Sunabe BaBa Park (aka Dolphin Park)

I had heard many wonderful things about this park and was anxious to check it out with O.  We got invited to a play date there and simply could not refuse.

Although I liked the park, I felt it was more geared towards elementary and up children rather than toddlers.  It had a lot of elements that O could enjoy such as tunnels, climbing nets, and the world's slowest roller slide of decent length (It picks up a lot more speed if you bust out the plastic seats/cardboard though).  In between these toddler friendly elements, however, are non-toddler friendly elements like bridges where each boards moves on it's own.  So you'll definitely want to supervise your little tyke on the big play structure.


There was also a nice little merry-go-round that you peddle in a circle... although we ended up just pushing the horses cause it was easier.  And they have an awesome slide with cut-out rock climbing stairs and 3 varieties of slides to go down.  O also liked to play peek-a-boo in the bottom of this structure which is hollowed out with windows.

They had a nice little pavillion area for picnics as well as a huge open area for running and throwing/kicking things with friends.  We didn't really leave the playground area, so I'm not sure what the rest of the park contained.  There was a wooden ramp that looked like it may lead to a pier or something similar.

I plan on checking this park out again when O is a little older and may get more out of it.  But definitely worth checking out.

To get here:

Take a right out of Kadena Gate 1 onto 58.  Turn left at the first light.  Go all the way down until you hit the junk yard.  Make a left.  3 or 4 side streets down you'll see a sign for BaBa Park.  Turn right and park at the baseball field.  The park is just across the street.

PAC Wall (aka: The Determined Fisherman Trail)

This weekend I decided to drag my husband out of the house (lately he's been all "I'm tired, I don't wanna do anything!") and join this awesome new group I found on Meetup.com .  The Weekend Adventure Group.

We metup at the Hansen USO and joined a caravan to go way up to the Northern part of the island.  We somehow missed that the site was so far away or I never would have gotten my husband to go along.  Dont get me wrong, he likes to get out and do stuff once you get him out and this type of outing is right up his alley.  He ended up having a fantastic time.  We all did.  :D

We took 329 N to 331 to 70.  About 1 1/2 hours North of Hansen, we finally reached our destinations.

We stopped at Aha Dam to meet up with those who were going to be late or come on their own.  The dam was massive and had a great view of the rivers paths coming in.  It was a gorgeous stop and looked to be like a great place to do some family water recreation and hiking.  We may end up going back up just to tour the area a little more.

From here we headed just down the road to the PAC Wall trail.  It was something like 2 roads down on the right-hand side.  Here's a description from the Okinawan Mountaineers Club about the trail:


The description is misleading.  We had about 70 people go on this hike and many had to face some serious fears of heights, narrow-trails on uncomfortable ledges and rock-climbing with hand-ropes.  A few even had to turn back because of physical limitations.  This was a tough route and in no way a medium hike. You'll need some upper body strength and good shoes.  Also be aware that the red clay NEVER washes out of your clothes.  So wear clothing that you don't mind getting dirty.

The scenery is absolutely fantastic though and the terrain and vegetation varied.  Their are hand ropes scattered along the trail in particularly slippery, steep and/or tricky spots.  There are also several rope routes to take down the rock cliff.  We had O along with us and I'm not gonna lie, if daddy hadn't been there to take her down the cliff, we would've turned around and went back up cause momma was all worried about the safety of her harness and potentially falling out.  But daddy was confident she'd be fine and heeded my request to put her on his front side so I wouldn't freak out.

Back to ropes... The blue rope will take you all the way down but has barely any foot holds and takes you straight through the brush.  I took took the thin white rope which is frequently knotted to help with grip and takes you half-way down a nice rocky-path and then switches you to the thicker white rope to finish up.

Be aware that a few of the larger rocks are loose and may give way when you step on them.  Always make sure your footing is secure before continuing up or down the cliff.  We had one head-sized rock come loose and almost take out another members head on our way back up.  So just be mindful of your surroundings at all times.  Once you reach the bottom, you'll find the hike was well worth all your effort.  You can walk around freely on the cliff side and take in the surrounding views.

Personally, by the time we drove up there and hiked down we were starving.  I was so glad I packed a picnic lunch cause we only saw like 3 of those tiny, hand written, wooden cafe signs on the way up and like 1 gas station.  It was lovely eating our honey turkey, baguettes and cheese on the cliff side.

A couple of our companions found a place you could easily climb down into the water.  DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS WHEN YOU GO.  They are this week's special edition of the safety brief.  It was easy getting in but not getting out.  We had quite the rescue mission going on and blood was shed in the form of some lovely scrapped up arms and legs.  I have no doubt they were stopping at the hospital later to make sure nothing got infected.

Quote of the day: "Blood was shed but none were lost!"


After we got back up the trail, the rest of the group headed down the road to Aha Falls.  This little family headed back home cause we were exhausted and it was rounding bedtime fast.  It was a fantastic day with some great memories and new friends.  Can't wait to join this group on more of their adventures!

Cape Manzamo

After our slightly disappointing trip to Kenmin-no-Mori, we headed South on 58 to go back home.  I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to go to Cape Manzamo when I saw a sign for it.  It's one of those places on the island that you hear how awesome it is and see all these beautiful pictures of it, so I'd been meaning to go there for a while.

We pulled into the parking lot to find it flanked by two long tents full of shops selling clothing and trinkets.  There was even a little stand selling those Japanese street balls that are kinda like giant flavored donuts only not as sweet.  We bought some and the gentleman running it gave O a pretty hibiscus flower clip for her hair since it was hanging in her eyes.  We thanked him and continued on our way to the Cape.

We only stayed long enough to go around the top circular path.  O was more excited about her donuts than the view.  Once she got one in her stomach though, she was everywhere pointing and laughing like she does when she's excited.

She really enjoyed watching the waves crash against the elephant shaped cliff side and then playing with the rocks at the other end of the cape.  Leave it to a toddler to spend 20 minutes lining rocks up in a row and then throwing them into the ocean for fun.  Can't say I didn't enjoy it myself, I just wouldn't have thought to do it anymore.

We both would've liked to explore some more, but O was getting a nice sun burn and I wanted to get her inside.  Too bad, we'll just have to go back to see some more of the terrain and check out the shops.