Papa Mike’s Palau Blog

Roxie and her friend exchange leaves for sardines.

Greetings from Palau,

Hopefully along with my posts you are now viewing pictures that have been uploaded to the blog. Special thanks go out to Susan over at the Visitors Authority who helped show me how to load the pictures and posted the picture of the traditional bai or men’s meeting place that graces this page.

I would like to remind everyone that the blog is interactive, that is to say you are free to respond to anything posted, just click on the comments section at the bottom of each entry if you have any questions or comments to the author, besides it reinforces to me the fact that there is someone out there reading these posts!

Papa Mike

Flipper Should Have Had It So Good!

I must confess I have a crush on Roxy. After all she did perform flips for me when I rubbed her belly, and I’m such a sucker for a girl that does flips. She has only one drawback—she has sardine breath.

Roxy is one of eight dolphins that put on the Dolphins Pacific Show here in Koror, Palau. You see back a few years ago Roxy and her seven partners were scheduled for a trip to the slaughterhouse before Dolphins Pacific’s owners rescued the dolphins and brought them to Koror. Here in Koror they built Dolphin Bay, a natural park containing over 200 million gallons of water, with over 100,000 square yards of surface area, the largest body of water housing dolphins anywhere in the world. The facility, nestled within the beautiful Rock Islands is only a five-minute boat ride from Koror. Roxy and her friends seem to enjoy the fifty-foot deep water and the care they receive at Dolphins Pacific.

When I arrived at their facility Roxy and her friends were cleaning the pens. Well, not quite cleaning the pens, but cleaning leaves out of the water that had fallen in from the overhanging trees that perch on the neighboring islands. The dolphins have been trained to bring leaves to the trainers and exchange them for snacks. If the dolphins eat the leaves they become sick, so their training keeps them well and has a bonus of keeping the pens clear of leaves.

Dolphins Pacific is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of the special abilities possessed by dolphins. They stress environmental education and provide a place where people can experience directly the special powers the dolphins display. Dolphin Bay is entirely handicapped accessible and offers programs for the physically disabled as well as children’s programs in conjunction with the Ministry of Education of Palau.

The people of Palau have widely different opinions of the whole dolphin experience. While many politicians and educators have praised the project, there are many local islanders who are against keeping dolphins in captivity and resent the projects location in the Rock Islands, an area where development was supposedly prohibited. Regardless of all the above, the facility is first class and offers far more space for the dolphins than similar facilities worldwide, so I will let you pass your own judgment on Dolphins Pacific. Roxy was too busy trading leaves for sardines to express an opinion.

Well this is my first test of a photo upload. It’s a picture of the trip to Kayangel, but I don’t know which picture–you will have to have patience with my skills

The oldest traditional bai in Palau
(photo courtesy of the Palau Visitors Authority)

Hi Everyone, hope you are all fine and well. Sorry I am having troubles uploading pictures. I am trying to find someone with a DSL connection here in Palau, but no luck yet. Visited the dolphins at Dolhins Pacific yesterday and this report is about the trip to Kayangel. Hi to Terry, Jeff, Round Man and all the Poker Players. Hi also to all my other friends. To the whole world, Kelly has a job!!!
Read the rest of this entry »

Ilii (Hello) From North Beach Cottages

Greetings from the North Beach Cottages in downtown Choll on the longest beach in Ngaraad. This is your Palau correspondent Papa Mike reporting in on his first field trip beyond happy hour at the Storyboard Bar and Grille in Koror. I have been dispatched to this outpost of humanity to experience one of only four lodgings on the island of Babeldaob. The trip here was two hours over what is known as the compact road, a 53 mile, 150 million dollar project which will link all of Babeldaob with the folks down in Koror. For now it is a half finished project, with nasty detours through swampy land and enough serious bumps to knock loose the fillings from your teeth. Get this; the project is being built by the Korean conglomerate Daewoo, (that’s right the same people that built that ill-fated car briefly imported to America) and they appear to have subcontracted the actual work out to a host of Vietnamese workers. As you might have guessed it the project is behind schedule and dogs are disappearing all over the island.

The cottages themselves are authentic Palauan style, with green corrugated roofs and all wood interiors, the four cottages are set on a long deserted white sand beach. There are more kayaks than cottages so that guests can enjoy the lagoon. Food is served on an open-air covered patio with views of the garden and lagoon. Ever since my first meal the waiter has taken my order for the next meal and I have already had three different kinds of fish, parrotfish, tuna and another one with fins and scales. All have been pan-fried and fresh from the reef with a green salad, rice and fresh fruit. Breakfast was scrambled eggs with bacon and pancakes. There is a cat that shows up at mealtime; needless to say he has given up getting scraps from my table. There is a reef a quarter mile off the beach, it is just a picture perfect setting

That is until the rain started shortly after breakfast and continued on until noon. I was going to wait until what I thought was a brief shower passed over, but ended up watching senior golf from Valencia, California on ESPN Asia. Did me good to watch Mike Reid three putt from two feet, while I sipped my papaya juice and laughed. So that pretty much took care of my morning and I returned to my cottage to take a nap before lunch.

That is until the electricity went off, which shut off the air conditioning and created the largest sauna on Babeldaob. So I did what any sane person would do under the circumstances, began drinking the beer before it got warm. So that is where I sit on my adorable little deck overlooking the lagoon, I sure am glad this laptop has a three hour battery so that I can record this dispatch to my friends and family back home. I learned later that afternoon that the electricity was off between 11:00 and 3:00 each afternoon. (Darn, guess I can’t use that excuse tomorrow)

Papa Mike

Arrived Saturday after 30 hours on the road. After recovering from trip I have spent my time doing research updating information and enjoying the beauty of Palau. Have not been in the water yet, but will be next week. The Palau Visitors Authority has been very helpful, supplying me with udated lodging information and help in scheduling trips to the outer islands. It looks like I will be able to visit at least three of the outlying islands (Kayangel, Angaur and Peleliu). Prices are quite reasonable for groceries and meals. I miss my scooter from Rarotonga, no public transportation. Went to happy hour at the Storyboard Bar & Grille on Monday night, no descent rum on the island but lot’s of good beer San Miguel from Philippines and Japanese beer. Will update this column over the weekend after I do something or go somewhere.

If you are like me and view little US television, you may not know that this seasons television show Survivor takes place in Palau. While I consider this to be a mixed blessing, as it will expose Palau to a host of people that have never heard of it, the programs concept and perspective are a bit warped. You can visit CBS Television’s website at href=”http://www.cbs.com/ for a preview. I hope all this exposure does not overexpose Palau and it’s limited infrastructure. But who am I to complain, perhaps they will need guidebooks?

In case you have been wondering what happened to the author and why no new entries, the answer is I have been hospitalized for a burst appendix. It now appears I shall survive, but the trip to Palau has obviously been moved back pending my recovery. While I have not come up with exact dates, pending any complications, I am shooting for March 1st. I am resting well, working on the “boiler plate” of the book and will reschedule my flights within a couple of weeks.

Well I recently sent out massive E-Mails to all my friends, all six of them, alerting them of this blog. Five didn’t know what a blog was and the sixth told me they had a golden retriever. I am trying to solicit something in the way of comments as I think this whole blog thing will be a whole lot more fun if I know someone out there is reading this. Maybe everyone hates Palau, or nobody wants to go. Here I am working my fingers toward carpel tunnel syndrome, writing a guide that no one will read.

Reality is, I have been working on a lot of the boiler plate of the book. Writing chapters on planning, introduction, how to get there and posting all known accommodations. With the word processing software I can then add/change text once I am in Palau. I am still awaiting help from the Palau PR firm in Hawaii, hope to hear something soon.

So, I am awaiting some comments!

Well, the tickets have been purchased, actually the rewards have been spent. Thank you American Airlines, my travel awards have gotten me to Guam and all I have left is to get from Guam to Palau and back. Hopefully, Palau Micronesia Air will appreciate the wisdom and value of providing me transport to Koror. I am awaiting news from the Visitors Authority and their US Reps, as to their involvement in this project. I am hopeful that they will participate at some level. An independent Guidebook is a lot of work and frankly not finacially rewarding. My Cook Island Book, has been well received, and sales are encouraging, it will still take almost four years to recover my investment. Check back in a week or two and see how thinga are progressing.

While I do this guidebook gig for reasons other than financial, Participation from Tourism Board’s buy me more time and allow me to produce a better book. Being independent let’s me produce the book I want, and I answer to no higher power. Don’t worry I’m not ready to give up my day job.