Saturday, May 2nd--After we had explored the aquarium, we wandered outside to see the animals in the pools near the ocean shore. The first place we went to was THE DOLPHIN SHOW!!! It was free to the public!! We had been anticipating this and were so excited!
The show was performed by two dolphins and this amazing killa, or a false killer whale.
This was a favorite part of the show for the kids. The killa was out of the pool so the audience could see him, and the trainer in front of him would throw a fish in his mouth and turn away, only to turn back and see that the killa had spit it out. They repeated this 4-5 times before the killa finally ate the fish. The kids thought it was funny that the killa had been trained to spit it out several times to "trick" the trainer.
Back in he went.
Then it was the dolphin's turn to shine. They did jumps and flips. We were impressed by the height of their jumps.
Jumping over a pole....
.....and reaching up to touch a ball with their nose that was suspended above the pool.
Waving good-bye at the end of the show!
The "grand finale" was when the killa leaped out toward the audience and beached itself and smiled. We gave the killa and the other two dolphins a standing ovation! The show lasted about 20 minutes and was so amazing to watch! Mom cried during the whole show because she loves dolphins so much and was so excited for the kids to see him in a setting like this.
After the show, we took a bathroom break and got Audra a soda to get her tummy going. She didn't really want it, but she hadn't thrown up for awhile and we thought if we could get some fluids and sugar in her, she would perk up and feel better.
This picture is of Kirstin in the baby seat that can be found in most public bathrooms in Japan. These things are genius! For years, I have complained about the predicament that moms are in when they have a baby and need to use the public bathroom and can't hand their baby off to someone else to hold while they take care of business. We need baby seats like this one in the public bathroom stalls in America!
As we walked along to the next pool, we came to a different pool of dolphins. There was another killa in this pool also. (Chris, Caitlin, and Logan are in the picture.) We were SSOOO CLOSE to the dolphins in this pool! So close that we all got sprayed by them and we could have reached out and touched them if we would have been allowed to!
The trainers were feeding them and talked to the audience about the dolphins. It was all in Japanese, so we couldn't understand what was being said and they were going too fast for Raymond to be able to interpret for us. However, we were still able to pick up on some things when they would command the dolphins to do something. We will never forget the moment when two of the dolphins turned over on their backs and the trainers pointed out their "private areas". We didn't know that was coming and it shocked us. We learned about their anatomy whether we wanted to or not!
Dolphins are amazing animals! Their strength and ability in the water is always impressive, and they are so smart!
Turning circles.....
....leaping.....
....balancing a ball on its nose......
....holding a box.....the killa swam backward holding this box and then swam forward again. He never lost it.
It was such an experience to be so close to these amazing animals! They are truly some of the most amazing animals that God has created.
All too soon, the dolphin show ended and we moved on to see the other outdoor pools. We found this shisa dog next to the walk and posed with him. There was another one on the opposite side of the walk to make the pair. Audra was still in the stroller nursing her soda, so she isn't in the picture.
The first dolphin show that we had seen was getting ready to start again, and we decided that we MUST see it again--we just loved it that much!
It was so hot, but we got to the arena early enough that we were able to get some seats in the shade. Yay for us! Miss Audra laid like this throughout most of the show, poor thing!
Smile!!!
Of course, the show was the exact same as before. We didn't care! We clapped and cheered just as loud as the first time.
We loved it! Dolphins are truly unique and special animals.
After the show, we went to see the sea turtles. The boys are looking down at the baby sea turtles in their pool.
They were so cute swimming around in their little pools! The kids got a kick out of them.
Standing next to the adult sea turtle pool.
Can you find six sea turtles in this picture?
Well, hello!
We went down some stairs so we could see the turtles swimming through the glass.
The manatees were the last pool for us to visit. We happened to get here at feeding time and watched them eat plants that were thrown in their tanks.
There were two tanks, one for the males and one for the females. These are known as the "cows of the sea".
We watched them lumber around their tanks. Near their tank, there was a whole wall full of information about manatees and we were all engrossed in reading about them and watching them....until I counted heads and realized that we were missing Nathan. We looked and looked, checked the bathrooms and the upstairs viewing area for the manatees. No Nathan. Checked out the sea turtles again, since he DID really love the video...still no Nathan. We were beginning to get really worried when I noticed him back over on the walkway that had the water mist on either side. He just got too hot and remembered the mist and decided to go cool off. O.k., time to quit looking at animals and go to the beach!
The beach near the Churaumi Aquarium is called Emerald Beach. We had been wearing our swimsuits under our clothes all day in anticipation of playing on this beach once we were done looking at animals.
Emerald Beach is a man-made beach. There are lifeguards here as well as bathrooms and concessions stands. The sand was white and clean, especially compared to our "private beach" that we had enjoyed the day before. The beach in Nago had a lot of litter and stuff from the ocean that had washed up on the shore. This beach was well groomed. Christopher's head is popping out of the water and Nathan is in the red shorts.
Tayla, Caitlin, and Logan got right to work building in the sand.
And then, there were these two! Kirstina had had a very busy day, most of it outside in a very hot, humid environment. She had only been able to get a short nap while we were in the aquarium, and she was just plumb worn out. She fell asleep, so we laid her down in the shade. Audra was still sipping on her soda, claiming that she was still sick. The color to her face had returned, however, and she hadn't thrown up in a really long time.
But, then she began to see all the fun that the other kids were having. I asked her if she wanted to get her feet wet. She said she would try it, but she was sure she was going to throw up again.
Soon, she had her stripped down to her swimsuit and she was busy with the other kids building in the sand and running through the water. She may have missed out on many of the animals today, but she wasn't going to miss out on the beach time!
Sunset at Emerald Beach.
Time to pack it up and make our way home. What a great day this was! One of our favorite days out of all our time in Japan! We were sad to see it end, but we were also worn out and tired.
As we made our way out the park, we spotted another one of these flower animals! A crab!
It was ridiculously expensive to ride the bus to the aquarium this morning, and we didn't want to repeat it getting back to Nago. Raymond negotiated with a taxi cab driver and he agreed to take us to Nago for 6000 yen ($55.00)! Done! Ray got in front with Audra and the driver, and the rest of us piled in the back. We were all packed in like sardines and sitting on each other's laps, there were arms and legs everywhere! But, the driver didn't care. We joked how this would NEVER happen in America! In America, we have to have car seats and booster seats for little ones, seat belts, and each passenger needs their own space/seat. Not so in Japan.
The taxi driver dropped us off on the main highway, just a couple of blocks from the home where we were staying. We thanked him and began to walk home.
On the way, we noticed a booth selling taco rice. This is something that Okinawa is well-known for and we had wanted to try it while we were here. We bought two orders for 500 yen each. The chef made it in front of us and we could easily see into the kitchen. The kitchen was VERY dirty and I wasn't sure that we wanted to eat this taco rice. We might get sick. But, we braved it and shared these two orders, along with eating leftover yakisoba from last night.
Taco Rice sounds like a Tex-Mex dish, but it has its origins in Okinawa. It is ground beef flavored with sake, soy sauce, garlic, and tomato paste. It is served on a bed of rice, along with some or all of the following: cheese, lettuce and tomato. We loved this stuff! We have to learn how to make it once we get back to the states! It's simple enough, surely we can figure it out! Being able to experience taco rice was the perfect ending to a great day!
