The Karamas

I feel like all I ever do here is complain about the weather. It’s either too hot or too rainy and I know it will only get worse as we head into spider season. It rained so much this weekend that ceiling started to leak...good times. However, the weekend before this I was reminded that this is just the price we pay to live in a tropical paradise. We went with some friends on a weekend excursion to the Karamas Islands. They are a little grouping of islands known for their scuba diving. They are just off the southern side of Okinawa, the opposite direction that we usually go when we travel to these little islands. It was quite the adventure!

It started with a high speed ferry ride on a stormy rainy ocean.The weather was terrible but our reservation was non-refundable so we went anyway. On the ferry all the passengers went down inside and it felt like being in an airplane. We were flying and hitting off the huge waves practically catching air. The kids were screaming with delight and excitement it was like a roller coaster. I was as sick as could be but managed to hold it in, Hayden and a few other kids were not so lucky and ended up throwing up. None the less, they all loved it. We got off the ferry and swam through the rain to get on a bus to the hotel. We were straining our necks to peer through the rain to check out the island. I could just see green everywhere!! Our hotel was a little resort right on the beach. We had a Japanese style room which means it was just a room with tatami mats on the floor and a small bathroom. In the closet there were futons, blankets and pillows that we threw out at bedtime.From the balcony of our room you could look down onto the beach.It was still pouring rain but it was warm so we quickly changed into our swimsuits and were just heading down the beach when they told us it had just closed for the night. So we changed and headed into the dining hall for dinner. Dinner was included in our stay and consisted of lots of Japanese cuisine. Hayden ate nothing but the rest of us enjoyed delicious food. The girls especially liked the chicken wrapped in seaweed. After dinner we put the kids to bed and played games at the table in the hall.

The next morning we took off for a drive around the island. We hiked up to a peek with a monument to remember the mass suicides that took place there. Back during the war many people marched up there and jumped off the cliff when they were invaded. We drove through rice patties and admired the Japanese scarecrow and all the cranes. It was beautiful.Then we raced back for breakfast at the hotel. Demonstrating true Japanese hospitality it appeared that the kitchen staff had tried to make food for our group of American children. The hotel was practically empty so our group with it’s 12 children was the dominant presence. The children were delighted to see that breakfast was chicken nuggets, french fries, scrambled eggs and pancakes along with a whole lot of Japanese cuisine like their traditional salad and pickled stuff. It was awesome, it was like they just tried to think of anything American and that’s what they made for us. We were touched and the kids got full!

After breakfast was the highlight of our trip- we finally hit the beach! The women took first shift and headed off to snorkel. It was the most amazing snorkeling I have ever done! Right off we saw a HUGE sea turtle just 4 feet below us and followed it for a while. The coral reefs were massive, covered in anenomes with clown fish and tons of sea life. So many colors and fish, it was fantastic. We saw two more huge sea turtles, surrounded by fish. Then just as we were heading back in we saw a large manta ray just swimming by. It was amazing! We spent the rest of the day on the beach, exploring a second beach and snorkeling there and just soaking up the sun. Yes, the sun came out on Saturday and it was beautiful. We had to catch the ferry again at 5:30. As we loaded on the bus at the hotel the entire staff came out and stood and waved good-bye and then bowed. This happened again as we left on the ferry, they stood on the port and waved. It was the perfect end to an amazing weekend. I can’t wait to go back!