Cruise The World With Us 2026

Thursday – March 19, 2026 – Ishigaki, Okinawa

Today’s featured photo shows a water buffalo pulling a cart. We rode in a cart like that as we traveled to Yubu Island for lunch today.

Ishigaki is the first of the 4 ports we will visit in Japan. We have not been to this area of the world before and don’t know what to expect – it will certainly be a new experience! Ishigaki is part of the group of islands identified as the Okinawa prefecture. Today we will spend our time at Irimote-Ishigaki National Park. To get there we boarded a ferry and in around 30 minutes we arrived at the park. Our visit to the park was to include a cruise on the Nakama River and a cart ride to Yubu Island.

The pilot of our river ferry did not speak English – probably only Japanese. For the river ride there was a prerecorded description of what we would be viewing. The section we traveled was a part of the largest grove of mangrove trees in Japan. As we moved up the river we saw several people enjoying the sights via kayak. We also saw the mangrove trees in various states of growth – infant, juvenile and adult. We had our first encounter with the rice paper butterfly along the river and several types of birds (that I can’t identify). One tree was pointed out as being over 100 years old (didn’t look a day over 89 to me). After around 30 minutes we turned around and began our trip back to the dock. Along the way we noticed there were floats in the water. The recorded description told us they were markers for fishermen who had left traps or cages in the water (there is a photo of a float in the gallery).

We did not return to the dock from which we left – we stopped at another dock at the side of the river near a parking lot that contained a bus. All exited the boat and boarded the bus for a short ride to the spot where we would board a cart pulled by a water buffalo to take us to Yubu Island.

I had not seen a water buffalo up close – they are quite large! The water buffalos at Yubu Island were bred from the first pair brought to the area and all work as cart engines to move people to and from the island. At present, there are 43 buffalo who entertain by pulling those carts. The carts hold a dozen people and are boarded 1 at a time. We were fortunate to get seats near the front so we could watch both the driver and the animal. Midway through the 15-minute ride our driver took out her sanshin and sang a song for us. The buffalo did not sing along – I was disappointed about that.

We walked a short distance to the restaurant and found a table so we could eat lunch. The lunch was a buffet of “typical” Japanese food. There are a couple photos of us with the food we chose. The soup is like we have received at teppanyaki restaurants (clear broth with scallions and mushrooms). In addition to that I chose pickled cabbage, bean sprout salad, noodles, pork pieces, sausage, chicken and tempura fish.

Following lunch we explored the hibiscus garden and the butterfly enclosure (though it was not well enclosed). You’ll find plenty of photos of both flowers and butterflies. Wish we could provide the names for all of them for you.

After a trip to the gift shop (and adding to our t-shirt collections) we walked back to the loading area and boarded our cart to return to the bus. We had a different driver and water buffalo than on the trip to the island. However, the ride was similar – plop, plop, plop, plop goes the buffalo and the driver played his sanshin. At the parking lot we boarded our bus and rode back to the dock for the ferry ride back to Ishigaki. During the ride, our guide – Matt – told us about life on Ishigaki. He also played the sanshin and sang for us.   

Here you can view today’s photos.