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Published: November 23rd 2007
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Waking up to another beautiful sunny day in Kagoshima I pondered on doing a trip to Mt. Sakurajima for some hiking. However, save for the fact of going there, there wasn't really anything to focus my interest on. There is a viewpoint where you can supposedly get a better look at the crater which spews out smoke pretty much daily, but due to security zones it didn't really sound that promising. Instead I decided to go in the opposite direction, to scale the hills west of town to take advantage of the clear skies and take some good tourist-style snaps of the city and the volcano. Then there was the fact that I still couldn't get the images from yesterday's visit to the aquarium out of my head and I knew I would have to go back there again. The plan was simple, arrive around five pm, when the entrance closes. Then there will be an hour almost alone with the fishes. Like your very own little part of the ocean.
The best place to get a good look of Mt. Sakurajima and the city is from the
Shiroyama observation point located in Shiroyama-cho park just west of the city
A tram passes Takami-baba
Kagoshima trams run on a flat rate of 160 yen per trip. center. On my way there I encountered a local resident on his way to climb the hill so we joined for a walk while he gave me lots of insights into the history of Kagoshima and her local hero, warlord
Saigo Takamori. His life was most colourful and without going into too much detail for travelblog purposes I'll simply state that he became involved as the leader of
Satsuma Rebellion in 1877, and held his last stand here at Shiroyama. I could see that my newfound friend held a deep respect for Takamori and he took me on a little excursion around the neighbourhood to point out some further landmarks related to Takamori's life and death here in Kagoshima.
Although Mt. Sakurajima was not producing any smoke today the scenery was truly beautiful. The sky was very clear and my friend told me that I was very fortunate to have arrived on this day. Several ridges and mountains usually lost in the haze or obscured by clouds could now be seen, including my very own favourite
Mt. Kaimonseki all the way down on the southern tip of Kyushu Island. Had I had one more day in Kagoshima I would have
headed out there early in the morning. Alas, it will have to be saved for a future trip. As we parted ways it was late in the afternoon and it was starting to get really cold. A few leaves cracked under my feet as they came floating down the street. I made haste to arrive at the aquarium before five pm and then spent the last hour seeing my aquatic aquaintances. I also met a woman over at the aquarium who shared my interest and we held a somewhat broken conversation on our respective experiences of fish. Now, if I could only find out who produced that amazing ambient loop in the showroom.
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Figment
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I recognize these guys...
The 5th fish pictured (orange/white stripes) is a Clown Fish. The 10th fish pictured (blue with gold/yellowish tail) is a Regal Blue Tang Fish As always, another great photo set!