Yaeyama

Yaeyama is the name of Japan's westernmost island group that is by far closer to Taiwan than mainland Japan. I based myself in a small hostel on the main island, Ishigaki.

Ishigaki

I spent what was left of the travel day checking out the city, but it wasn't very spectacular. A little outside of the city, I found this Chinese tomb which commemorates some 100 Chinese laborers that were killed here in the 19th century:

The Toujin Grave in Ishigaki

In the evening, the hostel offered a tour to visit fireflies. I had seen many fireflies in New Zealand, but these were of a different kind: they blinked, and apparently only for an hour or so every evening. A fascinating atmosphere, very tranquil and with many small blinking, moving lights. No chance to photograph them without a tripod, of course, but pictures probably wouldn't do them justice anyway.

Taketomi

On the next day, I took a ferry to Taketomi island. The weather was gorgeous again (sunburn, stage 3... seems I never learn from my mistakes ;-)), so I took another long walk along the island coast, enjoying beautiful butterflies and beaches.

On my way back, I came across some of these guys:

Ishigaki-beef-to-be, apparently. I ate some later that day and have to say that it was delicious.

Taketomi island is famous for its red-thatched houses - anyone who wants to build a new house here must agree to have a red roof. The view from the lookout tower in the middle of the village is pretty spectacular (the island you can see in the distance is Iriomote):

Iriomote

Iriomote was my destination for day 3. I signed up for a half-day kayaking and hiking tour to the Pinaisara waterfall. On the way to the river, we saw this beautiful crested serpent eagle sitting on a power line just next to the road:

I have to say, I love kayaking. Looking at the untouched nature (Mangrove forests, in this case) on the shore and knowing that kayaking is the only way to get there... Hearing nature's sounds, only disturbed by the gentle sounds of the paddles... Relaxing my hands in the cool river water as you slowly drift towards the next bend... Exactly my idea of fun! (or one of them, anyway :-))

Pinaisara waterfall

In the afternoon, I took a boat up Urauchi river to see two other waterfalls. If I needed another reason to be convinced that tourism in all of Japan took a big hit after the earthquake, it would have been this: I was the only customer in that boat! I'm guessing the boat was big enough for at least 50 people...

The waterfalls weren't all that spectacular after all, but on the hike there I met this lovely guy:

He was shy at first and disappeared when I came close, but then came out again and let me take pictures... gorgeous!

On my way back to the ferry, the tide had almost completely gone out and revealed how small mangrove trees manage to stay upright in sandy and muddy ground:

Ishigaki

My last day in Ishigaki was spent on the kayaking and snorkeling tour I wrote about earlier. To top it off, I watched a beautiful sunset on a nearby beach.