A Wildflower Morning

While we were here in the southern part of the island we saw this cute little chapel by the road.  Not sure why it is there but it appears to be on private property.  Maybe for people to stop and pray for a moment.  Isn't it nice they didn't put doors on it. Our next stop was Agfayan Bay.  There is a little parking spot right at the head of the bay, and you can see that it is a long ways out to the mouth and the reef.  Guam doesn't have any Grizzlies, but at the mouth of the bay is the famous Bear Rock.  I think it really does resemble a bear sitting out there on guard. The very high tide washed in some little blue Jellyfish.  I have personal experience with these.  They are quite small, but they can sting.  I got some light stings at Brook and Patty's beach in 2017, and in 2013 one got me good at Ant Atoll in Pohnpei.  They are small but mighty, and I'm glad I wasn't out in the water where they were floating around....

The first time Rob and I came to Guam with our kids, back in 2013, Brook and Patty showed us one of their favorite beaches on the south end of Guam.  It isn't on any map. You can only know you are there by certain guard rail and colvert. You walk just a little ways and find yourself in a quiet bay, inside the reef, all by yourself. It seems that the tide was coming in, and it was still the weekend of the very high tides, right after the full moon.  Things were fine when we arrived.  Rob set our chairs up in the shade, out on the sandy beach.  I could tell the tide had been high, but I figured that was earlier in the day.  I started looking around for shells, and Rob sat down to relax.  All of a sudden, a sneaker wave came up higher than ever before.  Rob was suddenly sitting in several inches of water, and my backpack that was beside the chair was starting to float.  Rob lifted his leather shoes so they didn't get wet, and ...

When we drove around the island of Guam, our next stop was Fort Soledad, overlooking Umatic Bay.  There were actually several Spanish forts in the area.  It was built around 1802, and was used until 1815. Wikipedia says it was the fourth of four fortifications that protected an anchorage for galleons  (sailing ships)  transitioning  between Acapulco, Mexico and the Philippines. The route that fell out of use in 1815 with Mexican independence. Enjoy a view of the bay where the ships used to anchor. Hibiscus grow really well on the island in a variety of colors and shapes. The rock in the distance pointing up out of the water is where creation is supposed to have happened in ancient Chamorro lore.

Monday was President's Day, and Rob had the day off from work.  I'm so glad because I wasn't feeling sick at all.  We decided to drive around the southern half of the island.  Last time we tried to do this, it was a very raining day, but today the weather was perfect, sunny and warm with fluffy white clouds. Our first stop was Umatac, an interesting village full of history.  In the local language, it is spelled Humatak.  Ferdinand Magellan and his sailors brought first European contact to the island in 1521.  It is thought they landed in Umatac Bay, but I just learned in further reading that the site is disputed, and might have been further north.  I wish I could say that this is a good story, but it leaves me very disturbed.  There was thievery, fighting, killing and burning of the settlement, not so different from stories of first visits in other places around the world.  It wasn't mentioned in the article, but I'm guessing that the...