Japan 4.10: The Blakiston's fish owls of Hokkaido and the return home

On my last real day of the trip I drove the supposedly scenic route from Utoro to Rausu.  The weather was fine until I got into the mountains and then a heavy fog obscured any views that could have been had.  I arrived around 11:00 AM in the town of Rausu and decided to park at the visitor center and do a quick walk to check three local cruise centers.  Originally I did not think that I would want to do another cruise, but I had the energy to, this day, and the cruises were to see whales and dolphins.  Unfortunately, the cruises were all fully booked, and one told me that because of the high waves, they weren't even sure if they would end up having them at all that day.

Just a few minutes down the road and curved into a mountain was the Fish Owl Observatory and hotel.  They named the place so due to its proximity to Blakiston's fish owl nesting grounds.  The Blakiston's fish owl is an endangered species and is revered by the indigenous Ainu.  People could pay to observe only or to stay, which includes the ability to observe.

The family that runs the hotel did not speak a lick of English, and so used drawings to explain when the owls were likely to show up.  I was told that they could show up starting around 7:45 PM.  They were also nice enough to let me occupy my room before even noontime.  The room was barely nine feet by nine feet, but the price was very cheap and included dinner and breakfast.

I spent most of the day reading.  I noticed a bulletin on the wall, with English translated rules regarding the owls.  No one was to leave the buildings when owls showed up, as it would scare them away.  I was on the second floor, with a prime viewing of the area that owls were likely to show up.  There were two lights set up to turn on at night, to illuminate a tiny circular pond in the middle of a stream.  I noticed someone was picking up traps earlier in the day.  They must be placing several fish in the small pond, to attract the owls with easy feeding.



Dinner was delicious.  There were other photographers there, as well as a family.  As I walked out, a woman mimed taking pictures, and I said yes.  She gave me a sheet of paper giving instructions on how best to take pictures.



I consulted Jeremy, who was kind enough to call me at the ungodly hour he chooses to wake up at during the weekends.  Then, I waited.





 I sat in a chair and read on my kindle, while keeping an eye out for fluttering.  I ended up keeping watch for four hours.  During this time two owls showed up, or the same owl twice I suppose.  They stayed for a while each time and ate a fish from the pond.  At one point two deer appeared, sticking their heads barely into the light and took a look at a nearby trap set up, though I am not sure for what.  Then they ran off.

Here were some of my favorite pictures from the evening:



The next morning I left for a local airport, which flew me to the Haneda Airport of Tokyo.  I had planned to stay in the airport hotel and venture into Yokohama in the night, which I had never been to, and then fly home the next morning.  A few weeks before the trip I got an email saying that my flight home from there was canceled.  The best they could do was fly me out from the much farther away airport of Tokyo, in Narita.  So, after arriving in Tokyo, I took an hour and a half transport bus to Narita Airport and then had to find the free two minute shuttle bus to a local hotel, as there is no hotel in airport, nor any sidewalks going anywhere.  The roads there are a confounding maze of loops and roads.

I had chosen chicken curry for lunch at the Hokkaido Airport(Nakashibetsu Airport), and the only thing I'd have considered at the hotel restaurant was curry again.  I looked around Google maps for any convenience stores and there was a seven eleven about ten minutes away.  I also wanted yogurt in the morning so decided to just get something to eat there.  It was closed.  Then it showed a Family Mart five more minutes away.  When I got close, it showed as being inside a gated area with guards.  I gave up and returned to the hotel for curry again.

One thing that was interesting that I noticed when I was eating the curry at the first restaurants was that the waitress gave me a spoon. Looking to my left and right, I noticed that the other people eating Curry we're Givin chopsticks. I asked for Chopsticks and she was surprised. Again at night, when ordering the curry, they gave me a spoon and fork. I had to ask for the chopsticks. I guess I do not look Japanese enough for them.

As I was approaching the elevator, I took a quick look at the vending machines.  Ninety percent of vending machines in Japan are for drinks, even if it is a set of three vending machines directly adjacent to each other.  Therefore, I didn't think to look carefully as I originally went up towards my room.  This time I did.  There was a vending machine full of food normally stocked in convenience stores, including miraculously enough, yogurt.  I guess the machine was refrigerated.  I grabbed the yogurt for the morning.

The plane flight was very comfortable for me, as I was able to get the front row in a section, an exit aisle.  I had unlimited leg room and could easily get up to stretch whenever I wanted.



I had a six hour layover in Houston.  Then, I flew home from there.  I didn't get much sleep on my first flight, so I slept the entirety of this one.  Halfway through the flight I was jolted awake by the man behind me, notifying me that I had dropped my phone from my pocket.  I thanked him and returned to sleep.  When we landed and were standing, getting ready to debark, an extremely tall and oddly acting man approached me, asking if I had his phone in one of my camera bags, that I was using to store medicine.  I had no idea what he was on about, and I unzipped the bag and showed him.  He was having someone else call his number and we heard the ringing.  I checked my pocket, and along with my phone was his phone.  I guess I hadn't dropped my phone after all.  The man behind me was a nice old man and I didn't suspect any funny business from him.  After retrieving his phone, the guy kept muttering about he doesn't put up with that kind of shit and how I shouldn't have started up with him.  The guy acted like a crazy, homeless person on a subway.  I didn't acknowledge him or engage him in any way.  I never saw him again.

This trip was an unusual one in a few ways.  It was only my second solo trip, which gave me anxiety again leading up to it.  Like the first one, I ended up enjoying the time by myself.  There is no pressure to go anywhere at any time, and time taken for my medical issues left me with no guilt.  Secondly, unlike all of the other Japan trips, it was almost entirely of me driving, often long distances.  Speaking of driving, one other random thing that I came across was that the Japanese people, at least on Hokkaido, seem to only park in parking spots by backing up into them. In other words, they never drive forward into a parking spot. I never noticed this on the other islands. Third, instead of being about visiting places for the places themselves, it was focused almost completely on photographing of wildlife.  I encountered more people who didn't understand any English, and everything felt more remote than I am used to.  While I started to panic a bit in the first few days, I ended up thoroughly enjoying myself.  I also learned the amazingness of shio ramen.

Japan 4.9: Goko Five Lakes hike twice. An Insect's Life.

Yesterday I went on the Shiretoko Goko Five Lakes hike, along with a small group and a tour guide.  Bears have the potential to show up on the trail, and therefore you must have a guide through June and July.  Since I was going on August 2, I did not need a guide anymore, but I figured it would be better to be safe than sorry.  If a bear is spotted, they close down the trail.

I was picked up early in the morning and joined a group of about eight other people.  We were driven to the Goko Lakes.  Once there, you have to go through a fifteen minute video and lecture that all people walking the trails had to go through.  If you saw a bear, turn around and walk back.  Clap your hands loudly and/or holler and then listen for a response.

  The guide was nice and spoke a few words of English.  He would stop fairly often during the first part of the hike to talk about plants.  He pointed to this tree, showing bear claw marks.



After a short while, we came across the first lake.  The guide spotted a yellow frog, but it jumped down from the top leaf and I was only able to get an obscured picture.



I took quick pictures, because the guide would call for me when the group would move on and I hadn't.  He encountered a single bird along the trail.  Most of the other lakes were unremarkable, but one had nice lilies.



The very last portion of the trail had been barred off, as there was a bear sighting.  The trail was shut down for other visitors that had just come.  Then, we walked around on an elevated boardwalk that we would've connected with to finish the trail, but there really wasn't much to see there.  Mountains in the distance, the last lake, and lots of foliage.



Later in the day I went to a nearby waterfall.



I woke up today with nothing to do.  Originally the cruise had been scheduled for today, but since it was canceled and rescheduled for two days ago, this day was left empty.  I very much wanted to do the Goko trail again and take my time, stopping to photograph insects.  When I woke up, I checked their website, and the trail was closed as of 7:35 AM.  There had been bear sightings.  I ate breakfast and this was still the case when I was done.  I spoke on the phone briefly to Stephanie and decided to check one last time before I napped.  It had just reopened!

I quickly grabbed my gear and headed out despite the forecast of possible rain.  It never rained.  I walked very slowly through the trail.  This time I was able to complete the last portion.  It was only five minutes that I had missed.

These are the insects that I saw throughout both days:



This last one isn't a great picture, but I caught the spider eating a fly caught in its web.

Japan 4.8: Shiretoko National Park. Godzilla Rock, skinks, and a bear on a cruise.

The cruise to potentially see bears was rescheduled to yesterday.  I woke up early to head for Utoro in the Shiretoko Peninsula.  I still was not sure which hotel I would be staying at.  Either the original or the sister hotel, since they had not responded to my messages.  Upon reaching the hotel, I explained that I didn't know for sure if I was supposed to be there.  They said that I would be staying at the original booking.  Then, they brought out a man from the back, who spoke Japanese to me.  I explained that I only knew a little Japanese and the woman said that that guy was responsible for the web management was apologizing.  Ok... That was a strange way to acknowledge the mistake.

I went to have ramen at a local place.  I was given an English menu when they saw that I was using an app to translate their menu.  When the man came to take my order, I ordered vegetable ramen.  He asked me what type of ramen.  Most of the places that I had been to specialized in just one ramen.  I asked what his favorite was.  He said shio(salt).  I said that I would have that.  It was unbelievably good.

I parked down the road, right next to the cruise agency, and decided to walk around since I had an hour to spare.  My saved spots on the map included Godzilla Rock.  I took a wide angle picture, not see what made the rock special, and moved on.  Around the corner is Oronko Rock.  This had a climbable path to the top, which I took.  Upon reaching the top, there was a rather large circular path.  I took photos of the town.

Unfortunately, I somehow didn't realize that the pictures of the rock and the view of the town were never transferred to my computer.  When I finally realized that I had been missing the pictures, it was too late.  I already had cleared my camera.

Along the top pathway I noticed a lizard.  I tried to stop, but it scurried away.  I walked around slowly, looking down for more.  I was able to get photos of a few.  When I tried to look up Japanese lizard on Google, I came across the Japanese five-lined skink.  This seems to match with what I saw. Luckily these pictures were taken with my other camera.



After the descent, I saw why the previous rock was named after Godzilla.



The cruise was next and I was ushered in a line to the docks.  Our boat was mostly indoors, but I was put in the back two rows, which were actually outdoors, so that I would be able to take pictures.



We saw one eagle with its back to us.



We saw a few waterfalls.



Once we had reached the farthest area of the cruise, people began to stand up.  I couldn't tell what they were looking at.  Of course, I had no idea what the person on the loudspeaker had been saying.  One woman was kind enough to point out the black dot on the beach.  Not only was it ridiculously far away, but the boat was rocking tremendously.  I was only able to scrape out three mediocre pictures of the bear from the encounter.  Next time I will have to up the shutter speed to compensate for such rocking.  The bear had actually gone into the water at one point and stared at us.



Back at the docks, I took some time to watch the birds.