Displaced Beachbums

I was apprehensive about going to Dolphins Pacific. I’ve been known to cry at zoos because I feel such empathy for the caged and trapped animals. And forget about going to a circus.

I was worried the dolphins would be in a small pool and unhappy. When I lived in Lanai, Hawaii , the dolphins would swim at Manele Bay and, although I couldn’t touch them, they would swim closely under me as I snorkeled. I really enjoyed swimming knowing they were free to swim anywhere and chose to swim with me.

Thankfully, the whole Dolphins Pacific program was exceptional. It originally started as a dolphin rescue by the son of the Sony founder. They started allowing guests 5 years ago. Our guide, Billy, was so informative and he was obviously very concerned with the welfare of the dolphins. We were given very strict instructions on what to wear and how to act so as not to scare or disturb the dolphin. One guest wouldn’t comply and they simply told her she wouldn’t be allowed to swim with them. I’m glad they don’t make exceptions. Since we were the only English speaking guests there at the time, we pretty much had the pool to ourselves. There was one other Korean man in the pool with us. We were very impressed that Billy easily switched from English to Korean to Japanese. Because it’s a Japanese owned establishment, most of the employees spoke Japanese. Everyone was so helpful and friendly.

The dolphin enclosure is in the Rock Islands and a part of the ocean. They were in a very natural environment. Besides the sectioned off areas, there was a large enclosed lagoon where the dolphins could swim & interact.

We were in the pool with two dolphins and were able to pet them as much as we wanted. They feel a lot like an eggplant. We were all able to do one individual swim (by hanging on to the dorsal fin) with Echo. My big fear was hurting the fin.  As you can see below, FG had no problem hanging on:

I couldn’t get over how GENTLE the dolphins were with us. I could have spent the whole day just hanging out with them.

As we were leaving, FG said she she’d love to have a “summer” job there in about 10 years. I have to agree that would be a fun place to work.

With the VP of Palau and his wife

Before we departed for Palau, a colleague of FM’s at the University of Guam, Y, suggested that he meet with the President of the Palau Community College. So, he made a call and gave the phone to FM. The person on the other end made arrangements for dinner on Saturday. When FM got off the phone, the conversation went like this:

Y: “OK, you will have dinner with the Vice President.”
FM: “Oh, that was the Vice President of the college?”
Y: “No, that was the Vice President of Palau.”

Turns out the Vice President is a Retired Lieutenant Colonel from the US Army. I, unfortunately, couldn’t make it to the dinner since we’d neglected to get a sitter lined up (lesson learned for next time) and FG fell asleep at about 7:00 pm

FM really enjoyed dinner with the VP and his wife which made me even more disappointed that I missed out on good conversation and good food.

The next evening, we were scheduled to leave for the airport at midnight to catch a 2:30 am flight back to Guam. I decided FG and I would nap between 7-10:30 pm so we wouldn’t be completely ‘out of it’ when we got to the airport. Due to our non-stop weekend, neither of us had trouble falling asleep. FM chose to go out of the room so he could read, have a beer and a cigar. The phone rang at 7:30 and it was the VP looking for FM. He had some papers he wanted to give him. Unfortunately, I had no idea where FM was reading but I suggested he look somewhere close to the bar. About 20 minutes later, the man at the Front Desk called and said “uh, well, Mrs. P., uhm, the VP is looking for your husband.” I could tell he was trying to figure out why in the world the VP would want to meet with FM.

Anyway, I told him I REALLY didn’t know where he was but that he was somewhere on the resort grounds and to look where there is a light to read.

FM told me later he went to the restroom and while he was in there, he heard someone yelling “John!” 🙂 Too funny. They finally met up!

FM was very impressed with the Vice President’s ideas for Palau. He seems very dedicated to his country.

On Day 2, we caught an 8:30 am boat from the hotel dock and went out for a full day of exploring & snorkeling throughout the Rock Islands. Our first stop was called “The Milky Way” and was lots of fun for both young and old. When we arrived at the marine lake, you could see the milkyness of the water. Everyone on our boat (16 guests) jumped in, dived to the bottom and got big scoops of this white goop. Supposedly, it’s great for making your skin feel and look younger. One older Korean couple on our boat managed to put the stuff everywhere on their bodies. FM and I kept it to our faces and FG would only apply it to her arms. It’s a very happy place to be and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves.

The white stuff is actually Chilton poop ~ it feels a lot like really watery clay. It sticks to your face and feels very cool. The chiltons, which are rock clinging marine mollusk, are responsible for the mushroom shapes of the Rock Islands. They gnaw incessantly at the limestone base until the island looks like a mushroom with a lot of foliage.

Next stop was Jellyfish Lake. I was so looking forward to swimming with millions of stingless jellyfish. We were told not to wear fins for fear of hurting the delicate jellyfish. So, we hiked up the hill, then back down the hill and came to the lake. It’s a beautiful setting for a lake but we found the jellyfish were in the middle of the lake. It was quite a swim out to reach the majority of the jellyfish. We all got in and swam a little ways out. FM kept going but FG was starting to panic. I don’t blame her ~ the lake was murky and visibility was low. She decided she wanted to go back to the dock. Once we were on the dock, she decided to try again, so off we went toward the middle of the lake. She wouldn’t put her head into the water since she didn’t want to see the jellyfish. I got out far enough to see a few of the jellyfish but had to turn back again once FG decided she’d had enough.

We hung out on the dock and waited for our group to return. FM came back first and offered to stay with FG while I swam out to the middle of the lake but I was too exhausted from swimming twice half way out without fins. I was happy with the few jellyfish that I did see.            

It was a wonderful way to spend the morning. Once we got back to the boat, we were off to find the “Giant Clams” ~ and  I’m talking GIANT ones. It was really great to see them up close.  This time FG was OK with snorkeling above them.

After a yummy lunch on a somewhat deserted shore ~ just us and a ton of Taiwanese tourists ~ we headed off to the south of the Rock Islands to an area called the Big Drop-off. This time, FG stayed on the boat due to a strong current area. The boat captain dropped us off at one spot, we let the current carry us further south and then the boat picked us up at the end of our snorkel. We were in the water for about 45 minutes and saw SO many fish, a sea turtle and a shark! I can only imagine what wonders the divers are able to see. I could have spent the whole day at this one spot. It was spectacular.

Our last snorkel stop for the day was at a place they call The Cemetery. I don’t know why and didn’t ask. 😉  I was tired of snorkeling but FG and FM went in for a quick snorkel. Soon after they got in I heard our guide yell ” SEA SNAKE” ~ hmm, not something I really wanted to hear. Another guide, Chad, jumped in a caught the snake. Mind you, these snakes are poisonous. He had a firm grip on it and brought it back to the boat for me to see. It was a beautiful snake with black and silver bands. I was so shocked I didn’t even think to grab the camera. When he let the snake go, it swam towards a snorkeler. I thought for sure we were going to have an emergency evacuation but before the snake got to the snorkeler, it went under and headed to the bottom.  Whew!

It was a fun, exciting and tiring day. Once again, FG fell asleep before 8 pm. I ended up staying with her in the room while FM went to dinner with the Vice President of Palau and his wife. More on that story tomorrow…

Storyboard from Palau 

Although it was difficult to choose, we decided on a turtle shaped Storyboard which was carved by a prisoner at the Koror Jail in Palau. The Storyboard is carved ironwood and is finished with black/brown shoe polish which causes it to shine and retain the true shades of the wood.  Some say the quality of the workmanship is not as good as a professional artisan but I liked the fact that those in jail learn a craft and are able to make money for when they are released from jail. FM bargained a bit (I’m SO bad at bargaining) so we felt we got a good deal on the storyboard. The money goes directly to the carver. I’m thinking the jail probably takes a cut of the revenue but don’t know for sure.  We don’t know the story of the carver (prisoner) but the legend on our storyboard goes something like this:

The Discovery of the Egg-Laying Cycle of the Turtle
Though the shell of the turtle is prized in Palau, in ancient times the people of Palau did not know how to catch the turtle. Or know much about it.

There was once a youth of Peleliu Island and a maiden of Ngerkebesang Island who fell in love. As the distance between the two islands is very great, the couple decided to meet on Ngemelis island, which lies between the two. As they had promised, they met on Ngemelis on the night of the new moon and, far into the night, they talked of plans for their future.

When the girl awoke the next morning, she found that her back skirt had disappeared, and though the two of them searched the whole island, they could find no trace of it. However, beside the spot where she had been sleeping, they could see footprints made by a sea turtle. Finally, the girl had to gather leaves from coconut palms for another skirt and, having made the skirt, she said goodbye to her lover and promised to meet again on the island at the full moon.

The youth was waiting on the appointed evening when the girl arrived and ran to embrace her. They were sitting on the beach talking when they saw a turtle crawling toward them, and they could see that something was entangled in its flipper. They looked more closely. It was dragging with it the skirt that the girl had lost on the night of the previous new moon. They learned by this that the Palauan sea turtle space their egg laying about 15 days apart.

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.

Our bags are packed and we’ll be catching the night flight to Palau. On this trip, I’ll attempt to blog during my vacation but I’m not making any promises since we’re already booked with kayaking and snorkeling tours as well as a “Dolphin Encounter” adventure.  Forget the relaxing vacation ~ we want to see everything we can!

In case you missed the Survivor: Palau season (which is when I first heard of Palau), here are some quick facts:

• Palau is located in the North Pacific Ocean (SE of the Philippines)
• The area is slightly larger than 2.5 times the size of Washington DC
• The coastline is approximately 1,519 Km
• The population is 20,303
• Official language: Palauan but English is spoken everywhere
• Palau was the first nation to release an Elvis Stamp
• Currency is U.S. dollars
• It is one of the youngest nations of the world. After three decades under the U.S., it became the Republic of Palau in 1994
• Palau consists of about 340 islands across 400 miles of the Pacific

In one of the travel articles, I read the best place to buy a Palauan Storyboard (local legends carved into teak-wood) is at the Koror’s jail prison. The article called it the world’s most unusual art gallery. Might have to give it a try (or at least send FM to check it out).