A Visit to Palau: Stingless Golden Jelly Fish, Fruit Bat Soup and Little People Through my dive mask, I saw that I was surrounded by thousands of undulating golden living globules. They caressed my entire body with their gentle touch. It was like swimming in warm yellow Jell-O. Recently my husband, photographer John Montgomery, and I spent one week on the island Republic of Palau, where we swam with stingless golden jellyfish in an inland lake, left there from an ancient ice age. For many years, Id heard about the superb diving on Palau, its WW II history, but more recently when I heard scientists had discovered mysterious bones of tiny humans, perhaps a new species, I knew it was time for a visit. While John and I are both experienced divers, these days we seek out a combination of comfort along with our adventures. The off-the-beaten-track island nation of Palau more than fulfilled that prescription. Palau, part of the Micronesian Island chain in the Western Pacific Ocean, is actually an archipelago of over 586 islands, although its population of about 20,000, live on four: Angaur, Babeldaob, Koror and Peleliu. Described as one of the seven underwater wonders of the world, Palau is a dive Mecca for aficionados from around the world. Although Ive dived extensively myself, as I dropped down from the shallow reef entrance near the famed Blue Corner wall dive and drifted into one of the four holes that permitted me to sink silently into the vast cavern beneath, I was awed by the vastness, blue clear light, and extensive life. Jade, our dive guide from Sams Tours, pointed out the tiny peach Anthias swimming upside down near the ceiling of the cavern. There was so much to take in, including a great barracuda, numerous white tip and reef sharks, a rainbow of reef fish, Hawksbill turtles, a few distant dolphins, and always the majesty of such underwater architecture. Our wet adventures on Palau were many, including being kissed by a dolphin at the Dolphin Research Center. I had long thought that those permanent grins on dolphins faces indicated a playful amorousness and this experience seemed to prove my theory. Next door at the Palau International Coral Reef Center, Ileb Olkeriil, government expert on underwater conservation, explained that the beautiful coral we admire consists of both living creatures and their waste products. In one day, we snorkeled and sailed among the Rock Islands with Fish n Fins Dives and Tours. In 1972, the organizations founder began the cleanup of Palaus waters and environment. He began the move toward the pristine conservation principles the island nation practices today. These islands, which are really coral reef upwellings, resembling giant Chia Pets, are a fairy tale world of small inlets, natural arches, and a sanctuary for birds, fish, and other wildlife. These mangroves are really a hospital for fish and sharks. The waters are a mixture of sea and fresh water, our naturalist guide, T.J., told us. Often he completed a bit of local lore or information with the words, And thats how we do it here. For example, when he pointed out a rarely seen black and white banded deadly poisonous sea snake, T.J. explained that they believe each snake is associated with a village. If you or a family member disturbs one of these snakes, you may become cursed until you apologize and give a gift to the village. I used my zoom lens for a photo, making sure Mr. Snake went undisturbed. Seeing some ancient pictographs inside small caves near the water, T.J. philosophized, These remind me that we are all drifters, an astute reminder of how all of us arrived at wherever we live today. Among the Rock Islands is an area called the Milky Way. Here after sucking up some beetle nut, popular local stimulant, for courage, we plunged into the iridescent, blue-white, chalky waters, scooped up the white gooey limestone and calcium clay from the shallow bottom, and plastered each other with it, turning us into ghostly Halloween characters. T.J. guaranteed that this treatment would rejuvenate us. Judging by our giggles, whether resulting from the beetle nut or the clay smearing, it seemed to do the trick. , On our Jungle River Boat Cruise, owner Bill Takamine explained how he developed this project with community contributions and assistance, a very Palauan tradition. He told us that land ownership is based on a kind of homesteading and clan structure principles. *** Island land is protected so it will stay in local hands and benefit the people. While out on our jungle cruise, Bill demonstrated his knack of attracting and feeding alligators. Having our appetites whetted in this way, back at the lodge, we enjoyed a delicious lunch ourselves. Palau is the most beautiful island in Micronesia, Bill said. It maintains its traditions such as our clan structure, along with our democracy. Its history is complex. Carbon dating identifies some early civilization around 1000 B.C., most likely distant relatives from Indonesia and Polynesia. The first European contact was with the shipwreck of English Capt. Henry Wilsons ship, Antelope, in 1783. The English were hospitably received and the outside world continued to arrive: Spain, Japan, and finally the United States. In 1994, Palau signed the Compact of Free Association with the United States and became independent. Visiting a traditional Bai, or mens meetinghouse, later that day, we admired the carvings and paintings on the facade as well as on the interior beams, although only the chiefs, not we, are permitted to enter. This remains a matrilineal society, with the head woman selecting the chief. Emblematic of this was the large painting over the Bais entrance of a determined woman sitting spread legged. Local chiefs and wise men entered between her legs. Many mysteries remain unsolved on Palau like the huge stone monoliths and enormous stone coffin we visited. Does your soul feel strong enough to visit here? asked Melson, our local guide. He made the sign of the cross as the air suddenly became cooler and the sky grey. We made our way down a slope and soon were surrounded by dozens of standing stones, clearly arranged in an order or for a purpose no longer understandable to us. Ive seen similar stones in various places around the globe and always try to imagine the living souls who worked so hard to collect, move, and set up these monuments. Another mystery that had intrigued me about Palau was the recent discovery by Lee Berger, a South African paleoanthropologist, who while on vacation kayaking around the Rock Islands, discovered a collection of bones of small or Hobbit people, similar to Homo floresiensis found in Java, Indonesia, dating back to 2500 B.C. or earlier. About 3-4 feet tall, these little folks lacked chins, sported large teeth, along with a small braincase. I visited the Belau National Museum and read some of the reports on all this. Apparently there is no consensus on whether these bones represent a different line of Homo sapiens, or a group suffering from malnutrition who eventually died out, or if, well, they were just small people. Yes, John and I did sample the famous Palauan dish: fruit bat soup. I dipped my spoon into the steaming bowl of golden liquid that was placed in front of me as local musicians played and danced around us. A delicate coconut flavor to the broth encouraged me to break off a bit of the meat and taste it. At the same time, John was munching on a tiny piece of bat wing. Then through the liquid, I locked eyes with a wet hairy rodent and put down my spoon. Fruit bat does not taste like chicken. Pampering ourselves after our long days of excursions, John and I enjoyed the luxurious accommodations of the Palau Royal Resort and Palau Pacific Resort. At the latter we relished fabulous Balinese massages done by two young women in concert with each others movements, soft music playing and the sea lapping just outside. I dozed off dreaming of being once again in Jelly Fish Lake, like a galaxy in outer space, where because they have had no predators for eons, these jellyfish have long ago lost their ability — or need — to have a protective sting. Would it not be lovely if our human species could head in this direction? Palau feels like one place on earth where this might come true. IF YOU GO Continental Airlines flies via Honolulu and Guam from mainland USA. A wide range of accommodations is available. visit-palau. Palau Pacific Resort palauppr. Palau Royal Resort palau.panpacific. Sams Tours samstours. Fish n Fins Dive Shop fishnfins. Dolphins Pacific dolphinspacific Jungle River Boat Cruise: billytakamine@gmail Diane LeBow is a freelance travel writer and John Montgomery is a freelance photographers. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at creators. Article by Diane LeBow who is a freelance travel writer and as well as John Montgomery, a freelance photographers. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at creators. COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 13:42:06 +0000
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