Jungle Trekking

Photo Diary: 22nd Dec 2009. Last night I did something which I haven't done for over a year - I set my alarm clock for an early start. One of my friends, Mike, had invited us to join his 'Jungle Trekking' course which he's been running for the last 5 years or so on the island. This morning was beautifully sunny yet brisk; this week on Ishigaki temperatures dropped as low as 14 degrees, which is far cooler than most people who live on this island are accustomed to. Clearly my body has already become acclimatised to living in a semi-tropical climate as I found myself complaining about the cold on more than a few occasions.

 

By the time that Mike reached our flat he had already picked up a Japanese tourist and we headed up to a location towards the north of the island to begin the course. Mike, an ex US marine, has been living on the island for a few years now and his jungle trekking course has received quite a bit of media attention, having attracted Japanese TV crews and famous celebrities from across Japan.

 

During the first 30 minutes of the hike Mike guided us along a foliage-lined trail, stopping occasionally along the way to identify various tropical plants and wildlife. Apparently Okinawa's notorious 'habu' snake is frequently encountered along the trail during the warmer months, but they are rarely seen during the winter.

 

Even rarer are the wild boars which inhabit Ishigaki's mountainsides, but there was clear evidence of their presence in the form of footprints and disturbed ground where they had been searching for fallen acorns.

 

 

This is the part of the tour which I'd been looking forward to and it didn't disappoint, in fact I'd go as far as to say that it exceeded my expectations. Mike had equipped us with helmets and safety harnesses at the start of the course and one-by-one he attached us to a steel cable before sending us gliding through the jungle.

 

 

While the first run was pretty tame subsequent cables were longer, faster, and positioned over higher drops; high enough to make me realise that I was literally putting my life in Mike's hands as he controlled my speed via a secondary rope. Having said that, by the 4th run I felt completely confident and I began to focus my attention on the beautiful surroundings. The most impressive section for me was a rugged series of small waterfalls which we passed over towards the end of the course.

 

 

On the whole the trek turned out to be a great morning out and was definitely one of the better activities that I've tried on the island. It was great to get the opportunity to stray beyond the beaten path without the fear of getting lost and the zip lines added an extra element which maintained everybody's interest from start to finish.