Jungle River Boat Cruise

This was a TRUE CHAMORRO cultural experience! Werner and I LOVED this trip!

It was $25 each, and the voicemail at the business said $20, so that was a little bit of concern for us. The docking area is rundown, due to a long-term lease of some of the buildings. At first we thought they were NOT in business, but so far this has been one of our FAVORITE excursions.

This is NOT an "uber-tourist" tour. This is cultural and historical all the way. Our 4 tour guides were native, south-island Chamorrans, and they were chewing their Betel nuts the entire trip. (As they told us, Betel nuts are mildly narcotic and highly addictive. They stain the teeth red and black.) They were also stand up comedians, with jolly senses of humor and a ready wit about them!

The tour was conducted in both English and Japanese.

I cannot HIDE my ENTHUSIASIM for this adventure! It was excellent!

Anyhow, first they take you up two different river branches into the jungle, near where Yokoi's cave was/is located. They show you the fish, fauna, lizards and wildlife. There are no crocodiles, but one of the tour guides screamed "crocodile" and all 40 or so of us jumped up to take photos. Then the guide giggled and said, "Oops! My miistake!" It was so funny!

These local guys were working VERY hard for tips. Unfortunately, I don't think most people understood that. We tipped $5, and they were thrilled for the money. This is their lively hood, and they are locals, not Asian business investors. So if you go and enjoy it - TIP them!! :-)

During the boat ride, one of our Chamorro guides was making various palm leaf toys for the kids, and headwreaths for the ladies. Halfway, they take you to the remains of an ancient Chamorro village site. The tour guides walked us around, explaining the lattee stones, caves, flowers and fauna. It was very interesting. Quite "archaeological" in scope.

The latte stones are made of coral, and basically the houses looked like giant palm-woven A-frames sitting on top of the latte stones. (pronounced like the coffee beverage!). The latte stones are the "pillars" you see in these photos. The two round rocks, sunk into the ground at an angle to one another are for canoe building!

Once we toured the site, we were taken to a nearby pavilion, where the Chamorro's demonstrated fire starting and palm leaf weaving. They had us play "Rock,Paper, Scissors" and gave away the items they were weaving as prizes! They gave us free iced tea and ice water to drink.

The husband and wife who own this site should be tipped as well. They will NOT be getting back on the boat for the ride home, so be aware of that. We lost an opportunity to tip someone who was EXTREMELY polite, friendly and helpful, AND "local" as well!

Anyhow, so far this was one of the top adventures here in Guam!

On Friday we are going dolphin watching and fishing, and on Sunday we have an appointment to parasail, although I have not yet decided if I will go up. We are also attempting to arrange a submarine ride into the coral reef to observe the fish, and an aquarium in which you wander through tunnels under the water. I may not have time to post these adventures until AFTER we get home next Wednesday.

PLEASE KEEP CHECKING BACK!