Manta-less in Yap!

If you read most dive books on diving in Yap, Micronesia most will say that you are pretty much guaranteed to see Manta Rays. Well, the luck of the Irish strikes again! We did 5 dives and we did not see 1, I repeat, not 1 Manta. There were divers that were there days prior to our arrival and had seen multiple Mantas on their dives. So much so that they even claimed to be "bored" of Mantas. And sure enough, as soon as we hit the water...not a Manta in sight! There was a very cute Japanese couple (first time I really wanted to speak Japanese, just to converse with them) that did 4 dives with us, and of course did not see any until their 5th dive when we were not with them! We still had a wonderful time on Yap. The island is very clean and the people there are extremely friendly (one of the high chiefs bought us a few rounds of drinks one night while we were out at a local tavern).

A special thanks to the Morrone family who put us up in Guam on our way to Yap. Thank you to Bill Acker and all of the staff at the Manta Ray Bay Hotel who gave us a great deal on our accommodations and diving.

This is Miles talking...Erin typing... "We've been so lucky with all of the friends and family that have taken us in to date. Without going into too much detail, we had an awesome hook-up in Chuuk, on the island and on the Aggressor. Yap also was basically handed to us. Now in Palau we have a free place to stay for the week, and once we get on the Palau Aggressor we got another fantastic deal. After this we head to Tokyo and our good friend Aaron Danzer put us in touch with a family who will also accommodate us. The goal is to see and visit as many countries that are on our wish list, but we are guided by a budget. With all of the help that we have and will receive (even extending to all those that helped us back home) I really think that we will be able to stay on the road to visit those countries."

This is Erin talking and typing..."It has all been an interesting and exciting experience for me so far. I'm discovering that with age (even though I'm only 28) comes a desire for the nicer things. I think back to our last trip in 96' and wonder how I got through it?!! I have definitely been struggling with the "clean" factor. It's a good thing we are sort of easing into it because I'm not sure I'd be able to handle a place like India right off the bat! No offense to those of you that are from India, I'm only going off of what I've heard. Anyways, I know that we are blessed beyond compare, and I try and let that be my focus." Hopefully in our next post we will have awesome Manta Ray photos from Palau and other exciting sea life. And maybe we'll even have some "Survivor Island" photos as well.

Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon

Chuuk is a wreck diver's paradise! With 64 WW II Japanese sunken ships in the lagoon, we've seen everything from bikes, to plates, sake bottles, trucks, tractors and of course marine life. I actually enjoy the fish more but it has been a great experience pentrating wrecks for the first time. Averaging 3-4 dives a day, we have gone the deepest yet (137 ft) and headed down companion ways with zero ambient lighting to see a fully intact wooden telephone booth with the phone still hanging on the hook. Thank you to Manong Jerry, Manang Helen, Peter and Lisa Aten who have given us the tour of the entire island and have done everything to make our stay absolutely incredible! Also, thank you to the Truk Agressor and their crew. Our week on the live aboard is the only way to dive the lagoon. We leave for Yap tomorrow and then on to Palau shortly after that.

FMP

Greetings from Guam!

Hi everyone!

Just a quick update to let you know we are currently in Guam.
Guam is a US territory for those of you who didn't know, and therefore it is very American.
The main attraction here is the mall. We've seen just about every retail chain there is, but believe it or not we have yet to see McDonald's or Starbucks, but I'm sure there is one of each somewhere!

Guam is a big Japanese tourist hang out, as it is just a short flight from Japan. Most everything is printed in Japanese and English. I have found the Japanese tourists the most interesting thing in Guam. They are very fun to watch, and the younger people have such a cool funky style. It's gotten me excited for our visit to Japan!

Our hotel here is very cute and right on the beach. It's called Hotel Santa Fe, and runs about $63 dollars a night. Not too bad for American standards, but we can't wait for a more 3rd world price.

We leave tonight for Chuuk. We hope to spend at least a week there, and plan to be visiting with some of Miles' extended family. I'm telling you those Filipinos are everywhere!
Which is also another thing about Guam, it has to be at least 95% Filipino here. When we landed and the first 3 or 4 people we encountered were Filipino and speaking Tagalog, Miles said, "are we in Guam or the Philippines?!" Our Filipino taxi driver didn't understand the question, and therefore didn't get the joke. He told us we were in Guam. Thanks for clearing that up!

Anyways, we'll keep you posted on things to come. I have a rough day of lounging by the beach ahead, so feel sorry for me!
Sending Much Love, Erin

Sloshball and Arrowhead Pictures

The 4th annual Sloshball fest was a little lighter than years past but we still had all the usual suspects - Keg stands, lumpia, Conness at 1st and quarters. It was great seeing all of you! We've got a good group of friends and it never ceases to amaze me that sometimes a year can go by before seeing some of you but we all pick up where we left off. I'll look forward to next years game. In the meantime, we're off to Chuuk, Micronesia for some diving. Palau, Yap, Tokyo and Beijing to follow. Here are some pictures from Sloshball and Lake Arrowhead (the previous post). Oki-Maka-be-sigh!

FMP