunch when I wandered in. The menu was completely in Kanji - I would have never managed to figure out what I was doing but, thanks to the kindness of a stranger, I got lunch. The women behind the counter who were cooking were so cute, I had to take their picture. Many of the Japanese restaurants I have been in so far have incredibly small kitchens considering the quantity and variety of food they produce and this was no exception!