A South Side Tour of Guam 

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Looks like we are ready to go.  Aiden is packed and the lunch is strapped in .... err .... something like that.  Anyway,  we remembered to grab extra batteries this time so maybe we will get more than only a few photos.  Not sure where all we will end up or how many stops we will make but this should be a fun little outing.  First stop, the gas station to fill the tank and empty the wallet!
Okay, the wallet is empty and its out the gate.  Looks like the second stop will be Apaca Point, part of the War In The Pacific National Historic Park.  Conveniently, it is right outside the back gate.  Inconveniently, it is Sunday and the back gate is closed so we had to take the long way around.  (That means a 7 minute drive instead of 3 minutes, bummer)
Here are a couple of views from the beach.  The building on the left is a Hotel in Agat.  To the right you can see a couple little islands.  These are quite plentiful here.  The reef extends out far enough that almost all of the little islands can be walked to safely, even by a midget!  There is an old Japanese pill box here as well.  Like many of the sites on Guam it has fallen victim to time and vandalism.
The entrance is barely enterable due to the amount of rocks and debris that has accumulated in the tunnels.  A good 50 yards or so away, on the other side of the little hill, is the pill box itself.  Inside is nothing but more debris.  It sure would be nice if Guam would clean up it's beautiful resources.

Another view across the beach toward the pill box.

I couldn't resist this.  I was just walking along and there it was.  This is how coconut trees start.  I would hate to be the worker who is ordered to, "take this bag of seeds and sow a field of coconuts!"  That would be one heavy bag...

Next stop is Jan-Z's, a local landmark and a great place to eat.  It has a marina, full bar and kitchen, outdoor and indoor seating, and bathrooms full of geckos.  Oh yeah, did I mention the geckos here.  I never thought I'd hear a lizard bark.  Rest assured, they do, but mostly only at night while you are trying to sleep.

Note the chicken above that did make it across the road.  Frogs and toads however are completely incapable of crossing a road unharmed on Guam.

It must have something to do with the coral asphalt.
Moving on.  It has been raining for several days so everything is nice and green today.  The southern end of the island is much more rugged than the northern end.  The northern end is not flat, its just more developed and has gentler slopes. 
This is a typical sight driving on Guam.  By the way, that is a mountain.  Go ahead and chuckle, we did.  Having driven through the Rockies myself I know these are little more than piles of rock only slight larger than construction mounds.

Lots of little valleys and crevasses keep most of it undevelopable not to mention that because it is all volcanic it is often unstable and there is a constant threat of sinkholes.  The common earthquakes don't make the volcanic rock any more safe to build on either.
More hills.  This is the highest peak in Guam.
Oh look!  The entrance to something else, a Mansanhay Na Sabanan Guahan.  Exciting!

Its a bummer the graffiti artists didn't put as much effort into the sign on the right as they did carving up the lower part of the sign on the left.  What does that say anyway?

This is looking out over Sella Bay.  There is a trailhead in the parking area.  We may go on a "Boonie Stomp" down to Sella Bay sometime.  That means walkabout if you are an Aussie.
Look!  Dead trees from a different angle.

The dark area to the left side of the right photo is a waterfall when it rains hard.  The little peak to the right is Mt. Lamlam, the highest peak in Guam at 1332 feet.

It only took 38 years for the government to identify natural history, wow!

There are some neat looking flowers and plants here.

No, I'm not peeing.  Erin thought it would be cute to take a picture that made it look that way though.  Thanks honey.

Nap time.  He's so cute!

 

 Apparently, my tour guide voice puts people to sleep.  Its a good thing you are reading this, that way you can image any voice you want.  My doctor tells me to ignore the voices I imagine.

 
As this epic saga continues we find ourselves entering Umatac.  Umatac is a small village that we have been warned (by the locals oddly) never to stop in, even at a stop sign.  We lock our doors and make sure the windows are up.  If there are any stray animals our people wondering the streets we negotiate around them as best as possible.  See, legend has it that Umatac is one of the most inbred villages on the island and many of the people are, well, not right.  So we don't stop or look directly at anybody that may be looking at us.  Notice we didn't get out of the truck to take these pictures.

At last!  The bridge to freedom and safety!  It is a cool bridge though.  We spared you the pictures of the shantytown looking area and the cross-eyed drooling nimrods rocking in their driveways with a 1000 yard stare while plucking a banjo.  Okay, they didn't really have banjos.  In truth, we didn't slow down enough to get a good picture.  No, really we just forgot to get the camera out until we had past it.

Intermission

This seems like a good time for an intermission. Enjoy!

Intermission is over.  Back to the tour.

Fort Nuestra De La Soledad (Fort Our Lady of Solitude)
For 250 years, beginning around 1565, Spanish galleons sailed yearly from Acapulco, Mexico to Manila in the Philippines and return.  The only replenishment stop for these Acapulco galleons on the long voyage was Umatac Bay.  From 1680 to 1810, the Spanish built four fortifications at Umatac to protect the anchorage from pirates and privateers.

Governor Alexandro Parreno constructed the final Spanish fortification on Guam and the last of four Spanish fortifications at Umatac, Fort Nuestra Senora de la Soledad, Our Lady of Solitude.  he Fort was constructed of mamposteria on Mount Chalan Ahiti consisting of a barbeta for mounting seven guns, quarters for the soldiers, and an arsenal.

While the French explorer Freycinet in 1819 noted the white of the fort with its four canons, the galleons had already ceased to stop at Guam after 1815.  The galleons no longer sailed from Acapulco to Manila due to political unrest in Mexico.  With the usefulness of Fort Soledad gone, the Fort was abandoned.  For years the Fort crumbled aided by weather, treasure hunters, and World War II.  After World War II, the Government of Guam transformed the Fort into a park.
What was I thinking??  You could have just read all that off of the plate on the left instead of me typing it.
As you can see it is out on a point so the view was great.  I was amazed at well the site was preserved.  There was not nearly as much vandalism as I expected.

A look down into Umatac Bay.  You can really get a good view of the reefs from up here.

     

Can you see the guy standing in the water in this photo?  See the sinkhole in the reef?  See the second, deeper reef line? (I've been told its typically between 30 and 80 feet deep)
Guam, being 95% Roman Catholic, has a lot of beautiful cemeteries.  This is a smaller one but it is nicely situated in a jungle like area near the beach.  Erin intends to photograph many of the cemetery areas on the island so sometime in the future we can share them as well.  No, this is not morbid.  The artistry of so many of the monuments and statues here is quite impressive.
This is a view looking in the other direction.  There are vast areas where the reef is exposed like this during low tides.

Another common landmark and nice site to visit is Bear Rock.  With no bears on the island, I'm wondering how they knew to name it that?  Speaking of which, did you hear about the polar bear in Barrigada?  Check it out here!  Ahhh, the lengths sailors will go to mess with each other.

Yes, those are people out in the water near the wave breaks.  The waves only break at the reef line so you know that when you get to the waves, stop walking!

Why she insists on taking the picture with my mouth full of food I'll never know.
Driving along, we never quite know exactly what we will run across.  A Cow tied up on the side of the road for instance.

 

This chicken will not try to cross the road, he thinks he's a frog.

This next set may need a little of explaining.  What you see is a carabou.  It is not a hybrid mix of caribou and cow as it sounds, it is an Asian water buffalo.  They are generally ill-tempered and of course smell to high heavens.  Why this one seemed to need a saddle is beyond me.  I was getting nervous having the truck this close to him as he kept turning his head and looking our way.  I couldn't ascertain the length (or strength) of the rope that was holding him back but highly suspected that running said rope through a ring in the nose must be somewhat uncomfortable.  I think he could have redecorated the side of the truck if he wanted to.  Regardless of these what-ifs, carabou is a stupid name and Aiden will never ride one even if the saddle fits.

Its off to K-mart and the Micronesia Mall.  I hear they are on the left just before the first ocean buoy on the right.

Gotta love the landmarks on Guam!
You probably need to view the larger image to appreciate this photo.  (hint:  zoom on the bus.)
Time to head home.  This turn starts our trek across "cross-island road."  As you guessed it does, in fact, traverse the island.  It is far from straight and very far from flat and even farther from being in good repair but it is a nice drive.  Oh look!  A palm tree that grows flat.  I believe they are called Emperor Palms.  They look pretty cool

The plastic mailbox really adds to the landscaping don't you think?
This is the bridge to nowhere. (dark metal thing in the middle)  Initially a housing development was to be built to the right and a road leading to the bridge to the left.  The bridge was built but the other projects were never started and likely never will be.  I think I'll start a petition to make it a toll bridge, at least that way the bridge will have a purpose.

I can see the base from here.  Notice the keen use of dead branch camoflage.
Hiding a mountain in this picture.  Can you find it?
Aiden seems to be bored with the blurry view outside and will probably be happy to be home soon where he will surprise the poo out of us when Erin says something about 5 and Aiden, without prompting, says, "6, 7, 8, 9, toobloobahha."  Who knew he could count to toobloobahha?
   
This is the end of the tour.  I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.  I hope to do more work like this for our site in the future.  Plain photo albums are nice and all but I think a little commentary goes a long way.

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