Tayrona National Park, Colombia

I visited Tayrona National Park twice during my time in the area. One day was spent at the beaches and mainly snorkeling around 'La Piscina'. The other I hiked up to the native village and saw as much of the park as I could cram. Frankly I walked so much that I got blisters despite my lovely hiking boots being extremely comfortable.

Tayrona National Park

Tayrona National Park

Tayrona National Park

My first day in the park started late because of the massive lines to get in the the fact the park doesn't even open its gates until 8am and also shitty. By that I mean I actually got pretty much full force shat on by a Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

The crowds flock to the beaches and the trails are busy. The beaches you can't swim at are completely empty but the few where it is safe to swim are packed with people. On a few rocks far away from people there were terns, vultures, kingfishers and grackles.

Royal Tern

Black Vulture

The boardwalk areas on the trail to Arrecifes Beach were great places to see Rainbow Whiptails and Skinks.

Tayrona National Park

Rainbow Whiptail

Monkeys were also really common to see on the trails and these Santa Marta White-fronted Capuchin (Cebus albifrons ssp. malitiosus) and Howler Monkeys were pretty easy to get a good view of. 

Santa Marta White-fronted Capuchin (Cebus albifrons ssp. malitiosus)

The trail up to the village is steep and rocky but very well maintained. It is not an easy trail but it is beautiful. On the afternoon hike we saw pretty much the same things that I had seen at Kankui Hostal and along the river but there were so many geckos climbing over the rocks.

Yellow-headed Gecko

Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡) and Naruto Whirlpools (鳴門の渦潮)

Visiting Tokushima City for the Awa Odori Festival we didn’t have much time to see all of the sights but we did manage to visit the Naruto whirlpools  and the ruins of Tokushima Castle, since the majority of the festival activities occur at night.

The whirlpools in Naruto are much further away by public transit than expected and it took an hour and a half and 710 Yen one-way.  The rain and storms that day made the views foggy and it was difficult to get any decent photo of the whirlpool from the observatory and the  Uzu no Michi (渦の道) walkway.

Map Naruto Whirlpools (鳴門の渦潮) area in Naruto Park

Naruto Whirlpools (鳴門の渦潮)

Naruto Whirlpools (鳴門の渦潮)

Naruto Whirlpools (鳴門の渦潮)

 The lookouts in Naruto Park had a nice view of the bridge and overal scenery but you can't really make out the whirlpools from there.

Naruto Whirlpools (鳴門の渦潮)

Naruto Whirlpools (鳴門の渦潮)

Naruto Whirlpools (鳴門の渦潮)

Naruto Whirlpools (鳴門の渦潮)

 The day we visited the castle was a bit nicer, The castle ruins are really mostly just old walls that are still standing but the surrounding area of the park and moats is quite nice. 

Map of Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 The top of the hill is just an empty area with mowed lawn and a few lights. I expect maybe events are held here on occasion but I am not sure what exactly this area is usually used for. A few picnic tables or benches might help utilize the space better.

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 Yeah that statue was odd... A kid really does look like he is peeing on birds. Not really sure why... really don't get the point of the statue. But hey it was random and funny to see.

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

 Tokushima Castle Ruins (徳島城跡)

Tosashimizu (土佐清水市), Japan

Shimanto River is the longest river on Shikoku Island, Japan and is said to be one of the most beautiful. On our way to Tosashimizu and Oki Beach we stopped along the river near Shimanto City. Here the river is very large and wide with turquoise blue waters rather than the crystal clear blue you see in rivers further up in the mountains.

Shimanto River near Shimanto City

Oki Beach (大岐海岸) is a fairly large beach by Japanese standards and it actually is a natural beach unlike some of the man made beaches you can see in cities like Osaka and Takamatsu. The water is lovely, warm and quite clear. Oki beach is very popular for surfing, however it was incredibly calm the day we visited so there weren't any large waves to watch people surf on. 

Oki Beach (大岐海岸)

 Snorkeling here is actually fairly good along the rocky edges of the beach such as in the image above. I saw over 10 species of fish in just a short while and that included a school of young puffer fish (possibly Diodon holocanthus), a species of Cottida, butterfly fish, tang, small blotchy fish and a few species of larger silver fish in schools (possibly chub). I of course forgot my underwater camera but I expect I will return to Oki beach for a nice relaxing weekend on the beach. 

Oki Beach (大岐海岸)

Oki Beach (大岐海岸)

Oki Beach (大岐海岸)

 There are two fairly large parking lots and some areas where you can camp along a small river letting out into the ocean.

Oki Beach (大岐海岸)

Oki Beach (大岐海岸)

Cafe 69 Log is a very small cafe down a hill toward a port. There is only one person working there and limited seating so if you go in a large group it can take a while but the food is very good. It was a lovely place to have breakfast before heading to the aquarium.

Ashizuri Underwater Aquarium (足摺海底館) is on a small peninsula within a bay created by a larger peninsula. The aquarium is a viewing deck that looks out into the ocean with windows above and below the water surface. I was told they attract fish by feeding them.

Ashizuri Underwater Aquarium (足摺海底館)

Ashizuri Underwater Aquarium (足摺海底館)

Ashizuri Underwater Aquarium (足摺海底館)

Ashizuri Underwater Aquarium (足摺海底館)

 There was a fair amount of wildlife along the coast if you just walk from one beach on the inner cove and around the peninsula. You can see many crabs, sea roaches, birds including many Black-eared Kites and this gorgeous black and green butterfly (Graphium sarpedon ssp. nipponum).

Black-eared Kites frequent the coastline in Japan

Graphium sarpedon ssp. nipponum

The snorkeling by the aquarium is a bit better than Oki beach mostly because of the deeper water, rocky surface and spots of coral or anemone. There were the same species I saw at Oki beach along with Blue chromis (Chromis cyanea), Moorish idol (Zanclus cornutus) and the largest rainbow parrotfish I have ever seen. The pufferfish here were also huge.

Ashizuri Underwater Aquarium (足摺海底館)

Kongofuku Temple (金剛福寺) is a Chisan Shingon temple and Temple 38 on the Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage. The temple is located in a beautiful area on the tip of the Ashizuri Peninsula. The deity that is worshiped at this temple is Sahasra-bhuja, or Senju Kannon Bosatsu in Japanese.

38 Kongofuku Temple (金剛福寺)

38 Kongofuku Temple (金剛福寺)

 There are many turtle statues among the rocks and pines decorating the temple grounds.A large central pool creates a calm reflective surface and really beautifies the temple grounds. So far this was my favorite temple but I know that I keep saying that because they are always so interesting to visit.
 

38 Kongofuku Temple (金剛福寺)

38 Kongofuku Temple (金剛福寺)

38 Kongofuku Temple (金剛福寺)

 Cape Ashizuri Lighthouse (足摺岬灯台) is a short walk from the temple along some paths. The paths are quite close to the edge of the cliff but only in a view places can you see a decent view unless you get to one of the lookout points. 

Cape Ashizuri Lighthouse (足摺岬灯台)

Cape Ashizuri Lighthouse (足摺岬灯台)

 Just down the street from the temple is a free foot bath with a lovely view and a trail down to Hakusan Sea Cave (白山洞門). I would recommend enjoying the foot bath after the sea cave. We went to the bath first and then experienced the steep down and up of going to the sea cave in the hot weather.  The cave is very large and at low tide you can see straight through it as more of a large tunnel than an actual cave. It is definitely an interesting rock formation and I still think the view from the foot bath was one of the nicest but really didn't do the scale justice.

 Hakusan Sea Cave (白山洞門) is on the very left

 Hakusan Sea Cave (白山洞門) is on the right

 Hakusan Sea Cave (白山洞門)