Ukai

Eventually, the only visible thing on the 'viewers' boats were the lanterns.

Ukai is the Japanese name for cormorant fishing.  There are roughly 10 locations in Japan where it is still practiced, two of which are in Kyoto - Arashiyama and Uji.  We finally had a non-typhoon influenced evening to go see the spectacle that is ukai (if there has been heavy rains the river is too high for safe boating).  

We know that there is no 
need to fish with cormorants any longer and that its practice is actually just for honoring history and attracting tourists.  We decided that it was unique enough that we didn't really care that it isn't totally authentic any longer.

We took the train to Arashiyama and quickly made our way to the ticket office.  It is free from the shore. If you want an up close view, you pay to be on a boat.  Seeing as we don't plan on doing it again, we got on a boat.  

While we waited, we got to watch the fishermen and cormorants prep. The birds were kept in bamboo baskets.  Six to eight birds were loaded onto each boat, followed by bundles of cedar logs to be burned off the front of the boat to light the water's surface.  We watched them massage the necks of the birds and then ultimately ties a rope around their necks.  Evidently, there is an art to this process: too tight and the bird tires too quickly; and if it's too loose, the birds will swallow the fish and become too slow.  There is considerable training for both bird and fisherman (so we were told).

Dina getting ready to go.

We were eventually loaded in the lantern lit boats.  The boats were lined with tatami mats, meaning you removed your shoes and sat on the bottom of the boat.  It actually worked really well.  It also allowed everyone a view.  There were many more curious tourists than fishermen.








The river is pretty shallow (~10 feet) so the boats were propelled with a long bamboo pole (think Venice).  The lanterns, fire from the ukai boats, and reflection from the city made for a gorgeous night.  

There was a concession boat that would pull up next to the viewing boats providing food and drink.  This was skewers of fish and other meats over an open flame, beer, soda, candy, rice balls, and more.  It was quite a set up and really fun to watch.








The ukai boats included a lot of pounding of oars, shouting, and cheering from the spectators.  We'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Beautiful night

Sights and sounds...

Our favorite activity, thus far, is simply walking around Kyoto. There is so much to take in Kyoto and life in Japan in general that we often just give ourselves chunks of time and start walking.  The atmosphere, sites, people, food, and more never cease to amaze. Sometimes we see beautiful Buddhist temples and gardens, sometimes great narrow little alleyways, sometimes very awkward English translations, and much, much more.  This blog is simply to share some of what we've observed in our first few weeks of wandering.

Here are just a few images from our recent wondering near our house in Gion and from our day in Arashiyama.

Gion - These are all images from the streets nearest our house.  They are all ~10min away (or less) on foot.

This is in a small courtyard

Around the corner from our house - in the historic preservation district.

This is what Dina is doing during most of our walks.

Morning on Shijo Dori (before the crowds arrive).

The river and the location of our initial forays into jogging.

There are temples located everywhere, hidden amongst even the busiest streets.

Arashiyama: This is an outer neighborhood in Kyoto, nestled up against the hills.  It is beautiful.  We should add that it is also the other big tourist area (in addition to where we live).  There are LOTS of temples here and beautiful neighborhoods strung out between the temples.  Arashiyama is also home to large bamboo forests, which are just as cool as it sounds.  We walked 10+ miles this day looking into small shops and just enjoying the setting.

One of the small roadside gift shops

In A's defense, it was quite windy on the bridge.

Yes, there was even the odd rice paddy nestled in the neighborhoods.

Safari Part 1: Tarangire, Lake Minyara, and Ngorongoro Crater

Driving in the safari truck.

We are splitting the safari into two parts, but we'll say as little as possible and let the photos speak for themselves.  The safari really was wonderful.  We began by checking into the entry gate in Tarangire and stopping there for lunch.  I’m sure our guide Willy was shaking his head as we were immediately enamored with the black-faced vervet monkeys and superb starlings.  We were all snapping photos, not realizing just how much more we would see and how ordinary the site would become.  Willy spent much of lunch trying to scare the monkeys away as they are more of an annoyance than anything else at picnic areas. 

Tarangire is famous for elephants.  While we sighted zebra, impala, giraffe, and many other animals in the park, the elephants certainly stole the show.  We saw them play in the water, throw dust, eat, scratch, and much more over our two days in the park.  They seem to have very playful and often protective personalities. 

Our lodge, Osupuko, was an amazing surprise.  It was stucco-finished cottages in the round shape of the huts used by several of the Tanzanian tribes.  Each had an indoor and outdoor shower (with solar heated hot water) and floor-to-ceiling windows and a deck facing the national park.  The dining area was also open air.  Dinner featured a Maasai welcome dance (Abby, Adrienne, and Tammy were convinced to participate).  It featured lots of shoulder bumping and jumping.  We are not sure, but those three might have been married off during the festivities.  Dinner was amazing both nights.  During dinner, Willy enthusiastically imitated lion chuffing sounds so that we might identify them from our rooms.  Little did we know how useful that would be.  We did indeed hear lions both nights.

Sunset from our room.

Our third day on safari was a little different.  We began with a walk lead by a Maasai man who lived just outside Terangire.  He helped us identify prints, scat, and explained the medicinal uses of many plants.  This was a great complement to the animals we’d viewed the prior two days.

 

Our guides for the walking safari.

Our Maasai exposure continued with a visit to a village.  We were welcomed with a dance, got a demonstration of fire-making (by spinning sticks) from the young men, a visit to and explanation of a Maasai home, and a chance to view (and purchase) some of their crafts.  This was eye-opening and felt less packaged than many other Maasai interactions.   

Dina sharing her photos.

The true highlight of the visit was the children.  They were adorable and loved having their photo taken, provided they could look at them afterwards.  Once you turned around your camera you were likely to be mauled by children grabbing at the camera and giggling over the photo.

Evidently we were very lucky to see a leopard on a night safari.

The day ended with a nighttime game drive at Lake Minyara.  This was in an open truck with tiered seats that also had a seat for the spotter located over the front bumper.  It was fun to bundle up and breeze through the forest along the lake.  The highlight of the trip was a sighting a leopard (chui in Kiswahili).  It was very cool and we heard repeatedly how lucky we were to have seen it.

The next morning we descended into the Ngorongoro Crater.   

We had heard that it had the largest density of animals due to the confines of the crater walls. It was true.  We saw lions, flamingos, hyena, gazelle, cape buffalo, and much more (see photos and list).

 

Female lion in Ngorongoro with zebra in the background.

Species List (those that we actually got down on paper)

Animals: African Cape Buffalo, Banded Mongoose, Black-Faced Vervet Monkey, Common Baboon, Dik Dik, Dwarf Mongoose, Elephant, Giraffe, Impala, Leopard Tortoise, Lion, Rock Hyrax, Warthog, Water Buck, Wildebeest, Zebra

Birds: African Black Crake, African Fish Eagle, African Jacana, Ash Starling, Bateleur Eagle, Blacksmith Plover, Brown Snake Eagle, Cattle Egret, Crested Francolin, Crowned Plover, Egyptian Goose, Gloss Ibis, Guineafowl, Gray Heron,

Southern Ground Hornbill

Hooded Vulture, Knob-Billed Duck, Lilac-Breasted Roller, Long-Toed Plover, Lovebird, Magpie Shrike, Maribou Stork, Morning Dove, Ostrich, Red-Billed Hornbill, Red-Necked Francolin, Ruffled-Tail Weaver, Sacred Ibis, Secretary Bird, Southern Ground Hornbill, Spoonbill, Superb Startling, Tawny Eagle, White-Backed Vulture, White-Faced Whistling Duck, White-Headed Buffalo Weaver, Yellow-Necked Francolin, Yellow and Red Bobbitt

Trees: Baubab, Ebony, Flat-Topped Acacia, Sodom Apple, Tamarin Tree

Kiswahili

·      Ready: Ty-eri

·      Thank you very much: Asente-sana

PHOTOS (this is down from hundreds, so bear with us)

Animals seemed unfazed by the trucks and came quite close.

Water brings giraffe, zebra, and wildebeest together.

Cape buffalo

Tarangire was all about the elephants.

Here they are itching.  This process destroys trees.  Thankfully, they are also very good at distributing and fertilizing new trees.   There seemed to be plenty of trees, so things appeared to be in balance.

 Abby seemed to have a special bond and we suspect that she may have agreed to become his third wife by the end of the walking safari.

The welcome dance for our visit to the Maasai.  They could jump!

They made fire by rubbing wood.  It was impressive.

We had a hike near Ngorongoro Crater.  It was hilly, but really beautiful.

There is a hippo in the background.  Evidently (according to Willy) it didn't pose a threat.

Yes, the monkey has blue balls.  This was a source of several jokes in the truck.

Our safari guide, Willy, and the kids from the village.

Hippos!!!

Hyena with a jaw bone

Ostrich