Hopefully this will be my final enty for the Palau Blog... The day after our last dive in Palau we spent the day at the Palau Pacific Resort just snorkeling on the private reef there, which was fantastic, I spotted a moray eel, and searched again for the octopus we had spotted a couple of days previously. Grae had developed a very sore ear infection which wasent helped by the doctor stabbing him in the ear with the instrument meant to inspect the infection. It bled quite alot and Grae was in alot of pain so he absolutley couldn't get his [View Full Entry]

---

---

During a conversation with Simon the Frenchman (Ed's flatmate), we talked about where to dive in asia. Simon had been an instructor in the area for several years. Philippines? ok. Thailand? very touristy. I mentioned our plans to fly to Palau and Simon's response was "don't quit diving after Palau, eh? You'll never think diving is good elsewhere again!!" With this in mind Lauren and Simon arrived at 1:30am on Saturday morning to a stifling hot airport (at least it didnt smell like vomit as in Manila) and were taken to a transfer hotel where they collapsed. Simon's impression was that [View Full Entry]

---

---

First, just a small note about my last entry on Tubbataha...I forgot to let you know that not only did I see a whaleshark, easily between 8 to 10 meters long cruising at 21 meters deep...but I had also two of the best night dives ever. Quite easy to understand when you see the amount of fish. But this time, you can imagine that in a single torch light, I had the chance to see at the same time a huge turtle, as well as 2 white tip sharks cruising just below the turtle...amazing! But let's go back to Palau... If [View Full Entry]

---

---

Wow Palau I am happy never to go to another country on holiday again, for me Palau was perfect. The islands are green and lush, the sea is crystal clear and teeming with life, the sky is a Turner what more could I ask for. Palau is about a two hour flight east of the Philippines, and has been occupied by the Americans and the Japanese at different points through history. Now the Islands are independant from America since 1994 (we were told, he didn't see too sure) although they still use the dollar most of the ties to America in [View Full Entry]

---

---

So I arranged a trip to palau. I was telling everyone I met. "I'm going to Palau". And they'd say "Cool... um... where's Palau?" and I'd say "Micronesia" and they'd say "Cool....um.... where's Micronesia?" - insert embarrassed tone and bashful expression here - And I'd say "Um....north". I didn't really, exactly know where it was either. Even now, after I've been there I have a little difficulty locating it on a world map. There. I admit it - insert embarrassed tone and bashful expression here. Worldly traveller indeed. But at least I don't think Micronesia is a fictional place made up [View Full Entry]

---

---

For Bryan's birthday, I decided to treat us to Palau. Apparently, if you live on Guam and have never been to Palau, people think you're weird. Part of it is because due to some ear thing I have, I can't ever dive, and I didn't think there was much left to do other than that. Lucky for me, I was enlightened by a couple of non-diver friends so I got to see a side of Palau very few people speak of. The hotel which would be our home for the weekend was the Palau Pacific Resort. I was a little nervous, [View Full Entry]

---

---

End of July and time for a trip to Palau to sort out some work stuff. I was also planning to take the opportunity to do a little more exploration around the island of Koror and hopefully some sea kayaking. But low and behold, the day before I was to set off for the 1.5 days of travel just to get to Palau from Fiji, I came down with the most horrible cold ever. My nose was, well, disgusting, and I had a very charming I-am-just-about-to-die cough. Great, I thought. But I was not deterred. I was going to Palau because [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello Everyone! I apologize for the lack of posting, the internet connection in Palau is super-spotty. So, on my last night in Palau, sitting on the beach, looking up at the Southern Cross, thinking about what an amazing, magical place this is. If you want to see the most pristine reefs, the most unusual wildlife, and eat the most unusual food, this is the place. The majority of this trip has been spent underwater seeing amazing sea life, including but not limited to: black tipped reef sharks, manta rays, crocodile fish, blennys, etc. I could go on and on, but [View Full Entry]

---

---

Alii to everyone from the nation of Palau, in Micronesia! I am sorry it's taken me so long to post, when I got off the twin prop plane in Palau, I felt a sharp pain in my neck and then everything went dark.... I awoke to find myself tied to a spit, with the palauans arguing about who was to light the fire under me. I realized I had been ambushed and hit with a blow dart in the neck, and brought to this strange spot for sacrifice. JK! Palau is unbelieveable. First of all, the Republic of Palau is [View Full Entry]

---

---

Let me explain the title. What was unexpected was finding this huge, brand new, pseudo-classical building up on the top of a hill in the middle of nowhere on the main island of Koror in Palau. This is the new government building, which has been designed so inefficiently from an energy view point that it is costing the government tens of thousands of US dollars a month to maintain! That's money they don't have...nevermind...you can't tell people how to spend their country's money... Enjoy the photos... What was pretty close to a paradise on earth was our visit to the Rock [View Full Entry]

---

---