Nosoko, Ishigaki

Although there is lots of evidence of damage from the Typhoon, there is also beauty everywhere. It’s the end of the wet season so things are green and lush. Our ride over the island on a mountain road took us through a beautiful jungle with butterflies everywhere.

We arrived in Nosoko on Halloween, so our host Shizuka had her precious goat Pong in a pumpkin costume. Just before dark the 20 children from the village came trick-or-treating and posed for pictures with Pong.

In keeping with the Halloween vibe, we saw a rare Yaeyama Flying Fox before dawn in Ishigaki City.  It’s an endemic fruit bat found only on these islands . We saw two more this morning, flying gracefully above us.  With a two foot wingspan, their flight is less erratic than the small bats we are accustomed to at home.

Today we got up before dawn and went for a walk to the beach.  We were treated to the calls of both the Ryukyu Scops Owl and the Northern Boobook  Owl.  We managed to spot the Northern Boobook on a wire as he was hooting a duet with another owl further away. This is a great spot for bird watching. Many varieties have been visiting us right at our deck. Gord had an up close and personal visit with a Serpent Eagle on his hike up Mount Nosoko.

This afternoon we went for our first snorkel at the beach a short walk away from our guesthouse. The water was warm and we enjoyed the outcroppings of coral and fish. The visibility is still somewhat impacted by the typhoon, but much clearer than we expected. At one point Gordon alerted me to the fact that there was a banded sea krait right below me. It’s a deadly venomous sea snake that is common in these waters. We have read that they are quite friendly and don’t bite without being provoked.  They also seem quite curious about snorkellers and have the disconcerting tendency to swim towards them.  When this one came towards me I swam like an Olympian in the other direction.