After the pineapple park we were worried nothing would be able to keep the trip as elevated as that insane bird-biting adventure had. However, the next morning we woke up, sauntered down to the base grub hall and ate a healthy breakfast of American fried grease and then headed back to the cabin to change into our summer wear. After climbing into our swimsuits we headed down to the beach loaded with Bud’s, books, cameras and Ipods. Instead of finding a nice sandy spot we spotted some cliffs that cut shallow into the waves, and headed over for a look-see.
The water was turbulent, despite the nice weather, and we climbed around on the side of the cliffs looking for caves. We went quite a distance before being forced to turn back by a sheer wall of cement. Rock climbing on a beach shielded from the general public was liberating, and I wondered if anyone had stood on those rocks in years. Probably we were the first in over thirty years.
After we finished spelunking, we headed back to the sand where my sister discovered a live hermit crab, complete with beautiful purple shell, and we set up a little circular rice course of various diameters and took bets on how long it would take the poor crab to get to various areas of the circle. We named him Herbert and I won all bets as I’m more optimistic than most. Meanwhile, sister found another hermit crab (which we named Phil) and we set about digging a massive hole to watch them climb out of– a Colosseum for crabs.
Hours later we grew bored with the crabs and watched them scurry off into the sunset with wild stories to someday tell no one– being hermit crabs I doubt they gather around camp fires to tell war stories of humans abusing them on the beach.
All this time sister and I had been poking around with the silly hermits, brother had been reading and listening to tunes. We joined him until the sun finally set and then headed home for more Hannah Montana UNO and a few more Buds and chips. I had missed American food, and helped devour an entire bag of chips while watching bad American TV. Being around family was amazing, and we joked, played cards and watched silly shows well into the night.
-posted by Lauren.
Herbert
You guys have great pictures! I’m planning a trip to Japan but I’m a little concerned about the costs of living there. How much do you think you can spend on a daily basis? Any advice? Thanks and keep on posting!
Sorry we can’t really answer that question fairly because Lauren was only in Oki Nawa when she was in Japan. It is a very expensive place to travel and hotels will cost probably around $100 USD a day. However, there are probably hostels and guest homes that really can curb costs. Check Hostel World in Google for a list of hostels. This is a good way to get cost estimates and Rough Guide is usually the best for budget travel and will tell you how much you can expect to spend per day. It is not going to be the $15 a day you can get away with in places like China though.