Touring with Andy

While I was at work last week, Andy had my car and toured around town. He went to the three local museums, the National Museum, the Aquarium, and the Eptison. While they are not large museums, the paint a pretty good picture of Palau's culture and oceans. He also took the time to do some shopping. Storyboards are the big collectible, and one of the best places to buy them is the jail. The prisoners make them and the prison has a small room where the guards sell them and the prison shares the profits with the prisoners. Andy bought himself a turtle shaped dark wood storyboard that was very pretty. He later went back and bartered a great deal for some small wood bais to give to family members. Andy also went to a local tailor and had three Hawaiian style shirts made. They may be called Hawaiian, but they are very popular here.

While I was at work, Dave took Andy out fishing. Andy got the fishing bug and was eager to get out again. They went trolling on the east side. Dave caught three grouper, the first two he released but he kept the last one which was large. LB said it was very tasty. Andy caught a small mackerel that they kept. He also had a huge grouper on the line that he fought with for some time. As he reeled it in, a shark got to it first and took a big bite out of it. When Andy reeled it in, all that was left was the head. The big ones got away from Andy, but he caught a fish and had a great time.

Andy and I went kayaking with Christy after work. Andy has done his fair share of canoeing, but had not kayaked before. It was an absolutely beautiful late afternoon with little wind and the water like glass, making for excellent kayaking conditions. We headed out from Sam's and Andy got a feel for his kayak without tipping. We explored some of the nearby coves, including Jellyfish Cove. I kept pointing out jellyfish to Andy, but he kept missing seeing them until the end. Once he saw one, he began seeing the others. We continued along until the sun was preparing to set. We turned around and headed back to Sam's in the waning light. Andy really enjoyed kayaking. Afterwards, we had tropical drinks at PPR and later joined the Kregenows at a new Japanese restaurant for dinner.

Andy, Christy, and I toured Babeldaob, a trip similar to the one I had taken my last visitors on. We went up the west side and our first stop was Ngardmau Falls. It was a beautifully sunny day that made the hike very pretty but a little hot. We made it to the pool area and took a dip in the natural pools. After that we took the muddy path, but low rain the previous week had made it less muddy than normal. We arrived at the falls and once again had the place to ourselves. Andy went exploring while I snapped some pictures. Andy really enjoyed being able to stand under the falls and the water pressure of the cascading water. On our hike back, instead of taking the muddy trail we walked in the small stream back to the pools area. The water was low enough it was very manageable. After leaving the falls, we headed up and around the island and down to Melekeok. We ate lunch on the picturesque picnic tables at the Capitol. We walked around the Capitol a little bit before driving down to the village. We took the short hike up to the Melekeok Bai and took a few pictures. After that we headed home and took a dip in my pool. For dinner, we went to the Penthouse Hotel and had parrotfish cooked in oil and salt. Andy enjoyed eating the fish off the bone and found it very tasty.

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