Much of our outdoor fun on Iriomote island was centered around the Urauchi River. Lined with dense mangroves, this river is the longest river in Okinawa. According to Wikitravel, it is often likened to a little Amazon. Boat cruises, canoeing, and kayaking are all very popular on the Urauchi. If you take a boat upriver, it will let you off at a trail head at Gunkan-iwa Rock. From there, a pleasant 50 minute hike through the jungle will take you to the Kanbire Waterfalls, which translates as "the place where the gods dwell" in the local language. You will also hike pass lookout points with excellent views of the Mariyudu Waterfalls (left). I hate it when people sound like a tourbook on their blog, so I'll stop now.
Kanbire falls is really beautiful. Above the falls is a large pool with a limestone bed full of naturally occurring holes. They look just like hot tubs. Japanese people are terrified of exposing themselves to the elements, so the 3 foreigners there were the only people who got in the water. Come on naicha, why hike 50 minutes to beautiful waterfalls just to stand in the sun and sweat? Most of the Japanese were wearing big hats and lathering sunscreen all over their hands like there was no tomorrow (they do that because it's hip to have face and hand skin that's as white as possible). Some of the women were wearing completely bizarre and hiking-inappropriate garb. Stylish all black get-ups with long-sleeved netted tops and black gloves, for instance. Ugh. How happy I am to be me!We enjoyed the Urauchi so much that we went kayaking the next morning. This was my first time kayaking, and it was great fun!
