Monkey Island

It was my last day in Japan before heading home for a visit. My friends and I headed to Sarushima, also known as Monkey Island for some much needed sunshine. Monkey Island is a little over 1 kilometer away by ferry from Yokosuka Base. Our cruise only took about 15 minutes. We all really needed a break, both from school and from the crappy weather. Apparently, June really is rainy season because I hadn't seen the sun in about 3 weeks. So we met up, grabbed some food, and hopped the ferry to the island. I couldn't ask for a more beautiful day or a better group of ladies for company!

Getting ready to board the Sea Friend.

The view from the top...

of the island...

And my arrival on the plank to the beach.

All along the walk to the tide pools were walls covered in moss like this one. All sorts of messages were carved into the walls, both in Japanese and in English.

It was a beautiful hike!

This is the first view of the tide pools. I couldn't wait to climb down to explore all the critters, squishies, and crawlies. I was kind of creeped out by the beach roaches...there were millions.

I was slightly more adventurous than the others...I just dropped my gear and scuttled down the rocks to the ocean...it was slippery, but fortunately I didn't wipe out! The others followed shortly, except for Mollye, of course.

Look at all these cool critters...so funky!

Look at this really cool squishy thing...it looks like a piece of hard candy, but feels so slimy!

I had to finish with this picture...I couldn't take my eyes off of this hot piece of man! There aren't enough words to describe him, so I'll just leave it at that!

The best part of this story for some of my followers will be the ride home on the ferry. As many of you know, crazy things just seem to happen to me all the time. Whether it's a far fetched story about an intertube in Hawaii, the unfortunate tale of the snaggletooth, or the story of the ruthless sea hawks of Japan, things just always happen and all I can do is laugh at myself and move on with life. So, lately the birds of Japan have had a beef with me. From the seahawk who stole the chopstick off my lips...literally, to the pigeon who pooped all down the front of dress on the way to the beach...it's like they're ganging up on me! Well, my friends and I decided to sit on the top of the ferry so as to get the best view on the way back from Monkey Island, when all of a sudden, I felt wetness hit my ear. Oh yes, I was the victim of a fly-by-pooping. It violated my inner ear, but thankfully didn't get in my hair, or god forbid on my earrings! My other friend was a victim of this as well, though it only got on her shirt. I was super grossed out, but took it all quite well. There's not much I could do except wipe it off and go on with life...Doesn't that apply in so many different situations?!