Return to Angaur

In my continuing effort to enjoy my last few weeks in Palau, this past weekend I made a return trip to Angaur. I took the day off work on Friday and spent the morning packing and made my first trip to the Post Office to send boxes back home. At noon, I boarded the Angaur state boat for the slow trip down to the southernmost island. I met Phil and Carolyn for the trip down. Carolyn is doing a post-undergraduate fellowship studying the effect of climate change on Pacific Islanders. I had met here a few times previously during her tour of Palau and she was heading down to Angaur to spend a week researching.

The boat ride to Angaur was a smooth but slow trip down the east side. Phil and Carolyn dozed off, but I enjoyed watching the islands pass by. The trip took us right along the coast of Peleliu and it provided great views of the island. We stopped at the southern dock of Peleliu which used to be the military dock and off loaded a car. We left Peleliu and crossed the rough open water stretch between Peleliu and Angaur. It wasn't as rough as the last time, but there was a few good rolling waves.

We arrived in Angaur in the late afternoon and met Alanna, the Peace Corp volunteer living in Angaur. She is a teacher at the local school and living with a host family like Emily in Kayangel. This time around we needed other accommodations, so after talking with a few locals we rented Leon's Beach House for the weekend. I had stayed there back in May and it is a great house near the water and the village. Carolyn was staying elsewhere for the week, but after dropping off her things joined us at the beach house.

As it was nearing sunset, we went to a small nearby beach to going swimming. We chatted and swam around as the sun descended below the horizon. For dinner, Phil had brought fresh tuna for Alanna so she brought over the necessary supplies and cooked a tasty beer battered tuna at the beach house. After dinner, the four of us played card games until late into the night.