The day dawned with a chill in the air, albeit very sunny, as Ellie, Ann and I were greeted by our driver and guide and headed out for our tour of Kagoshima. We boarded a ferry at the Dolphin Port heading to Sakurajima Island to view Sakura-jima mountain one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Unfortunately restrictions are in place so we could only get as close as an observation tower. On a previous visit during the World Voyage in 2010 the volcano was very active, but today she was quiet. Returning by ferry we made our way to Senganen Gardens, a 50,000sqm garden originally built as a private villa in 1658. This traditional Japanese-style garden overlooks Sakura-Jim a and Kinko Bay and was once owned by the ruling family of Kagoshima. It is a beautiful garden and provided lots of photo opportunities. We spent over an hour wandering through the gardens, enjoying the beautiful landscaping, made a stop at stores on our way out to pick up a few souvenirs. I was very pleased with the gardens as some of my favorite gardens are Japanese. Our last stop was the Shiroyama Observatory which overlooked the city and provided great views so we were able to capture beautiful pictures of the city and the Sakura-Jima mountain, the highlight of the day….. We had a great send off by the Kagoshima Fire Department band…. Fabulous day! This is a two part blog, this is part 1.
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