Yesterday's Morning, Afternoon and Evening In Taiji

Yesterday morning went to check the Cove with the" Eyes on Taiji" organization....They have been very helpful to me here...last year, I was having to take taxis which are expensive! Today we are at the tenth day of no boats going out looking for dolphin families to kill!

A path leading to a vantage point over the Ocean

This is the vantage point from which we can see dolphins being driven into the Cove

Yesterday, went for a long bike ride to a surf spot. Must remind myself often when crossing the street that the cars drive on the opposite side of the road here. The surf spot was flat...so decided to slip into my wetsuit and go for a quick dip into the freezing ocean.

Then biked over to the harbour where the tuna factory is....passed by all these fishermen...among them I recognized one of the dolphin killers who had been assigned to stick with me last year while the slaughter was happening. He was standing there with other fishermen laughing and chatting about me. Wonder if he remembered me from last year, if so, he was probably entertaining them by mentioning how like a Ninja, I was moving from bush to bush, trying to hide up on the cliff that overlooks the Cove....not realizing that they were watching my every move in a camouflaged shed......believe, he is one of the few who can speak English.

On a lighter note, mentioned the Onsen which is in a cave at a hotel to the "Eyes On Taiji" organization.  After dinner, they decided that they would like to check it out; so led them to the harbour where we waited to catch a boat to the hotel. Had to laugh a little at their uncertainty about my leadership.  As we waited in the dark for the boat, I pointed out across the water as to which hotel we were heading for. Have only gone to this Onsen Hotel during the day..so it looked a little different at night with all the hotels lite up in the distance. However;  assured them that the boat would take us to the right one. When the boat arrived, we all jumped aboard...mentioned this was a different boat and that I preferred the other one. On docking...we all jumped out....then told everyone to jump back on!   It was the wrong hotel!  The Captain did not speak English, but when we said "Onsen" he motioned that the hotel had an Onsen. It was their first Onsen experience...and after we bought our tickets we were given the tiniest towels!  More like face cloths! We then went our separate ways (men and women separate) and i was left laughing thinking about their looks of apprehension.

View of the Harbour with Dolphin pens in the distance