Okinawa's Southeast Botanical Gardens ~A Lovely Outing ~One of the Highlights of my Trip

Okinawa is a tropical island, so it rains frequently in the spring.

You all know the saying "Make hay while the sun shines"?

So this morning was a perfect day for an outing.

Everywhere you go, you will be greeted by a couple of Shisa Dogs.

It is actually a cross between a lion and a dog,

from Okinawan mythology.

Homes and businesses display them in pairs,

the left shisa with a closed mouth, and the right one an open mouth.

The open mouth shisa wards off evil spirits, 

and the closed mouth shisa keeps good spirits in.

I considered bringing a pair home,

but they were breakable and heavy.

The dogs would have put the weight of my luggage over the limit.

The Botanical Gardens were lush and beautiful.

Sometimes it felt like we were in a rain forest.

And then, there was this guy.

He is a capybara, the largest living rodent in the world.

He seemed very friendly, and was quite agile,

as I watched him leap over a very large tortoise!

I thought the chickens looked skinny, by midwest standards.

Goat Island.

Need I say more?

There is something for everyone at the

Southeast Botanical Gardens.

I so enjoyed this day.

Thank you.

Take care,

~Natalie

Most of you know that I have 

been home for a couple of weeks now.

Since there isn't much blog-worthy going on here, 

I hope it is okay to show more photos from my trip.