Kannonzaki Nature Museum

Yesterday we spent most of our day at the Kannonzaki Nature Museum. This facility had trails leading down to the rocky shore which were very fun to explore. The tide was out so we saw creatures in the shallows. A freighter went by and the subsequent waves sent us scurrying back up the hill to avoid getting wet. Inside the facility they had displays on fish, the fishing industry, evolution, history of the people who lived in this area, botany, and a touch pool where we could touch urchins, rays, octopus, sea hares, flat fish and star fish. One of the staff saw us using the touch pools so he took a turtle out of a box and set it free in the grass. We watched the turtle crawling through the turf for a long time. The naturalist turned the turtle on it's back so we could see how it extended it's neck to right itself. The naturalist kept talking to us and repeating certain words but with the language barrier we weren't understanding very much at all. We felt honored to get his attention though and we could tell he was having fun showing the turtle to us. After that we went to an art museum for lunch.We ate Italian food on a veranda overlooking the ocean. We stopped at a grocery store to pick up some food for supper. Shopping for food without being able to read the labels is very difficult. We wanted tofu. They had 15 kinds of tofu sitting there but we could not tell which ones were soft, firm or extra firm. We decided to buy two kinds and figure it out when we got home. Turns out the one with the black label is firmer. The scariest thing we saw all day was a giant spider crab. This crab had legs over a yard in length. I am sure if I was snorkeling in the ocean and came upon one of those giant spider crabs I would high tail it back into the boat.