The weather forecast for our three nights in Kagoshima was rainy. There was a light rain when we arrived. But we still took the ferry to Sakurajima the next day. Sakurajima is the most active volcano in Japan and it erupts on a daily basis. Therefore Kagoshima is such a unique place where an active volcano and a city coexist. It was cloudy but we did see Sakurajima up close at Yunohira Observatory which is the closest public point to the volcano. I guess what I didn’t like about this trip was the amount of tourists. The Sakurajima Island View bus was so full that it was so uncomfortable. But the island was full of Camellias and Cherry Blossoms which was lovely.

However, when we left Sakurajima, the sun began shining. So we had a lovely time at Sengan-en Garden. It’s one of the most beautiful gardens I’ve ever been with Sakurajima in the background. There were lots of Cherry Blossoms and different kinds of flowers. It was just so pretty! We had Shirokuma, a kakigori with a bear face at the cafe and joined a stamp rally too. It was such a fun day!

But the highlight of the trip to Kagoshima was something that I didn’t know about and didn’t plan for. At the station, I saw a poster of a koala at Hirakawa Zoological Park. I didn’t know there was a zoo and I didn’t know that there are koalas. I always thought that I can only see koalas in Australia. But Hirakawa Zoo is one of the first zoos in Japan to breed koalas so I met around 20 of them. Even a baby one! It was my first time and suddenly, my life became complete! Although, it was raining and we missed the entrance gate resulting to a longer walk under our very wet umbrellas, we enjoyed the rainy day at the zoo. There was hardly anyone and we got to spend time with the animals by ourselves, especially the extremely cute red panda. It was the most perfect red panda I’ve ever seen!

After three nights in Kagoshima enjoying the sights, food and shopping, it was time for us to fly to Osaka…