Safari Land and Akiyoshido Caves

Joe and I went on a little day trip through Information, Tours, & Travel (ITT) on base. I don't use their services nearly enough, but they are wonderfully helpful, bilingual employees. We've looked to ITT to find dog-friendly ryokans - Japanese B&Bs and to make restaurant reservations. 

For our trip to northern Yamaguchi prefecture, we went on an organized trip. I normally would rather travel alone to allow for more spontaneity and fewer crying babies, but being able to just hop on a bus and doze off takes away an extra headache and is much cheaper. Win-win!

Our first stop were the prehistoric caves. These reminded me of the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky! I wonder if my sister and cousins (Mike and Jimmy) remember that trip? Great memories. Anyway, here is a quick glimpse of what we were able to capture:

Entering the unknown underground world....

Obviously Japan gives you informational sideboards with kawaii cavemen.

Stalagmites, Stalagtites.

"Goddess of Mercy"

Scary!

The cave's claim to fame: the largest limestone deposit ever discovered. Woop-de-doo!

I thought the middle one looked like garlic cloves packaged together.

These caves were once underwater and were coral reefs. The lines you see are from jelly fish climbing up and down and eroding the limestone.

"The Thousand Rice Fields": Do you like how we tried to include the signs so we could remember the names?

Shaped like Mt. Fuji

Cavewoman Heather

Just some underground rapids, NBD.

We made it out alive! It was really cool to see this cathedral-esque opening after being in a cave all day.

We made a quick stop to take in the limestone fields on top of the caves. This is a "quasi-national park".

More of the quasi-national park.

The end of Akiyoshido Caves and Quasi-National Park.

After this stop, we got to see the animals! Check out my post about Safari Land coming up soon.