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posted: September 30th, 2009 |
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This page begins with September 6th and takes you through September 13th. You'll see a visit to the Nippara area and the Nippara Limestone Cave, a butterfly and Jindai Botanical Garden. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin September 6th |
On September 6th Kazuya and I took an Okutama Holiday Special Train from Mitaka to Okutama and then we took a bus from Okutama Station to Higashi Nippara. These first 3 shots are of Inamura Rock, a prominent sight when you go to Higashi Nippara. We last visited this area in August 2007. You can see additional photos of this area HERE in rows 2 and 3.
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Here are 2 more shots of Inamura Rock and a shot of a different rock. This area is SO STEEP and amazing. It's hard to believe that you are still in Tokyo when you are out here! We walked from the bus stop to the Nippara Limestone Cave, about a 30 minute walk.
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The first shot here is another rock. The 2nd shot is the entrance to the Nippara Limestone Cave. The entry fee is 600 Yen. The 3rd shot is of the entry "hallway". It's so nice to come in here from outdoors. Outdoors it is hot and miserable in August, about 30 degrees Centigrade. Then, inside the cave it is 10 degrees C.
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The first photo here is a natural shelf where they have placed a light. You can see that even this small fluorescent light has caused some greenery to actually grow here. The 2nd shot is the "big room". In this light it's hard for you to get a good idea of the size of this room, but if you study this photo a while you can see how small the people are and start to get an idea of the size. The 3rd shot is a macro-photo of a small piece of the cave wall at this location. Again, I remind you that we visited this cave in August 2007 and you can see additional photos inside the cave HERE in rows 4 through 7.
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The first shot here is a shot taken from the "bottom" of the "big room". In the 2nd shot we are ascending the opposite side of the "big room". The 3rd shot is in a different room and shows you the folding and layering of the rock here.
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Here is a bit of a different angle than the previous photo, but the same area. The 2nd shot shows the lengths to which they must go to protect the natural formations from the public here in Japan. The 3rd shot is what is behind the fence you see in the previous shot - an area of stalagmites. People would love to break these off and take them home. Although there is water dripping everywhere inside of this cave there are only stalagmites and stalactites in small areas, apparently the dripping water doesn't have the correct concentrations of limestone to create stalactites and stalagmites. I'm not a geologist - this is just an assumption as to why there are not more ceiling and floor phenomena than there are.
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The first shot here shows a nice stalagmite. The 2nd shot shows an unusual formation which we saw along one wall - why is it here, what is it composed of? I have no idea. The 3rd shot shows some interesting stalactites.
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Here are 2 photos of ceiling phenomena and a shot of some interesting floor phenomena.
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Here is a rather large stalagmite, an area of thin stalagmites on a shelf which we are looking up at and an area where the coating on the rock was snow white. You can see further back that the white coating stops, WHY? What is this mineral anyway? Why is it only here in such profusion? And, that's the end of this adventure into the Nippara Limestone Cave.
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| End September 6th, Begin September 9th |
We keep having these ugly worms on our porch violets. We never took photos of the caterpillars - they are too ugly, but you can find a photo HERE. This one caterpillar made its cocoon in a conspicuous place and the other day when I was sitting on the porch I saw the butterfly sitting on the cocoon drying itself. The first and 3rd shots show the butterfly while it was drying itself. The center shot shows it after it dried out and flew away. It lit for a few seconds on the violets and then it was gone - it didn't stay long enough to get a good photo of it. After seeing the photos I took, Kazuya was able to identify it as Argyreus hyperbius.
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| End September 9th, Begin September 13th |
On Sunday, September 13th, Kazuya and I want to Jindai Botanical Garden - the Botanical Garden near our house. Not much was in bloom at this time. The Pampas Grass is becoming exceptionally beautiful. Here is a picture of the large clump of very white colored Pampas Grass and a shot of a smaller clump which has reddish colored seeds. No - this color difference is not just because the angle is different; the color is very different. The 3rd shot is a Lotus Blossom which has double petals. I was walking around to the other side of the Pampas Grass to take more photos and I came upon this flower; there was only one of these double-petaled flowers.
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And here are 2 shots of the white Pampas Grass from the opposite side - this is just about exactly 180 degrees different than the previous 2 shots.
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Here are 3 shots of 2 separate Cymbidium nipponicum orchids. This orchid is a saprophytic perennial and is an endangered species in Japan. We always feel fortunate to find this relatively rare orchid. It grows both inside and outside of Jindai Botanical Garden, but this is the only place we have ever seen it.
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| End September 13th, End Page 1 |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 2 for the continuation of this months adventures. Page 2 starts with September 19th - an incredible mountain climbing adventure |
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