Update Series #6

Hello Everyone!

Today was a hard working, fact finding day. We were working on another island of the Palau chain: Babelthuap. It really is amazing how different the islands of Palau are. Every island is a coral outcropping except Babelthuap: it’s volcanic. More grows on Babelthuap and it seems to me to be rainier. And when it rains, it gets muddy. Thick, red Georgia clay muddy. It’s also more rolling in nature. And the flora goes from short ground coverings, through various heights of grasses, to full blown jungle.

It’s really amazing the differences in the islands, and they are all so close together.

QB’s island is our island from hell. It kicks our butt every time we go on it. It is coral only and has the thickest jungle we’ve ever seen out here. Pretty vertical entry onto the island and as we make our way around it, some of the cliffs get pretty tall.

Peleliu is hotter than the other islands. And more humid. Almost all jungle cover. But with more accessible coral hills. There are still impassable cliffs, but in the interior, rather than at the beach.

And it is much cooler in the jungle than in the tall grass areas. I checked a thermometer and the temp dropped to 79 degrees within 20 feet of entering the jungle area.

Each island is unique. But back to my story.

In our interviews during our time here, stories were told of seeing captured U.S. military personnel on Babelthuap. It is known that U.S. servicemen were executed here. However, some of them have never been found and some more may have been beheaded for falling into the wrong hands.

It is known that 3 Navy frogmen were captured on Yap, another island in the Western Pacific. They were transported to Palau and were never heard from again. A number of aircrew were captured and never heard from again. And some missionaries were known to have met their demise at the sharp side of a long sword. A standard Japanese log entry about the circumstances of captured Americans was ‘sent to Japan via ship, lost at sea.’

We spoke with two Palauans who worked for the Japanese military police during the occupation. Both relayed stories of seeing 3 Americans taken into a police building. A hunter’s father reports seeing these Americans driven off in the direction of Koror and not seeing them again. It was reported that a General had a command post off near the execution sites. Lots of stories leading to this area of Babelthuap.

We were introduced though Joe to Charlie who brought his cousin Tewoi a hunter on the island. He knew where graves were. He also knew other things we wanted to know. So we all piled into the van and started off.

The road on Babelthuap is under reconstruction. All the way around the island. Since last year, a lot has been done, but the road isn’t any smoother yet. And our 6 passenger van had 9 people and all our gear in it. We didn’t get caught in any ruts or mud traps, but I don’t want to look at the oil pan. I know it’s dented.

We went to a gravesite that Tewoi said really was a grave site as he pulled out some bones many years ago. Although covered with jungle, there were obvious stone mounds as well as a stone perimeter. We also encountered old revetments, bunkers, and debris. Then we were taken to The General’s housing area. The area looks just like his adjutant described to Pat in an interview he conducted a number of years ago. This adjutant undoubtedly committed some of the executions. This was the elusive command post that was talked about but never found. We found some more mounds, depressions, foxholes, revetments, and stacked army helmets.

Then we went to the old Japanese Military Police Headquarters. Then down the hill to a large Japanese cemetery. It’s all overgrown with brush, and there are no markers, but this was the reported site of it. And over the hill was an old hospital area.

In the middle of all the reports Pat has taken, is always the waterfall on Babelthuap. We went there too, just to get the feel for it.

After visiting all the sites and laying out the time line and facts of the reports that were taken, there is enough evidence to suggest that the 3 Americans that were sighted were taken away from the military headquarters in the direction of Koror and on that road was the M.P. HDQ. Behind that is a known cemetery. Once again, the proper authorities are being made aware of these new facts and conjectures and we’ll let them do the real detective work of finding out the real story. But maybe once again we’ve led the authorities to the ‘right spot’.

Towards the end of the day, Tewoi spotted a fruit bat close to the road. He pulled out his pellet gun, took aim and nailed the bat. It was a good sized one and he gave it to Charlie. Fruit bat is a delicacy here in the islands. Normally prepared as Fruit Bat soup. You probably think I’m pulling your leg, but I’m not. Charlie went home a happy camper.

We dropped all our Palauan friends off, cleaned up and went out to dinner.

Now I’m back in my room and I’ve caught up on my writings. I can go to bed with a clear, something.

Toe doing fine.

Having a day off tomorrow. Diving Blue Corner and Blue Hole. Yeah!!!!!!! The Boss is even going with us. Pat has been searching the Palaus for 10 years and not once has he taken these dives in. We are playing hooky and taking the principal with us!

BLUE CORNER AND TURTLE COVE

And what a day it was: no alarm clock, no deet, no rushing around for work, only for fun. We obtained an underwater camera so we should have some video of our Blue Corner adventure. We decided to ask for a simple first dive for the day as Jennifer has never dived in warm open water before. We thought Blue Corner would not be a great first dive for her. But I’m ahead of myself. Our dive wasn’t scheduled until 11am.

I got up, got some coffee with Dan and decided on our plan for the morning. He had to go pay for the usage of the underwater camera at the Palau Pacific Resort. A beautiful spot that Conde Nast says is one of the top 10 resorts. They’ve even got great margaritas. He dropped me and Clem off at the Internet Café so I could have some breakfast and Clem could use the Internet while we went to deal with the camera people.

I love taking my time in the mornings to get up, meditate, have some breakfast and read the paper. And I did just that. The Detroit Free Press isn’t out here yet, but I did have the Palau Horizon along with my breakfast. Top Headline: Executive Branch intervenes in Vice President’s case. Seems some roadwork was destroying the VP’s property and the Pres stepped in. Then the courts stepped in. Now it’s a mess. Sounds like home to me.

The front page photo was of the Republic of China’s (Taiwan) Navy making a port call in Koror for the annual Fleet of Friendship gathering. It was great seeing sailors in uniform wandering around the city. The back page had sports with Lindsay Davenport and Kevin Garnett. Not in the same photo or match.

After lounging there, Dan came back, with the underwater camera that he only needed to pay for. They cut a deal for another day’s use. We dropped off some of his laundry and went to a storyboard maker to see if he could custom make some for us. Storyboards are a Palauan tradition dating back, well, forever. They come in all shapes and sizes and are exquisitely carved. Traditionally, they depict Palauan stories of creation, founding of the island and the nation et.al.

We then went to a dressmaker to get some custom made Hawaiian shirts. Don’t worry Rebecca, I had some adult supervision in picking fabric. But the fabric I picked for you, I did all on my own. Now you’re scared and all of the recipients of this update feel for you!

Went back to the storyboard shop and talked to the boss. We came to a great understanding of how this should be done. Basically, he told us he did not have enough time to make a drawing before our departure. We said, be creative and we trust your artist’s eye. Okay! Done deal.

Back to get Dan’s wet clothes and back to the apartment to get everyone else ‘cause it was time to go diving.

We got back, and realized that we left Val behind in our morning journey. Well, no lunch for us that day she said. But, she has a good heart and gave us some crusts of bread. We certainly deserved a lot less.

Walked across to Neco Marine, got on the boat and headed out. Joe was our captain and Michelle was our guide. Palauan law states you have to have both to make a scuba dive. It seems a number of years ago a group went out (with another dive company) and the boat wasn’t up to snuff, there was only one adult supervisor around, and the tour group came up from their dive, being swept out to open ocean. They were found a number of days later, dead due to hypothermia, in the Philippine Sea. That’s a long ways from Palau. In any case, many safety rules were imposed on the dive industry here.

Michelle took us out on our fun dive last year. She’s a great guide. She and her hubby came here for the diving, intending to stay a year. 4 years later, they both work at Neco, taking divers out.

Our first stop was Turtle Cove. A nice easy dive. Gentle slopes, no current, beautiful fish, turtles, sharks (not many) crocodile fish (not to be confused with a crocodile reptile) lion fish, lemon shark, and much more. We saw a shark being cleaned by cleaner fish, as he pulled up into what looked like a stall attitude in the flying biz. We were all jazzed. Especially Jennifer. No more Folsom Lake for her!

Over to Blue Corner, tied up, ate lunch and sat for a while. For you non-divers, when you are underwater, your body absorbs nitrogen. If you accumulate too much, you can get the bends. The nitrogen actually comes out of solution in your blood and accumulates in gas form wherever it wants to. Not a good thing. Two ways to keep this from happening is not to stay down too long, and to stay up out of the water for a period of time to allow respiration to ‘bleed off’ the N₂. That’s what we were doing.

After an appropriate surface interval, down we headed. For those that did not read last year’s update series (shame on me for not including you), Blue Corner is a unique aquatic environment. It is part of the barrier reef system of Palau. The top of the reef slopes from about 20 feet to 55 feet. The wall facing the ocean goes from 55 feet to Davey Jones’ locker. There are strong currents around the wall so it is a drift dive. You put in where you want to, and the current carries you along to watch the wall and all the sea life that’s around you. We had a maximum depth of about 75 feet.

There is an upswell from the deep ocean that brings nutrients for the little fishes to eat. They’re eaten by the medium fishes who are eaten by the big fishes who are eaten by the predators with big teeth. And there are a lot of them.

We started along the wall and the ocean was teeming with sea life. It was a living oil painting with vibrant colors and lots of movement. And the sharks (yes plural and never out of sight) just did not seem to care that we were there. They have a cornucopia of fish to choose from for eating. Thank goodness.

There wasn’t a lot of current that day so we actually had to flip our flippers occasionally. After a time on the wall, we got on top of the reef and used a line to hook in. We all streamed into the current, which had just picked up and we looked like 7 tethered balloons. We just hung on the line and watched the world go by. Still an amazing view. Walls of fish. Schools of Barracuda. Numerous sharks. A couple even came over and ‘flew’ formation with me. A little spooky compared to the small amber jack that hung with me for 10 minutes in formation.

I looked over the wall and missed seeing a tuna that was larger than the largest shark we had seen. Everyone kept saying how big it was. Fish story I’m sure.

We unhooked and allowed the current to carry us over the reef and saw moray eels, huge, and I mean huge turtles. They were by far the coolest things to watch. The biggest one casually swam to the surface, took a breath and came back to us. And it had 3 remora attached.

A safety stop at 10 feet for a few minutes and we were up in open ocean. Joe picked us up and we all started to chatter as if we had seen a UFO. The neat thing was that this was Jennifer’s second open ocean dive ever. Most folks wait a lifetime to dive Blue Corner. She’s spoiled now for sure.

As we headed back, we hit a rain squall. I got a little wet and then started to shiver. I was freezing to death. I would not have thought that hypothermia would be an issue in the tropics, but it is. I curled up in a space blanket warmed up and came out for the last part of the cruise back to the dock.

We cleaned up fast, headed to the PPR for a sunset libation and then found a Japanese BBQ restaurant. Outdoor seating, individual braziers at the table, many Filipina hostesses catering to us, no other customers, no Americans come here they say, Japanese customers come after 10pm for the indoor Karaoke, indoors all in crushed red velvet, no tables for eating, only couches (is the imagery clear?), Jennifer sang one song and we left.

The girls were to meet Esther, Joe’s wife, for girl’s night out. But when they called for the details, they said Esther had already left. I was ready for bed, but the ladies wanted escorts to try and find Esther. After a number of local Karaoke bars, I stayed in the Van and took a nap. The ladies gave up without finding Esther, and seeing more Karaoke bars in Palau than they’ve ever gone into back home.

All in all, a great day. We were all so relaxed by the end of the day. We needed a day off as we are really working hard in our trekking. Pat Scannon’s Health and Wellness program is paying off.

So that end’s this update. Are you getting your money’s worth from this? When I get home, Pat Swovelin says he’s going to put these letters, along with my photos on a website. That should be fun! And thanks Pat. Can we make the web address www.smackedass.com?

Okay, back at ya.

Blue SKies, Flip