With shadows beginning to stretch and daylight beginning to wane we realized that there wasn't a wholo lot of time left to do anything major so we elected to eye our road map and go to whatever looked interesting simply by its name.
We spotted "Ufuya - 100 Year-old House" and were more than a little curious so set out to locate it. Turned out to be not as easy a task as we had thought. Along the way though we came across this little attraction - "Okinawa Fruits Land". Why not? Let's stop.
The place is just a stone's throw from Nago Pineapple Park.
If I remember correctly we stopped here with hope of getting directions to Ufuya. We spoke with
one guy who wrote out two characters and told us to look for the sign displaying them.
Since we were feeling in a little bit of a rush to find Ufuya before dark we decided to
not spend a lot of time here at the Fruits Land. I think it might be worth the trip back up though during next year's trip.
Not far from Okinawa's "Pineapple Park" in Nago there's a lesser known theme park called "Okinawa Fruits Land". In its earlier days it was little more than a place where you could find potted plants and mimeographed explanations of the many fruits that are grown on Okinawa. In more recent years though it has had a facelift and is said to be a trip well worth making, especially with the kids who like fantasy and adventure.
Not only fruit trees on display, one of which is the world's largest fruit - the Jackfruit - there are areas to see varieties of birds and butterflies. Most birds are in cages but there are also parrots that are free to fly and roam just about anywhere they please.
If in need of nosh there's a cafe where you can get authentic Okinawan fare or ice cream and other treats for yourself and the little ones.
Educational kiosks are located throughout the park and the kids can get a stamp at each
kiosk when they answer questions relative to that kiosk's point of interest. There's also
a place where you can make brown sugar stuff.
Maybe it's not such a great place to visit if only adults are along but it could be fun.
I think it'll be worth a stop next time I'm in the area.
