Guam Travel
My love affair with the island of Guam started about 35 years ago when
a friend of mine was stationed there in the U.S. Navy. Gary is a
musician who now lives in San Diego, but while in Guam he played his
guitar & mandolin in the Tree Bar at the Hilton Guam Resort.
And because he comes from San Antonio, he was billed as "Gary from
Texas."
Well, as you can imagine, after all the picture postcards and wonderful
stories from this beautiful Pacific island paradise, I knew I had to
add Guam to my must-see list and knew that sooner or later I'd travel
there.
Regrettably, it wasn't until March 2007 when I finally got my boots on
the ground there. But Guam touched my soul in such a profound way, and
especially since I could stay there for only 3 days, I'd
go
back again in a
heartbeat.
Two
Lovers Point from Gogna Beach
Red-eye Flight from Japan
Thanks to my loyal patronage of Air Canada through the years from
flying back to Houston, they awarded me with a free airline ticket to
Guam. Because of the strange scheduling though, I was routed through
Kansai International Airport in Osaka and didn't arrive in Guam until
the ungodly hour of 2:05 a.m.
Mt. Lamlam, the "World's Tallest Mountain"
Since it was a tad late to check into a hotel, after I rented a car I
drove down to the south part of the island and parked near the
trailhead for Mt. Lamlam, Guam's tallest peak.
At a height of only 1332 ft. (406 m), we're not talking about scaling
Mt. Everest here, but the locals point out that Mt. Lamlam is indeed
the world's tallest mountain, as measured from the bottom of the nearby
Marianas Trench, the deepest point in any ocean at 35,827 ft (10,920 m)
and hence the lowest known elevation on the surface of the planet.
After catching a few hours of shut-eye in my rental car, I got up
around 6 and started hiking up Mt. Lamlam to catch a breathtaking
sunrise from the top of the world around 6:30. Please have a look at
these pics in my Guam travel
album below.
Ritidian Point
Without question, my all-time favorite spot in Guam was Ritidian Point
at the far northern tip of the island. Right next to Andersen Air Force
Base, it has the prettiest long beach and strikingly beautiful blue
water I think I've ever seen. The only other place I've ever seen that
even comes close is Banzai Cliff in Saipan.
Ritidian Point is also a wildlife refuge which is home to endangered
fruit bats and sea turtles, and they were just in the process of
opening up a Visitors Center at the time I visited.
Guam Pictures
OK I'll admit, I'm not the best photographer in the world, partly
because
I've always been pretty conservative (read: cheap) in how many $ I was
willing to fork over for equipment. But what I've found thru the years
is it also has a lot to do with just being lucky enough to be at the
right place at the
right time.
I love the out-of-doors, and so sometimes I do get lucky. I hope you
have a chance to check out & enjoy my Guam travel pics linked
below.
You can view my entire Guam
Travel photo
set here.
Google Guam Map
Y'all Come Back Now, Ya Hear?
I have many more things to say about this wonderful place called Guam,
so please check back again soon as I add more details about Japanese
weddings and plans to relocate 20,000 U.S. Marines and their dependents
here from Okinawa, Japan.
Cheers,
Gary
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