Amazing Day in Palau

A pod of dolphins greeted the divers at blue corner.

Lion Fish

Two types of Anemonies with Two types of Clown Fish

More Fish

Napoleon Wrasse

Sleeping White Tip Shark

Grey Reef Shark in Blue Water

Pacific Black Fin Barracuda

Lunch on Long Beach

Manta at German Channel

Also seen, but no pix...A Grey Reef Shark getting its teeth cleaned by Cleaner Wrasses. Yes the little "dental hygienist" wrasses swim into the sharks mouth to pick out bits of food. The shark comes to the cleaning station and lets them work on his teeth! Amazing!

tropical depression= rain and more rain

The last few days, the weather satellite image has shown a large cloud mass over the pacific area where we are... something about "a tropical depression"  anyway, there was a solid day when the sun didn't come out and it rained pretty nearly all day. Under what would normally be a bright noon time sky, it looked like dusk. There was lightning and thunder galore....  God was bowling a lot of strikes. Except to walk to dinner, I hadn't done anything since the hike to the waterfall last Thursday, so E decided to rent a car today (Tuesday) and get me out.

E is waiting for a better forecast for diving.

The worst part of the residual "motion-of-the-ocean" has passed.  We decided to take a drive back to the North Beach Cottages, stopping to have lunch at the internet cafe in Melekeok.  I had E stop at the grocery on the way out of Koror to get some cat food to take to all my little feline friends. They were appreciative. 

I brought along my pens, journal and book... but I think I only wrote one word. It's enough truly, just to sit and absorb the serenity and majesty of the ocean and sky.

It's too bad that on this vacation, the ocean viewing is more the exception than the rule... for whatever reason, the populated/ downtown section of this nation is on a strip of land that has no view of the ocean. 

good chance of rain tomorrow... the frogs are all croaking..

 ... apparently the roosters don't seem to do their morning screetching if the sun isn't out... or maybe the rain drowns out their cockadoodle doo's... which start at 0430.

Internet Deli in Melekeok

Rain obscures the distant coastline

North Beach

Kayangel

After the hike to the waterfall, I was actually feeling an increase in the out-in-the-boat up & down motion, so when E suggested the day trip to the far northern island of Kayangel, I told him to go ahead without me, because I was hoping the feeling would pass. (It was ridiculous, I had to lean against the wall in the shower and hold onto the table while making a cup of soup.)

He seems to have a personal "need" to have made a footprint/ seen every island and I believe Angaur is the only one at this point he still hasn't been. The trip involved a ride to a pier in the northern most peninsula on Babledaob and boarding a boat there. E felt right at home in Kayangel, as the boat docked near the JFK school- built in 1964 by the Peace Corps. He saw at least one child wearing a t shirt with an American flag on it. (This kind of thing always warms his heart.)  Kayangel is a beach beauty spot.

Part of the trip involved fishing for their lunch. Although he didn't catch anything, he mentioned eating a trigger fish.. and was happy about that. Normally he doesn't eat fish, but uber-fresh fish is an exception.  He mentioned jumping off a 20 ft. pier, after the Japanese guide, Osaka san, did so, (and shouting "Bonzai!" after asking them if it was okay with them for him to do so.)  Part of the day trip also included snorkeling, (and dive BS-- he told the guide he had seen 5 hammerhead sharks..)

  The only part of the whole trip that had me feeling jealous, was his description of meeting one of the 138 residents of the island, a man named Lazarus (biblical names figure prominently here) who kept some fruit bats as pets. Lazarus served the small group (4 Japanese, 1 American, and 1 Palauan) coconut drinks. I would have liked to have seen/ possibly petted the fruit bats. Alternatively, E calls them flying foxes, so I really must google them for more information.

His pictures were compromised by some fog inside the watertight camera housing.. the camera is 6 megapixels, but it is basically just a point and shoot camera, and some of the conditions really seem to call for more elaborate camera settings.

Kayangel Atoll

Aerial from Free Wallpaper.Com

Pix from my visit to Kayangel. Joyce didn't go for fear of more "Ocean Motion".

Rainbow over Babeldaob on our return.

Hike to Ngardmau Falls

Yesterday we rented a car and went to the waterfall in Ngardmau . This time E went with a Japanese car rental & insurance and saved quite a bit of money over the Budget rental... but he had to drive a right sided driver Toyota minivan.
It was a bit strange, though we've been riding in taxis and other vehicles that also have the right sided driver. (The roads are like the U.S.) The only significant amount of traffic is the 2 mile stretch of downtown, which can be quite hairy given the conditions and absence of traffic signals, but beyond the downtown area, traffic drops off considerably.

It took awhile - suspecting at first that the speedometer was broken- to figure out that it was in km/hr and not mph and then E adjusted his speed to be faster.

E. has been mentally steeling me for how arduous the climb out of the falls is, and I wasn't looking forward to that part of the experience at all, but there I was making my descent yesterday... down the roughly hewn steps cut into the jungle hillside. The earthy smell and dappled lighting for most of the hike down was enjoyable, even as we were starting to be sweaty from the exertion of carefully placed steps.

They are nearing the completion of an engineering project at the falls that will allow hikers to take a zip line across the canyon canopy for a speedy trip to the bottom of the falls, and to take a gas powered chair conveyance on a single rail line back up to the top. This is scheduled to be finished sometime in June. It will certainly bring more visitors (dollars) to their waterfall attraction, but I think I may be glad I was among the last of the hikers enjoying the serene beauty of the place with few other people. The ladies who take the entrance fee ($10) told me there were 27 visitors there yesterday. We were the last ones to climb out.

Even before arriving at the base of the falls, there are flowing stream areas that are a welcome respite where you can get wet and cool down, sampling some of what's to come. Carefully placed footsteps over wet black rock and smushy muddy areas of trail make it a bit precarious in places. We were wearing our snorkel booties, sans fins for the hike- a good choice of footgear, as they have rubberized bottom and can get wet.

Ferns and mosses are everywhere, especially at the bottom. At the base of the falls, the water hits the rocky floor and forms a misty cloud, and the sound of the water running everywhere is so rejuvenating. I sat in the knee deep water staring into the waterfall for a good hour. Then I sat under it, in a place where the water flow wasn't thundering down.

Along with construction of the zip lines and the rail conveyance, they have added some umbrella seating on a deck and a thatched hut which will probably sell refreshments once it is finished. I only wish they had selected a more harmonious color scheme for their refreshment area, (browns and greens that blended in,) rather than the reds & blue that stand out in this beauty spot. I hope the peaceful harmony of the falls won't be lost when it is inundated with tourists.

Climbing out was okay for the part where the river was, savoring the last chance to immerse in the water of a catch basin that formed pools... but all too soon you have to deal with the uphill part, a serious bear of a climb. The seat of my khaki shorts can attest to the numerous times I had to"sit a spell" (and they may never be clean again, so staining is the ochre colored clay mud soil)