I've been rather silent on this voyage as I don't want to spend much on internet and Doug has signed up for the internet to keep me informed of the world at large. Now that the trip is midway along, I'll sign up and share our experiences.

First of all, the fellow passenger company, service and food has been delightful. Full stop here. This cruise was supposed to be the Japanese Galapagos and Doug and I expected all sorts of interesting creatures, geological formations and unique Japanese cultures. What we learned is that some expedition cruising is a bit of a trophy cruise, perhaps best for those with time and money to burn who have tired of the usual places to visit. The ports are often untouched by much civilization or tourism. While this is lovely, it can be because there isn't much to see or do. We did not do our homework, had never been to Japan and thought these remote Japanese islands quite alluring.

9/19.Our first day was a travel day. Mitch, Bert, Doug and I hired a private car to show us the sights around Sapporo.the first stop was a chocolate factory and the guide suggested 3 hours there. We quickly corrected him to one hour. There are lots of chocolate shops around Sapporo and it appears the Japanese have quite a sweet tooth. One never would have know this from the boring desserts in our Japanese restaurants back home in the US. It really was a nice hour and we enjoyed the white chocolate filled cookies we each got as souvenirs. We stopped in the tea room and enjoyed coffee, white chocolate hot chocolate and a white chocolate cake filled with whipped cream and topped with fresh berries. We then drove through the countryside and went to a whiskey factory. Not the most exciting tour, but ample tastings, if scotch is your "thing." I was able to tolerate an apple whiskey, but the rest tasted like turpentine to me. However, Mitch thought the whiskeys were quite good and bought a bottle to bring home. Our guide dropped us off at at sushi restaurant and we were all served a dish of a smelly, slimy substance which only Doug was brave enough to eat... I mean, taste. His face said it all and the other 3 of us withered from this delicacy, which we later learned was squid guts. Yum. This should have been the first indication that this trip would be unique, strange and not too thrilling. The next exciting event turned out to be that the driver couldn't find the ship. He drove round and round and finally stopped for directions. We go on board just before the life boat drill.

At the briefing, we learned where we were going and where we were and how this trip would enlighten us. What dummies we had been. For those who don't know, Japan is comprised of 4 main islands. We started out in the northernmost island, Haikkado, in Oturo and were heading directly south. Tokyo was on the next island, Honshu,, but this island wasn't on our itinerary. We learned that Japan is an archipelago of about 1000 islands in addition to the main 4 and, of the rest, only 9 were inhabited. We'd visit 5 of these islands before hitting Taipan, Titian and Guam.

We only did a drive by in Oturo, but it looked rather charming, a city built on herring fishing which is now a skiing destination. As you may remember, Sapporo hosted the Olympics and is also a ski resort.

The exciting part of our adventure was to see a vast amount of biodiversity as we moved from subarctic to tropical climates and was likened to the Galapagos. We would experience bio or zoa diversity with both Laura and fauna differing greatly with regards by patterns of diversity. The mountainous geography (80%) has prevented wildlife species from crossing from island to island. This was called the Blackstone line. The seas were rough and only a handful made it to dinner.

9/20. Our first stop was Hakodate. We were first taken to a park where we engaged in a death march to enjoy a pretty sea view. Then, we went to another park to walk around an algae covered pond and enjoy squid ice cream, should we have decided to indulge. Our last stop offered rather pretty views of the harbor from Mt. Hakodate. The night view is supposed to be one of the three most beautiful sights in the world, along with Hong Kong and Naples, but, alas, we were there is full daylight. We learned that the island had tough times, enduring a great fire in the 30's and was the target of a couple of bombing raids in WWII. NoT a terribly exciting day, but this was just the start. It ended with some local entertainment doing the squid dance for us. Ah, the squid....so many interesting items from this revered fish.The weather was fine.

9/21. Day 2 brought us a sea day and we passed over the Mariana Trench, one of the deepest parts of the world's oceans. The trench is part of the sea floor closest to the center of the earth. It was a good day to read a book, play cards and win at trivia. The weather was fine.

9/22. Day 3 brought us time in volcanic Miyake-Jima which was only 20 mikes wide.it is supposed to be home to unusually rich flora and fauna. We had the choice to do the bird watching tour or the island tour. We all chose the island tour. We didn't see much exciting in the way of flora or fauna, but did visit multiple sites of volcanic eruptions. Former schools, now destroyed, were covered in lava. This island, home to an active volcano, has had eruptions in 1940. 1983 and 2000. The island was completely evacuated for the next 4 years due to noxious gasses, with folks only returning in 2005. We ended the day looking at the sunset under the clouds of sulfuric acid floating out of the volcano.

9/23. Day 4 was to be exciting. We had a full day planned on the island of Hachijo-Jima, with a nice sounding lunch, more volcanic sitings, a botanic garden and a beach. Once a spot for convicts, especially repeat criminals and murderers, it was to be reformulated as a prime, resort local, since its volcano was only a grade C. During WWII, this island was considered to be a strategic point and was the base for Kaiten suicide subs. After the war, the hover meant made attempts to make it the "Hawaii of Japan" but never quite succeeded. Nevertheless, we were told that tourism is the main component of the economy. We were informed that two landing sites were too rough for our zodiacs but there was a pier we should be able to use. After a fair amount of time passed, we were informed that the fisherman's union would not let us use their pier. More time passed as our on board Japanese travel agents tried to negotiate something for us. We were turned away. No wonder they have deserted resort hotels! So, we turned back to sea and moved towards our next port. Another day at sea. We still had nice weather. If our misfortune wasn't enough, we met with more bad news at the briefing. A dangerous cyclone was directly in our path and we would divert for our safety. There would be 4 more sea days and very rough seas beginning the next night. So no Torishima...no short tailed albatross....thank goodness, Jerry, our very own LCT rock star, serenaded us in the evening.

9/24. Day 5. No Torishima. We sped along, playing more trivia, cards, and looking at brown boobies diving for flying fish. Many napped or read. Another day at sea, but at least more nice weather. We got some good news. The storm had veered a bit east and the captain would stop at Chichi-Jima and spend an overnight there.The ship had quickly arranged an evening tour for us but kitchen and tour weren't in synch and, for the lucky 30 who secured seats on the busses, we only had one hour to wolf our food down. The locals arranged entertainment of drumming and our very own Pat Bittle was selected to receive a lovely floral necklace, headdress and bouquet.

Only Linda, Helen, Doug and I ventured out on this excursion. The weather was warm but no longer nice...a bit rainy...and we headed out to see the interesting night creatures. First stop...fruit bats. The bus dropped us off to a dark parking lot and we also got an added bonus of seeing three frogs. We were told that there were 150 large.. Think raccoon sized bats... In the area we would be looking. In the dark, with infrared lights, we managed to kinda see a couple of bats hanging upside down. Next off to see the large green turtles. No turtles, but we saw where they laid their eggs and watched a fairly large hermit crab and ghost crab walk on the beach. Next, we were to see the infamous green glowing mushrooms. I think we all imagined standing in fields of phosphorescent mushrooms having a type of psychedelic experience. All lights were turned off and we groped one another until our eyes became accustomed to the darkness. We stared at the darkness for awhile, until Linda noticed something mildly glowing down an embankment. Down the guide went and retrieved a bamboo log with about 5 itsy bitsy mushrooms the size do course grains of salt. The lights went out and the log glowed a bit. So much for the evening excitement.

9/25. We awoke on day 6 to gorgeous weather. The island was small but beautiful, with turquoise waters and coral beaches. Some of us went swimming, took nature hikes, town tours or bus tours. This island was discovered by folks from Massachusetts and later Mathew Perry. Its claim to fame is that it is the island where the Japanese shot down George Bush Sr's plane during the war. He was lucky to be rescued as some of his fellow colleagues met with cannibalism in the hands of Japanese soldiers who ate their livers. The US had control of the islan from after the war until 1968, when we returned it to the Japanese. We sadly had to board the ship at noon to spend another 21/2 days at sea. We did get a sail by at Haha-Jima, the southernmost city in Japan. So much for Japan.


We are making an arc around the storm for the next two days. These days at sea are getting a bit tiresome, with the staff doing their best with talks on Amelia airhardt, algae, plankton, colossa squid, rocks, birds, kimonos and food.

Oh, well, there are good movies on TV. Cards. Good books. Brown boobies. Flying fish. Good friends. Jerry, our singer. Pray for good weather at our next stop. Please.