car rental- island sightseeing

We rented a car and are getting a chance to see more this week.  The car that Budget delivered-a Hyundai Tucson in beige.

It may sound crazy, but it made me feel strangely happy to have the same car we drive at home, it was like seeing an old friend.  

The island loop is about 40 miles. The speed limit is 40 or less, (though locals drive it faster) so it takes a couple hours to go the full route.The road was built and paid for by the U.S. and is well made, except for 2 places where there are detours due to cave in. Rainfall is channeled off the road down culverts. I guess the road has only been here for less than 10 years. Gas is over $5 a gallon here.

The scenery is lushly green throughout. There are miles &  miles where giant Boston ferns spill from the sides of the road where the road has been carved through. Some areas appear to be wild, and some are cultivated. Colorful and floral plants have been planted along many spots. There are also some swampy mandrake areas. In more than a couple places, if your vehicle left the road, the car would be buried in a ravine of dense foliage, and they'd never find you.  The island's shoreline is visible in places, but for the most part you see foliage.

At nearly the halfway point of the drive, we took a 7 mile turn off to the North Beach cottages. E tells me this is where the survivor people stayed for a week after getting booted off the island.  It was a beautiful area. The grounds are nicely landscaped. There is an open air covered restaurant where you can get a meal. We had tempura veggies and I had a salad with grilled fish. There were 3 little one pounder kitties lying about on the cool tiles, grooming themselves.  There was a nice breeze wafting in, and I could smell the ocean.

  After lunch we went down to the shoreline and sat on benches under a canopy of foliage, drinking in the view of the waves breaking where the deep water spills out onto a large shallow area of shoreline, the tide was out and the wind was steady. It was wonderful just to sit and look out over the sea and the clouds. Two of the kitties came down to the shaded area to join me on the bench.  We'll definitely go back there again this week, next time with a book.

Last night we had dinner at a restaurant called Kramers. It is dockside in an area where large shipping vessels come and go and the dive boats pass through. We sat on their second floor patio, overlooking the sea. I had grilled fish on a foccacia roll. I guess locals hang out at the bar there, we were there early in the evening, and had the place to ourselves for most of the time.

we had been going online from an internet cafe last week, although there is wi fi at the motel, it isn't free. At first it was offered at $10 a day, but E worked out a "deal" to get wi fi for $100 for the rest of our stay, so he took it. I had a hard time with connectivity last night, hopefully my messages post today. E is much happier to have the connectivity from our room, and our own laptop.

I will miss the chocolate ice cream cones at the internet cafe. They were a splendid evening treat.

maybe some pictures in upcoming posts

as the tide turns

Friday, things went better.

We went out for our 2nd time with Fish & Fins snorkeling.

The first stop required a backward roll off the side of the boat, something I'd never done before. I did it, but it was disorienting... not my favorite way to get into the water. The site had both a shallow side and a very deep drop off, and the current carried us along the edge between the two zones.  I was having trouble with my new mask fogging up, with snot just streaming out of my sinuses, and fighting the desire to rub my eyes... but despite these problems, I managed to see some fish & coral, including a handful of trigger fish, who thankfully weren't guarding nests.

At our second spot, dive master Clint, showed us to an area where two cuttlefish were guarding nests on a coral head. They blended in so well with the coral, I don't know how he ever found them. They were about the size of a human head and I could see their tentacles shimmering beneath them. I wasn't able to see their unusual eye though. E and I had swapped out masks, so that he could deal with all the fogging and I could concentrate on seeing fish.

The third site, called the New Drop Off, the divers went down and the snorkelers stayed shallow. It was here that I saw my first shark. A black tip reef shark- patroling his area. He circled around to check us out a couple times, but as he kept his teeth all covered up, he didn't appear threatening in the least.

We also snorkeled on the beach where we lunched, as the rest of the group went to jellyfish lake, and I have no desire to snorkel with them. I saw a turtle, and giant clams here. There were over 100 of the clams in an area between 2 buoys, they were being farmed there. They don't "do" anything except sit on the bottom, so you're just kind of noting the siphon and the green algae that lines the area between the two shells, and the various sizes of them. There is a second variety that was embedded in the coral. These were smaller and had purple between the two shells.

There were many colors of gobi fish guarding their holes. I spent a good 5 minutes watching the little shrimp use his claws like a bobcat and push out scoops of sand from inside the hole. Then he took and piece of shell and worked it over, tidying it up and placed it- carefully, it seemed- just outside the hole.

humidity is getting to me

I'm having a hard time with even the minimal walking around we're doing. The humidity is getting to me.  The temps run around 85 degrees, but with 85% humidity and the breezes are rare. You really have to be in peak physical fitness to enjoy it here... and being 20 years younger would also help..

 

We started the day with breakfast at the Rock Island Cafe. This place seems to be a favorite for locals and visitors. Decent meals, good prices and an old fashioned diner kind of ambience.

 

Then we walked a short but exhausting walk over to the Palauan Visitor Center and perused the materials in their little lobby. There were 2 chairs there, so we sat down for about 20 minutes to look at books. Then we went to a dollar store. I bought a couple things I thought would come in handy over the next month. 

 

Then we walked back.  A car stopped long enough at the side of the road for the guy inside to wave E over and pan handle him for $20!

I think E was caught off guard and gave him the money. The whole friendly American thing...

Left me with a bad feeling. It's impossible to blend into the milieu here, we stand out ripe for the picking...

 

Alternatively our room feels like both a retreat and a prison..  it is clean, and cool and spacious enough. But it's weird to be on an island and not be able to see or walk to the water's edge.

 

not a happy camper tonight.  Tomorrow we go out on a boat with snorkelers from Guam. I'm hoping they're more approachable than the Frenchies were. 

 

 

 

 

 

without being "on" ... all the gushing about "paradise" is taking a toll on me.   

Edward is lucky to be alive

The morning started with a nice breakfast overlooking the beautiful panorama that we would be losing as we gave up our hillside cabin for an in town economy dig. After breakfast I ducked back inside to lay down again and fell back asleep, but not for long... E was frantic, for he discovered his wallet was missing. He had it the night prior when we paid the cab and he was fairly certain he had set it on the cubby in the room.. but after turning things inside out and searching all the bags, he decided to walk the path from our cabin back to the office to see if it had fallen out of his pocket.

 

Now, all the maids who had been bringing breakfast to our room were asked if they had seen it and the office manager even tried calling the cab driver.

The wallet had $1,200 in it, so we were worried, and then I noticed that the credit card was missing from my wallet, which hadn't left the room since we checked in...  we checked out of the cabin and got a ride into town and went to our DW motel, where we left our bags, and as the room was not ready yet, we decided to walk into town to get a phone card to report the credit card missing.  But on the walk, in the blazing sun, I was feeling like I wasn't going to make it and we stopped and were arguing with each other when, from across the street a voice calls out, "can I help you?"

 

It was a young Palauan who is in the US Army who was home on leave because his dad had died and he offered to drive us up to the phone company where we were going to get a calling card to call the bank. He was so polite and worried about us, and it just broke my heart to hear that he'd lost his dad at age 51 to a tumor...  anyway... the tears just began to well up and make their way down my face... we left him -exchanging kind words and assuring him we'd be okay. I think some of the tears I was crying were for him, since he was trying to be strong...

 

After calling the bank, we headed across the street to the police station, as Mastercard asked us to file a police report... and we did and went with two officers back to the hotel where pictures were taken and staff were asked questions... then the police dropped us back at our hotel... all of this took a couple hours...

 

back in the room, E starts to unpack and don't you know, he finds his wallet in the laptop case. Somehow, since it was black, he missed seeing it. I told him to call the police and tell them there was going to be a homicide...   calls had to be made back to the hotel and now I feel so bad for the maids, who bore the unspoken suspicions, since they were the only ones who had access to the room. My credit card hasn't been found, but it's possible that it got lost on the flight, when I paid for some earbuds to watch the inflight monitor.

 

I was just drained from the whole experience.   Anyway the DW seems like it will be just great, even though there is no view. We have a burner, like the one they use to heat up your soup tableside at the Thai Cafe. And a mini fridge and the room is a good size with storage for clothes and luggage. 

A short walking distance away is the Rock Island Cafe, and I'm sure we'll be frequent customers there.

 

I was restored to harmony with their ice tea and a bowl of soup and a plate of sashimi. First time I ever had it, it was good. (Raw yellowfin tuna)

We rested until sundown and then walked a short ways to a convenience store for some peanut butter & jelly, some bread and an umbrella (rain or shine, a must have item here)

first snorkel day

It is around 8pm on Tuesday here in Palau. Today we took it easy at the cabin/bungalow, as we both had sunburned faces from going out on the boat the day prior. Tomorrow we will be changing to the budget motel. We had dinner at Suryothai restaurant...I have to report that the Thai food was not as good as in Arizona... then the very slow walk up the hill past assorted stores and massage parlors to the Internet cafe.
 The connection speed is slow here, but we have more time than last time to compose a message. yeah!

E had arranged for us to go out on the dive boat on Monday. There were 6 French divers on the boat (didn't interact with us at all)

though they could understand English, as the dive briefing was in English... oh well... the friendliness of people is highly varied, and not at all what I expected based on how E always describes people here.

We made a stop to snorkel while the divers went into a cave. The site was along a sheer  rock wall with foliage hanging into the water from the island, and it was early in the day and shaded there.

Getting into the water from the boat's ladder was comical- thank goodness for the captain who held me in place while I fastened my fins on... oh to be much slimmer.

There wasn't much to see in the way of fish. I followed a 6 inch parrotfish juvenile around for awhile. There were varieties of coral, though I have to say that coral doesn't really do anything for me. E made a feather duster worm retract into its tube for me, by nearly touching it.

We asked to be dropped off at the beach of an island called Babelomekang  (bay bell o mi kong) then the boat left to take the divers to a site called Blue Corner.  This island has picnic tables and an outhouse on it, as many groups take their lunch there. When we arrived there wasn't anyone around, but then about 5 boatloads of Japanese divers came. We didn't notice them at first, since we had walked down the beach to dive in the area shaded by more overhanging trees (yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me) 

We were only in about knee deep water but E became excited by the GOBI fish.  There were hundreds of little mounds with holes in the sand- each about a foot apart, and parked in each little garage was a cute little striped fish,  half in- half out of his hole... looking like something from a Dr. Seuss book.  E. informed me that they live in symbiosis with a blind shrimp companion who dis the holes in exchange for the Gobi's lookout protection. Outside each little mound is a small pile of broken bits of coral that seem to be arranged in a pile and not just scattered about.

E. noticed his "dome" was getting burned, so he wanted to get out...but  before exiting the water I managed to find a lone snail, possibly/likely a dangerous cone snail in the water where we were. E was incredulous, as he had never seen one, and couldn't believe I managed to find one on the first day.   I kept my hands to myself, checking the urge to pick up the attractively patterened shell.   (Touch the spindle, TOUCH THE SPINDLE*)

*an aside for those who aren't my coffee klatsch friends reading this... "touch the spindle" refers to the scene in Sleeping Beauty when the evil witch coaxes Aurora to prick her finger and fall into the 100 year sleep/spell.  I have somewhat jokingly referred to accidentally touching dangerous animals on this trip as my fate... (biting my tongue as I type this.)

Coffee klatschers, you would have appreciated the struggle I had with the lycra spandex, getting into the dive skin. I was feeling compressed to the max and decided to "go commando" as Edward says... I went up to the outhouse, removed the swim suit and put the dive skin onto my au natural self.  E was trying to check out whether there was any "camel toe" action, but it isn't THAT form-fitting...

We had lunch on the beach when the boat with the French divers returned, and before we were done, there was a downpour. We headed back in the rain, which cleared before we got back to the dive shop. 

we've arrived; detailed email later

It felt a bit like the twilight zone by the end of the traveling day... I thought I might be boarding planes and flying the rest of my life...  bedraggled after 30 hours of travel we're here.

It is Sunday evening at 9pm as I write this. We had a delicious dinner at "the Taj" earlier. Then a walk uphill after dinner- ugh- literally moving at a snail's pace... the air is humid post a short bit of rain and the air is not moving at all. Kind of sticky.  Lucky to find an internet cafe open, the first two we passed were closed, and quite happy to have the A/C in here, that would be worth the price alone, 75 cents to use the computer for half an hour.

The smell of the air... that was what Daniel said he liked about Palau. At the airport it smells like jet fuel mixed with tropical forest. Not a hint of ocean smell in the air.
On the 20 minute drive from the airport, the air smelled of damp basement/mildew-ish... kind of like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland/

 Inside our little tropical cabin (with air conditioning) it smells like the inside of a cigar box. ( I like that smell)  At breakfast this morning, on the little porch in front of our cabin, overlooking a sweeping panorramic view of hilled countryside with abundant emerald green foliage of a huge biodiversit, it smelt of an undertone of rotting vegetation smell layered with a fragrant hint of tuberose or some sweet smelling flower over. 

Practicing the whole blogging thing

one week out from departure...

Today I took myself over the Sanrio outlet store. I hadn't been there
in about 5 years, but sitting at the kitchen table the other day, I
began to get a burning desire to go there. I was using a shin-kansen
pencil. The shin-kansen is the bullet train. I have a couple of those
pencils and they're very attractive, silvery and blue... and I
thought I'd like a few more... back ups...

plus I had seen an email ad for a tote bag that had Hello Kitty,
where some of the proceeds went to the Japanese disaster fund, and I
wanted one of those... and I thought they might have an awesome
pencil case, just the thing for my trip...

...and I was up early today, so I headed out on all my errands...

heading into the mall, the toe edge of my sandal caught a lip of
sidewalk and sent me into a staggering fall. It was one of those slow
motion things, where you know you're going to fall, and powerless to
stop it... and then I was on the ground with people asking me if I
was okay.

I was okay but my knee and shoulder (not my hands) took the brunt of
the fall and over the course of the day, the stiffness and pain have
set in. It hurts to raise my arm.

Anyway, the trip to Sanrio was futile. no totes, no shinkansen
pencils, no cute "must-have" pencil boxes... the only thing that
appealed to me was a gold kitty luggage tag, with charms- but I
didn't think TSA would appreciate it. The prices since I've last
looked at Sanrio items have definitely gone up.

On the move to Micronesia

Preparing to bring you with me to the country of Palau. Objective
one, set up a blog: task can now be checked off my "to do" list.