TOURIST TIPS!

1) As of this writing, from the U.S. mainland, you fly on Continental/Continental Micronesia, or Northwest. From the East Coast, the route is Houston, Hawaii for refueling, then Guam. Coming home, it's Guam, Hawaii OR Tokyo, then Houston. You do NOT need a VISA for Tokyo if you are U.S resident or citizen. But keep double checking that, as things change all the time since 9/11!

2) Although Guam is a U.S. territory, a U.S. passport is required for U.S. citizens!! However, your luggage limit is 2 bags of 50 lbs. each!

3) Contact a Guam travel agent as well as stateside prices before booking flights. We were told that SOMETIMES they are cheaper in Guam. Also, sign up for FF Miles Club BEFORE booking tickets, as a trip to Guam gives you a lot of miles! If you don't travel often, that will STILL get you a LOT of free magazines or gifts! :-)

4) Contact the Guam Visitor's Bureau (GVB) for help, brochures etc. prior to booking anything! www.visitguam.org

5) Rent a car! Preferably an SUV for full access to Ritidian Beach and Gun Beach, as some of those access roads are washed out. Renting a vehicle gives you better access to the local culture. It's fun to EXPLORE Guam, on your own at your leisure!

6) Parking is free all over Guam - the hotel garages, places along the street etc. FREE PARKING! Who would have thunk!? But the lots are smaller than we are used to, and often full.

6a) Note that the roads are EXTREMELY slippery in Guam when it showers! Something to do with the ground coral mixed into the asphalt. BE CAREFUL. A local told me they get "soapy".

7) Take along fully enclosed water/surf shoes. You will use them a lot! Guam is protected by a coral reef. There is broken coral everywhere in the white sand. Coral will cut your feet, as it is sharp.

8) There is one licensed bed and breakfast on the island (Guam Garden Villa), which is where we stayed, and this gets you OUT of the tourist district on Tumon Bay and into the "lifestyle" of Guam. Contact GVB for more info.

9) Take along the strongest, most waterproof sunscreen you can find. I used a "stick" for my face because of the sweating. It didn't get into my eyes as easily.

10) Bring along a small flashlight, and maybe a small radio, and a battery powered "camp fan" (5" or so). "Crank" versions are ideal. Sometimes the power goes out for a bit for no good reason, so it is helpful to have these items. Get the kind that run on AA batteries. Easier to travel, and easier to buy extras on Guam, as they don't sell out as fast. Take your own batteries. They sell out at times and are VERY expensive on Guam. We saw 2 C's selling for in excess of $7!

10a) Going along with batteries, make sure you take a large USB flash drive, and plenty of your own CD/DVD's to burn your digital pictures to if you fill your media cards. (You can do this on the library computers) Guam abounds in fabulous photo opportunities, and we took in excess of 4,000 photos in 3 weeks. Computer media are HIGHLY expensive on Guam, a 1 gig flash drive setting you back over $50! ($15 at Staples stateside) Make sure you have an extra set of rechargeable batteries along also, for the above reasons. There are more photographers in the yellow pages than doctors, so plan that you will take MORE pictures than you are expecting!

11) Good sunglasses and a baseball cap or visor are a must in this bright sunlight. It is too windy for a floppy hat, although something with a VERY small 1" brim might stay on your head.

12) Think "polyester", and NOT "cotton". Cotton is too hot and holds sweat. Polyester is much more comfortable, cooler and dries quickly.

13) I took a light jacket along and in NO WAY needed it on Guam. Not even in the movie theatres, or out on a boat. Even if it would have rained, it would have been too hot to wear it.

14) Rainy season is from June through October/Nov. Dry season Dec. through May. We were there for "dry" season, which is the better time to visit, and the weather was gorgeous. A typhoon can blow up at any time of the year; however, they are rare, and more common during "rainy" season. The last one was 5 years ago, and even if they are calling for one, I was told that 90% of the time, they end up missing Guam at the last minute. See earlier posts! Guam is a small target, and apparently the typhoons meander around more than our "east coast hurricanes". I was told by a statesider living in Guam that, during the rainy season, it can rain 18 inches overnight, but the locals think this is nothing and just go about their business. They get 80" inches of rain, on average, between June and November. You do the math.

15) A local told me that December is usually nice, temperate weather, and not QUITE as hot. :-) May is the hottest/humid month. Around 100.

16) Power outages are usually very localized, hours not days, and are usually due to shortages or repair work at the power plant. Typhoons can create major outages, but big typhoons are rare.

17) Local library in Agana has great internet access (free). There are also multiple internet cafes for around $4 an hour, including one at the Agana Shopping Center. Get to either early in the AM, as they are packed by noon.

18) Prepaid landline phone cards for long-distance calls BACK to the states are cheap. $5 and $10. You can pick these up at any cell phone kiosk in the Agana Shopping Center or the Micronesia Mall. Rates vary from 2 cents to 4 cents to call back stateside, some cards with connection fees and some without! We liked the cards from Mpulse and Hafatel.

19) Prepaid cellular is pricey in Guam. I took my GSM/SIM carded T-mobile phone along, expecting to buy a new SIM card and have "local" rates. However, they are just getting started with this, so the COVERAGE WAS AWFUL, and the price exhorbitant! Only Hafatel and Guamcell offered GSM. We chose to eat out 3 extra times instead! Think $40 for a SIM with 20 min. on it, and 27 cents or more per minute. I pay 10 cents with T-mobile stateside.

19A) There are multiple vendors for cell, such as Hafatel, Guamcell, MPulse, and IT&E. We priced them all for prepaid, and it was just unaffordable for a 3-week vacation.

20) Guamcell has the best/excellent coverage! But you still need to buy a phone for @$100+, and they prefer to sell contracts. You CAN get a prepaid, but the phone will cost much higher than stateside.

21) There did not appear to be much available in regards to cell service that would travel seamlessly from stateside to Guam and back. My T-mobile worked great in Hawaii FYI!

22) For shoes, we took watershoes, a pair of sneakers (which we only wore a few times for hiking into the jungle to see old WWII cannons and such, and a pair of sturdy flip flops. People wear flip flops to weddings here.

23) No bug spray was needed during the dry season. I heard that you WOULD need it for the rainy season. No special shots etc. are needed.

24) Payless (not!) is the "chain" grocery store on the island.

25) Use local "water" shops for your bottled water needs. Get a gallon for 30 cents and then refill your portable water bottles. Take an empty portable water bottle along in your luggage to Guam.

26) "Ross" Department Store for needed clothing. This is a U.S. discount clothing chain. The one on Guam is nicer than the ones stateside, packed with Asian tourists buying clothes. The other two major clothing stores are Macy's, and K-mart. K-mart is by the airport. Macy's is in the Micronesia Mall. The Guam Outlet Mall is more "Asian" and there is not much similarity to the types of outlet centers we have stateside.

27) Our favorite restaurants - King's Restaurant (diner), next to Ross and the Guam Outlet Mall, had our favorite breakfasts. Denny's was good all the time, and the only "chain" we went to during our stay. It is "Chamorro-ized", which was interesting. Jan Z's at Agat Marina, right on the water, had excellent American lunches at a reasonable price. Great burgers and Fish n' Chips! Jeff's Pirate Cove bears visiting as well for lunch, with another excellent water location. Carmen's Mexican Restaurant makes an excellent soft chicken taco for dinner. We tried Shirley's Coffee House for breakfast, but preferred King's because it was slightly more Americanized. Shirley's seemed very popular, however, with a lot of cars ALWAYS in the parking lot. We found the resort hotel restaurants to be too pricey for us, often $40+ per plate for dinner. We found that the weather suppressed our appetite, so we did not eat out very often for dinner. You can eat 3 meals per day at our favorites listed above, for roughly $7 breakfast, $10-12 lunch, and around $15 for dinner, including beverage. Figure $25 - 30 per day per person to eat out. On restaurants with pricing from $6-15 stateside, figure around $2.00 or so extra per meal on Guam. It's costs a bit more to bring this stuff to the island.

28) It doesn't pay to shop for cheap gas on Guam. It's regulated to remain the same price at all stations, Mobil or Shell, even in the event of a storm. Gas was about 30 to 40 cents more per gallon than here in PA.

29) K-mart sells Hawaiian shirts made in Hawaii, Muu Muus, and other authentic island garb and Guam souvenirs at a FRACTION of the cost of the local tourist traps and ABC souvenir shops!!! Get those postcards and gifts/shirts/nuts/chocolates at Kmart, as they have a large souvenir "shop" set up inside.

30) Take your own first class U.S. stamps along, because a U.S. postcard is now first class letter rate. We could only find one post office on Guam (Agana) from which to buy stamps, and this can be VERY inconvenient! We could not find any grocery stores selling stamps.

31) Go down to Umatac Bay in the morning to try to see spinner dolphins in action. We saw them there from @ 10 am - 11 am. The spinners are the most active in the AM's, after they have eaten. They leap high and spin when they are happy! :-) Google "spinner dolphin" to see these wonderful creatures in action! It's also best to book a "morning" dolphin tour vs. afternoon, when they are much less active.

Guam's Cultural Charm - Random thoughts!

Hafa Adai! (sounds like "haf a day"), which means hello, how's it going?!

This was my first trip to Guam. Here are some of my impressions, and then I will make one more post with some "travel tips" to Guam. Again, these are my impressions, and may or may not jibe with the "facts". My impressions are based on living in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. my entire life. I see all of my comments as being a part of the "Guam charm". This is a very ALIVE place!

First of all - this is America. They speak English. They use the dollar.

It is 8 hours BEYOND Hawaii! Whew! Hard to believe, when you are looking down from an airplane, while getting leg cramps (!!) that the ancients traversed this distance in outrigger canoes! It's mind bogging!

Because Guam is protected by a coral reef, the waves break WAY out on the horizon. The water has indescribable shades of indigo, turqoise, seafoam green, and violet!

It's not "air conditioning", or "AC", or "Air" - it is called "Air-Con", like some military operation or Hollywood flick. So don't get confused! :-)

They drink lots of iced tea, sweetened with a liquid sugar/water mixture. (I am guessing because this is Asian, and also packs of sugar might get hard in heat and humidity.) Sometimes this is in a pour jar, and sometimes in a small "creamer" sized package called "Gum Syrup". Cheesecake is always a featured dessert.

The locals CANNOT understand what happens stateside with all the massive damage in Florida and the East Coast from hurricane winds! They live in cement fortresses for houses, with built-in aluminum storm shutters. Their power poles are cement and rebar, not wood. So when a storm is coming, one merely stocks up on batteries and bottled water, and spends a few minutes bolting the shutters, and then hunkers down and waits. Some cars are not safe, but people generally are. You would never see an entire village "leveled" by winds in Guam. Typhoons hit 180 mph. When it's over, yard work is the biggest nuisance for many people. They do NOT understand U.S. government policy that would allow stick-built wooden homes to continually be reconstructed in storm-prone areas. There is no massive "screwing of plywood over windows" operations in Guam. They were calling for a typhoon while we were there, and it was truly amazing to see how this culture mobilized, did not panic, and simply took care of business. And then, per the odds, the storm shifted and missed us.

You don't see many birds other than chickens, even in the jungle. I saw a few sparrows by a hotel. The brown tree snake was accidentally introduced to Guam and has eaten most of the birds. Google for more information. It's a good thing they have pretty fish!

They have green or brown gecko lizards the way we have houseflys. They get in and out of the houses, and I even saw one strolling across the TV screen. The locals don't even react. It would be like "catching flys". Ha! Ha! There is always another one, and they are harmless.

Japanese tourists smile and do "peace signs" with their fingers when getting their pictures taken. They wave them about. Reminded me of Nixon!

Guam is the "Las Vegas" for the Japanese. Lot's of Japanese weddings and wedding chapels going on 24/7. The bride and groom were always dressed in stylish Western wedding clothes - tux and gown.

The locals AND the Japanese tourists are PAINFULLY polite! A typical job advertisement often includes the qualification of "must be polite and friendly". You will ALWAYS feel welcomed on Guam!

This is a bountiful land! Chickens, fruits and vegetables, growing wild everywhere. No one goes hungry on Guam. Coconuts, bananas, breadfruits, mangoes, papayas, fish, chickens, etc. Let alone the village fiestas. And of course, the infamous Betel Nut trees, which you can google. :-)

There have been lots of wild chickens here for a LONG time. It's "free range hen" paradise here! Even Ferdinand Magellan, when he discovered Guam, commented about the wild chickens. The chickens are brightly colored.

Roosters crow 24/7, and not only at dawn.

Check out the local DJ/comedians/singers called Malafunkshun. They are on K94, at 93.9 if I remember correctly. These guys parody the most popular hit songs in a very Chamorro way, and also engage in local political satire. They are hilarious. Their CDs are only available in Mom and Pop stores on Guam. I've been unable to locate any stateside.

There are a lot of homeless dogs wandering about in packs, aimlessly looking for food. They are called "boonie dogs". The ones I saw were not overly agressive, but I wouldn't try to pet them. I was told that there is no "rabies" on this island.

They also like pit bulls here! I never saw a pit bull "boonie dog". The boonies look to be a mix based in shephard/rottweiler. But once I DID see a "wiener dog" boonie dog! :-)

It's hot and humid. We were here mid-March to mid-April, and the temperature was a consistent 88 degrees. But somehow, it feels more hot than 88 degrees does at home on the East Coast. I poured sweat the whole time. The ocean breeze makes the humidity deceptive. It's not muggy and hazy, but it IS still humid despite the constant wind! It takes awhile to adjust to the temperature, especially if you came from a cold season (winter) like we did! :-)

This is a VERY patriotic island. The islanders/Chamorros are our fellow Americans and VERY friendly, with great senses of humor. There is a lot of laughter and fun here. Because of the Catholic influence, this is a VERY "family-friendly" island.

There is a bit of unsavory Asian culture going on, but it is "under the radar". Your kids won't know it, but beware the "Karaoke Bars" and SOME of the "massage facilities". There are genuine massage spas, as the Asian tourists love getting massages and body scrubs and the like, but there are also some "parlors" as well. Generally, you can tell the difference from the signs. My understanding is that, although there IS Karaoke going on in the Karaoke bars, this is also a sort of "code word", for "girls with back rooms available". I only saw a few Karaoke bars, but a LOT of massage facilities. I did NOT see a "red light district" anywhere, like you can see in big cities stateside. So again, it was actually more "hidden" than it is in some big cities here.

I noticed that the local teens seemed less outrageous and the girls were definately more conservative than here stateside. There were children EVERYWHERE. Families are prized, as are children.

On the other hand, there WAS some vandalism and a lot of graffiti writing, it seemed. Restless, island-bound teens, I guess. There's a flip-side to everything.

And the locals are related to EVERYONE! :-) Something like, "my great-aunt Maria's cousin's husband's sister-in-law" is a pretty common statement. It's really interesting! I could not count the times I was listening to one local speak to another local, and at some point one of them would get excited and say, "Oh, yeah, I'm related to that guy!" It was just surreal for a statesider like me. Everyone is related to everyone here, and there seems to be some sort of programmed genetic coding to be able to recall hundreds of one's distant relatives, three times or more removed. :-) I mean, I haven't seen my brother in 3 years now, but these folks see their 3rd cousins more often than that! :-)

The military influence, from both a U.S. Naval base AND Anderson Air Force base, permeates the environment. Joining the military is a popular way for the local Chamorros to have a good job with good benefits, and to be able to travel off the island. Many young locals dream of getting off the island to see the world, and this opportunity is available. There is a constant sense of pride and patriotism. Locals who join the National Guard spend over a year in the Horn of Africa, doing logistics for Iraq. Some officers end up in Iraq, though.

There is also some resentment and political commentary regarding the "military occupiers", but it is not as strident and loud as what we hear stateside. The frustration is often vented through political humor and satire in the media, something sorely lacking here at home. They DO manage to find a way to laugh about just about anything! Most of it seems to be about "unfunded Federal mandates", as the local population is about 150,000, and it's tough to fund some things because of the small population base. Also, there are infrastructure issues with power and a little bit with water, because massive military buildups do NOT always translate into help to the local Guam government in coping with these changes. My perception is that the power situation is teetering a bit, right now. But they still find ways to joke about it as they try to address the problems with the financial and manpower resources available to a remote island.

But don't be mistaken. This is NOT a lazy, Caribbean-style island. This is America. There are lots of nice SUVs and trucks everywhere. I noticed that there were many newer, nicer vehicles than I see in Pennsylvania at home. There are lots of people coming and going to work and to the military bases. At times it it bustling. There are many government employees on Guam. "Rush hour" is actual similar to what one might experience in a larger East Coast City, but it is NOT "gridlocked" - just "heavy" - from around 4 pm to 6:30 pm, particularly on the main roads.

And the beach life here is different than on the Mainland U.S. You don't see very many people lined up on towels, broiling like lobsters! :-) I don't think I saw any beach umbrellas, let alone thousands of them back-to-back, like at Ocean City or some such. The white sand beaches have a FEW sunbathers/swimmers, but it's very hot and reflective. The white sand and clear waters are just DIFFERENT than the East Coast's murkier sands and waters, so it's tough to stay out there for more than 30 minutes without hiding under a palm tree somewhere. It's like going out on a mirror in 90-degree weather. I had on a 40 SPF sunscreen, spend 30 minutes combing for shells, and nearly got a bad burn.

The purpose is NOT to come here to "get a tan". The focus is on water sports, be it fishing, dolphin watching, kayaking, outrigger-ing, scuba, snorkeling, jogging, jet skis - etc. My impression was that people were trying NOT to get too much sun in order to embrace the outdoors, because being outdoors is what Guam is all about! You can't be "outdoors" if you've just been cooked and burned by the sun! It would ruin all the fun! :-)

The "tourist district" is small (maybe a mile or two) and confined to one area, newly-renovated, beautiful, and caters to Japanese tourists primarily, although there are others. The hotels are side by side, all pretty pristine-looking high rises. Directly across the street from the hotels are nice boutiques, souvenir shops, duty-free shopping, American chain restaurants, Asian restaurants, and then a steep cliff. You don't see all the tacky mini-golfs and ice cream stands and such that you would see at Ocean City or Rehoboth Beach. Nor do you see the more "slummy" hotels that typically exist a block or two off the main beach area on the East Coast.

I am guessing the tourist hotels are cheaper than a comparable one in Hawaii, but one would need to research that. The tourist hotels are awesome. We walked through some, and they were "wide open" (no glass) with beautiful lobby views of the beach and water, and spotless-looking. Check out my post on that to see some photos. Most have shaded water parks/pools between the hotel and beach. I believe there was quite a bit of renovation/repairs done since the super-typhoon a few years ago. Basically, everything looked brand-spankin' new in that area.

Visiting Guam is like visiting America, visiting an ancient South Pacific Island, AND visiting Asia all at the same time! There is so much Asian influence in the tourist district and at the local shopping mall. Water-sport lovers, archaeologists, historians, war buffs, and people interested in Asia will find lots to interest them on Guam. Basically, there are 3 cultures going on at the same time - Asian, American, and Chamorro - and 4 historical arenas to investigate - ancient Guam/Chamorro, Magellen/Spanish, WWI and WWII.

But you CAN escape up north to Ritidian Beach during those times when all you want is "South Pacific Island". It is remote, gorgeous, and with no services. You can also get some "South Pacific Island" in the south, but the south is more volcanic, and looks totally different than Ritidian Beach.

If you are looking for a STRICTLY unpopulated, remote South Pacific island vacation, then Guam is NOT your best bet. Guam has something for everyone, and there is no need to "rough it" on Guam. It's a modern American island, with a mix of cultures and things to do.

Outrigger canoeing Tuesday evening

Werner was very excited to discover that a coach from the local Outrigger Canoe Club was willing to take him out with the team, and teach him a few things about outrigger canoeing!

There are outrigger canoeing teams training nearly every evening in Tumon Bay. I sat on the shore and filmed and took pictures. It is difficult to tell from the pictures, but I swear that the outrigger is no more than 12" across. It is SO narrow! I would have gotten wet on either side! :-) Ha! Ha!

Anyhow, Werner worked hard until it was nearly dark outside, learning the commands and how to row. I'm sure he learned a lot of other things as well, as I watched from a nearby picnic bench! Note his red face in the group picture! :-)

This was our last "outing" before leaving Guam, as tomorrow at noon we depart. We have to be at the airport by 10 am, and we fly to Tokyo, then to Houston, then on to Baltimore.

Asan Beach/Cave - Tuesday

This is the final portion of the "War in the Pacific" historic National Park. I believe there are 3 separate locations in which major events occurred regarding the Marine landing in WWII. See previous posts for the other locations we have already visited.

This park is GORGEOUS. This is the spot where the Marines came into Guam, over the coral reef, under heavy fire from the Japanese who were on the mountains and cliffs directly ahead.

Enough said - let me post the pictures.

Tuesday AM - the final full day on Guam!

This morning we met up with some of Werner's German friends at King's Restaurant, an EXCELLENT diner at which to eat, by the way! Great breakfasts!

Anyhow, after we ate we had our picture taken. Annemarie and her island husband, Greg, who served in the U.S. military like so many on Guam, invited us to their house for a quick, going-away visit. We made several stops on the way. 1)Guam Museum 2)Asan Beach/Cave 3)Annemarie's 4)Outrigger canoeing!

First we stopped at the "Guam Museum". Tony Ramirez is the curator for this museum. At this writing, this is housed in the Micronesia Mall, although they are hoping for a permanent home shortly. I believe they had some typhoon problems a few years back that transplanted them to the mall.

I've only posted a few photos of the mall and museum, as photos weren't allowed, but this museum reviews the ancient Chamorro history of Guam. In addition, the real highlite is that THIS is the place to go to see the ORIGINAL clothing and tools/utensils used by Sergeant Yokoi, the Japanese soldier who lived for 28 years in a cave in Guam, not knowing the war was over. This is of interest because Yokoi was a tailor in Japan, so he used local plant fibers to make his own yarn and cloth, and to create an entire outfit for himself once his military uniform had worn out. It was very fascinating to see the ingenuity this man posessed for all those years alone! He was 28 when he went into hiding, and 56 when he was found! Unbelievable!

This museum is by donation, basically free, so although it is small and looking for a new, bigger home, it is worth a visit! Especially if you combine it with a shopping trip.

I am going to post separately about Asan Beach/Cave, and also the outrigger canoe lesson that Werner took Tuesday evening.

But in between all of this, I just wanted to say that Annemarie and Greg have a lovely home, nestled next to the Mobil Station on the main road, surrounded by intimate flower gardens. I took some pictures because I thought it was cute. Over 17 years ago, Werner made her a new kitchen. The last big typhoon floodwater got the bottom cupboards, but many years later, the top cabinets are looking good and still in use today! This is unusual in Guam, as the heat and humidity normally delaminates cabinets rather quickly.

Monday evening - planting palm trees

I almost forgot to post this. On Monday night, as if we hadn't done enough already, we met up with our friend, Toni Ramirez. He works for the Guam Parks/Rec/Historical Society. He invited Werner to help him plant a row of coconut palm trees in the old Navel Cemetary where the Cormorran casualties were buried. (see earlier post about this WWI German war ship).

Anyhow, Werner really enjoyed helping to "redecorate" this cemetary where some of his countrymen are buried.

Right next to this old cemetary is the Padre Palomo Park. He was the first Catholic Priest of Chamorro ancestry. There was an elementary school on this site, that was destroyed in WWII, so now there is the "Guam-like" memorial and small plot in remembrance!

Finishing off our trip!

Although I am writing this from home at this point, I wanted to tell you all about the last several days of our trip!

It was an action-packed last couple of days!

On Monday, we were supposed to ride on the Atlantis Submarine. Unfortunately, it was not to be, as they had mechanical problems and would not take us out. Still . . . this is a worthy thing to do should you decide to visit Guam. It's a bit pricey, so budget for it, but how often does one get the opportunity to get shuttled out to a submarine, via boat, and then take a sub ride down to a coral reef?! There are observation windows along the sides where one can observe the coral and stunning displays of fish. This is a one-time opportunity, and I just WISH we had gotten to go! The photos on the brochure looked pretty neat! Unfortunately, since this was our next to last day on Guam, there was no way to reschedule!

We then had to find other things to do. So we headed back to town to drop me off at the Guam library, where I spent a good portion of the day updating the previous posts you just read! :-) On the way back, we stopped at the Guam Harley shop. It opened a mere 7 years ago, and I understand it took the owner quite a bit of convincing to get Harley Davidson to let him open a dealership on the small island! Still, there is so much military personnel here, and Harley's are popular with them. I think it's working out pretty well. But tee-shirts were $25-$35, so we settled for pictures! :-) We decided that next time, we would take along a York Harley Manufacturing plant shirt, available easily to us for under $20, and then TRADE the local shop owner for one of their shirts! We think that might work! :-) The manufacturing plant shirts are always regarded as a prize!

One final picture we took was our last trip to get drinking water. Guam has very good water for an island/seashore environment. They have fresh water wells that merely need to be chlorinated per U.S. law, alhtough they are loaded with calcium from the coral bed. However, the locals don't much like chlorine. In addition, when a typhoon strikes and the power goes out, water is a MAJOR issue at that point. Thus, these bottled water Mom & Pop shops have sprung up over the island. They do a booming business. They filter the local water on premise, and charge a fraction of the price as compared to $2.75/gallon at the local groceries! We only had to pay 30 cents a gallon by buying at these shops. You just have to have empty jugs, or else buy some empty jugs from the vendors. They sell them at these shops.

So, don't forget, if you go to Guam, frequent these types of water shops for the freshest, cheapest water on the island!

Anyhow, Monday afternoon we packed out suitcases. We are leaving at Wednesday noon, and this way, we have lots of time for some last minute tourism on Tuesday!

Chamorro, Island-style BBQ!

Well, our trip is winding down. This is hard to believe. Guam is having wierd weather, like so much of the world currently. This has been one of the hottest, driest "dry seasons" on record. and we can see on the news that PA and Germany are having bizarre weather as well! Well, I imagine we are going to FREEZE when we return to PA in just two short days, as we have had steady hot, 90 degree weather every day here on Guam.

I WILL NOT DO ANY MORE POSTING TO THIS BLOG UNTIL AFTER WE RETURN ON WEDNESDAY! We leave in two days, so we must pack etc. and wind things up, so there will not be time to blog again until after we are back. I would say to check back for final updates this weekend.

Anyhow, Sunday night our hosts, the Laguana family, had a good old fashioned Chamorro family BBQ for us. They LOVE to BBQ here, and many have families have a big charcoal pit BBQ in their yards.

We had a delicious meal of BBQed ribs, hotdogs, burgers, steaks, parrot fish, salad, and the ever-present coconut cream pie and cinnamon rolls for dessert.

Thank you to the Laguana family for the time, effort and love that was put into this BBQ dinner. We will never forget it!

The one thing I HOPE you all have learned from this blog is when you asked us, "Why Guam?!" you now understand "Why NOT Guam?!" This is a U.S. pearl, a true gem of a vacation destination, and I would highly encourage everyone to schedule a vacation in Guam.

See visitguam.org for more information and brochures.