We landed late in Palau so we couldn’t see much of the islands but as we walked to our room at the Palau Pacific Resort, I was in awe of the night sky. It was so dark and the stars so bright. And so many stars to see. Once we dropped off our luggage, we found a hammock to lay in and gazed at the stars for quite a while. I have no idea what constellations we were looking at but it was so relaxing and peaceful.
We started each morning having breakfast, at the same table, at the resort’s Coconut Terrace Restaurant. The food was wonderful and the view unbeatable. Not a bad way to start the day.
We spent the morning in Koror. First stop was at the Koror jail to look at the Storyboard Art Gallery. We arrived at the desk, told the officer we wanted to check out the gallery and we were told to wait just a moment. A few minutes later, a man came to take us into the gallery. There were so many storyboards and so many different types (some were turtles, dolphin, fish shapes) to look at:
We ended up spending more time in the gallery than I thought we would. I finally turned to our escort and said “Are we taking too much time?” He answered with “ME? I’ve got ALL the time in the world and no place to go ~ no need to hurry.” It was only then I realized he was one of the prisoners! I thought it was a guard that brought us to the gallery.
After our trip to town, we went back to the resort to meet our Sam’s Tour guide for our afternoon of Kayaking and snorkeling. It ended up being a private tour: just the three of us and the boat captain and our guide! It was an educational and fun afternoon. In the photo below, FG is in the front of the kayak and our guide, Joanne, is with her:
Our first snorkeling stop offered a huge variety of fish including the beautiful, elusive and awfully small Mandarin Fish. We kayaked around through the Rock Islands which are so beautiful. We had a picnic lunch on the boat, then it was back in the water. We ended up going to 3-4 more snorkeling sites and saw all sorts of marine life including gorgeous coral and giant clams. While kayaking, we saw a Black Tip Shark. That scared FG from wanting to snorkel again but we coaxed her back into the water only to encounter jellyfish…and I’m talking BIG jellyfish and the stinging kind. FG and I got out in time not to get too close to the jellyfish but as FM was getting back on the boat, one particular jellyfish was very intent on stinging him. When it was only 4 inches (really, four inches) from his back, the boat captain finally yelled for him to GET OUT of the water. FM hurled himself on the boat ~ fins and all. Thankfully, no one got stung. Not a close encounter we wish to repeat.
Sam’s Tours ended up being a fantastic choice. The guides and boat captains are almost all local Palauans or at least Micronesians. Joanne, our guide, was actually from Saipan and first went to Palau to work with the Survivor series back in 2004. It was fun to hear some of her stories. You can tell the people of Palau are very proud of their islands and they have every right to be… it’s beautiful, clean and enviromentally protected.
By the time we returned to the resort, FG was exhausted but we dragged her to dinner in downtown Koror anyway. Our dinner, at The Taj Indian restaurant, was fantastic! FM loves spicy food and ordered a hot dish. Several staff members and the owner of the restaurant came over to check on him and said his dish was the hottest on the menu and not many people can handle it. I’ve got one spicy guy, don’t I?
Poor FG fell asleep at the table and it was only 7:30. We went back to the hotel and we were all asleep by 8:30. The next day was going to start early and was scheduled to be a full day of snorkeling. We needed our rest.
[…] 13 February, 2009 by Patti Two years ago, we were spending the President’s Day weekend in Palau. From Guam, Palau is only a two hour flight and had we stayed longer than one year in Guam, I […]
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What a wonderful journey ! Those Mandarin Fish had to be really awesome ,what an experience ! But I’m happy I didn’t encounter those jelly fish 🙂 Snorkeling is beatiful in such an environment isnt it ?
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Good question, Heidi. I just posted a photo of the Storyboard we purchased. It was really hard to decide. There were at least 300 pieces for sale all ranging from $40 to $800. I like the fact that the prisoners will have a viable craft to support themselves when they get out of jail.
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I have been checking every day – so glad you posted. Love to see the beaches and palm trees. Keep that spicy guy away from the jelly fish!
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Did you buy anything from the prison? Or was it just a place to view . . . those are really neat . . . some talented criminals!
Oh, and it looks great . . . I still want to come visit!
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Now that is one place I would like to see ~ sounds wonderful.
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So much fun. At least you didn’t have to build your own dwelling…
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