Okinawa World

We finally made it to Okinawa World on Saturday. We were thwarted on our first 2 attempts. The first attempt we ran into an marathon, literally. There were people running around the car as we inched our way towards any place we could turn into to get off the road. The second attempt was when my parents were here and my grandma passed away. The third time was the charm and we arrived without a hitch.  Okinawa World's biggest attraction is a cave. The cave is the second longest cave in Japan. It is gigantic, however only a small section of the cave is open for visitors, about 900 meters. We walked through the watery cave passing all sorts of amazing stalagtites and stalagmites. It was truly an amazing place, it really looks like the mine ride at Knott's Berry Farm. Greg and I kept saying that it looked so fake like a movie set and yet it was 100% real.  Once we emerged from the cave we walked through a fruit garden.  I must say that when I move back I really want to grow a vanilla tree in my backyard, they smell divine.  Okinawa World also features a glass blowing factory, bingata making area, pottery village and much much more. We had lunch at the Nanuto Brewery, Greg was able to try their beer selection.  Then we watched an amazing Eisa drum show. The final stop of the day was the Habu museum. The Habu is a very poisonous snake native to Okinawa, it's used in a variety of medicinal products and in awamori (okinawan whiskey). The museum had a lot of interesting facts about the Habu and snakes in general there was also a small children's museum where Gabriella could touch a mongoose and a snake, she opted to touch neither. The final activity of the day was the Habu show. We saw a Habu attack a balloon, race a mongoose, crawl around a stage and Gabriella and Greg got to hold a python. The day was a great adventure and we learned a lot about Okinawa.