Guam - Where America's Day Begins - A Tropical Paradise!

Photo: View of Cetti Bay from the roadside overlook.
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The island, the culture, the languages, the people. All a fascinating kaleidoscope of experiences and images.

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Some of the sights we saw on Guam gave us a lot to think about. Some of our fellow teacher friends and their families lived in a Quonset Hut--this strange-looking building was made of corrugated, galvanized steel and looked like half a culvert laid on its side in the boonies. To prevent typhoons from taking off with the building, cables were strung across the top and bolted to concrete anchors that had been poured into the ground on both sides of the structure. The interior of the Quonset had this soft rounded look that was neat... but you had to be careful standing up if you were near the sides, because you could risk cracking your head on the "low wall/ceiling". With its louvres in the side panels open to allow a tropical breeze to flow through, a Quonset hut viewed at night from the boonie road would put off an inviting glow. (Of course, if it was the season for termites to be flying, this "inviting glow" wasn't something that was really desirable.)

Alas, after my 12 years on the island and a bunch of "super-typhoons", by the time I left the island, most of the Quonset Huts and other non-concrete buildings had "gone with the wind"... and were very rare on the island. I'm sure that even fewer are there now--with each passing typhoon, pieces fly away.

A view of the southeastern end of Tumon Bay from near the Dai-Ichi hotel beach (central Tumon Bay). The building seen on the beach is the Guam Hilton Hotel. The building on the horizon is the Guam Memorial Hospital.

While living on Guam, our family spent a lot of time at the beach. Whether it was in the evening after school or work (or even in the morning before before school or work), and most definitely on weekends and holidays.. the beach was the place to go and do things. We'd swim and snorkel in the clear turquise reef flat water, have barbeques and picnics under the shade of the trees along the beach, take turns playing guitar, and enjoy the fresh breeze wafting in from the ocean. Just down the road from my first school on the island (Inarajan) was a natural salt-water pool... and we'd occasionally zip down there during lunch hour for some "play-time" before coming back to class for the afternoon. Yeah, we'd be sopping wet... and no wonder that most of the classroom seats were starting to rust (salt water will do that!).

This article just in: Barron's Why Living on Guam--and other US Island Territories--is So Great!

You want a taste of Guam? Try the papayas and hot "boonie peppers" listed in a module below!

Land Critters

Well, I have to admit, my first favorite critter on Guam is Guam's cousin of the Komodo Dragons, the Mangrove Monitor (or what the locals call an "iguana" -- based on what the Spaniards thought they were seeing based on the big lizards they found in the New World when they started exploring in the 1500's). Our family had a "close encounter" with one of these critters (a 3 to 4 footer) only a few days after we arrived on the island. It was next to our house's backdoor. My mom saw it and was ready to pack up and move back to the U.S. where the lizards rarely get larger than a foot long.

Then, a few weeks after we arrived on Guam, my mom encountered another of Guam's reptiles--the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis). This critter really got mom doing the screaming and yelling. Because the snake was coiled around the fuse box in the kitchen--next to the refrigerator and the kitchen sink. Made for another interesting dialog about leaving the island or staying on the island (we stayed!).

My next favorite critter on Guam is the fruitbat or flying fox. We encountered this critter for the first time when we attended a village fiesta and decided to check out the other ingredients in the big stewpot of corn soup. Needless to say, when we ladled out a part of the bat, it was an experience to remember. Hey, memory food. Once you've tried it, you never forget it!

Then, you can't go far on Guam (at least near the Southern Areas of the island) without encountering a Carabao (the domesticated water buffalo). When I attended school at Inarajan Junior High, a farmer would tie up his carabao on the field next to the school. One of those days, the carabao got loose somehow and wandered over to investigate our math class. It was interesting to see our math teacher chasing the thing out of our classroom with a ruler. School never seemed the same after that experience.

Another critter that got my mom's attention when we first moved into our home on the island was the Gecko. This lizard is interesting with its ability to not only climb the walls (and even windows!) but also to race across the ceiling to chase cockroaches, moths, mosquitos, and even smaller geckos! This lizard also makes a chirping/clicking noise that can keep you up all night while it's out hunting for vittles.

After you've gotten aclimated to Guam's amazing scenery, you will want to explore more. This type of "trekking" into the remote areas of the island is fondly called "boonie stomping" ("boonie" or "boondocks" is a Filipino/Tagalog word adopted by U.S. military folks from the WWII time-frame. It means "forest" or "mountain" in Tagalog). Well, if you do a lot of boonie stomping, you will eventually find yourself becoming a meal--not only to the mosquitos, but also to Ticks... yeah, they aren't very pretty to look at, and they have disgusting habits, but you should at least be aware of them.

Water Critters

Okay, Guam is surrounded by water. And beautiful Coral Reefs. Duh. So, it would make sense that you at least dip your tippy-toe into the beautiful water at Tumon Bay, Pago Bay, Talofofo Bay, and Merizo lagoon. Even better, get a mask and snorkel or SCUBA diving equipment (get some training first, however!), and check out the underwater sights!

Of course, when you get in the water near the ocean, what critter might you think of first? Yup. Sharks. As long as you stay inside the reef on the reef flat with your snorkeling, you most likely don't have to worry about sharks too much. IF you dive, however, you should be more aware of your surroundings and not carry large quantities of freshly killed fish with you. Uh, sorta DUH, here, ya think?

A fish that you wouldn't suspect of being dangerous (because it looks like a *ROCK* for one), is the venomous Stonefish. I got careless once and inadvertently stepped on one of these things in Pago Bay. Not pleasant. If you step on one and get the spine, seek medical attention IMMEDIATELY!

Don't think it's just the fish that can get you. Even what you would think is a slow "snail" can get you--if you mess with the wrong kind! When we first arrived on Guam, we attended a meeting by the Guam Shell Club--and saw a movie about the Cone Shells--it was an eye-opener and gave us a more informed respect for the ocean life around the island.

Then, of course, there's the octopus. You can see them on the reef and while diving once in a while. And... you can see them in various delicious island dishes at fiestas as well!

Other tasties you can find on the reef and while diving are the Shrimps. Well, there are freshwater prawns, deepwater shrimp, reef shrimps, and mantis shrimps (you don't want to mess with the mantis shrimps--they are defensive and can take off a finger or give a nasty cut to unsuspecting finger pokers).

They are sort of rare nowadays, but sometimes you might find a Sea Turtle coming up on a remote beach. Because they are endangered species, you must leave them alone. But it's still cool to see them when you discover one. You may also see them if you are out on a boat or SCUBA diving around Guam's reefs.

On the reefs around Guam, you can also find interesting starfish. There's the common blue "linkia" starfish and a smaller orange one that you'll find all over the reefs. A little more rare are the puffed-up balloon style starfish, the knobby starfish, and the Acanthaster planci "crown-of-thorns" starfish. Be careful around the "crown-of-thorns" starfish if you see one--the spines can make a nasty injury.

Another somewhat hazardous (yet beautiful) fish is the "lionfish", "turkeyfish", or "featherfish". This fish is graceful and floats gently among the corals--but don't be fooled. If you tick one off, it can attack by lowering its head and aiming its dorsal spines at you. The spines, like those of the stonefish are venomous and can cause a nasty wound. These fish are better viewed from a distance.

Sea urchins are also common on Guam's reefs. Be careful around them, because their spines can also inflict a bad wound. However, if you go to a Japanese restaurant on Guam, you can enjoy sea-urchin egg sushi.

Well, sea cucumbers aren't vegetables (like their name implies), but rather, they are related to the sea urchins and the starfish. They are weird-looking critters. Most of them don't move much, but just screen through the sand like an earthworm screens through dirt. There's more information about them, but you'll have to go to the link in this paragraph to find out more about them.

You also have to be aware of jellyfish and portuguese man-o-war. Sometimes it's difficult to see their stinging tentacles when you are snorkeling or diving. Just be careful. Be particularly careful after typhoons--the storms can break up the tentacles and spread free-floating stinging cells and tentacles over the reef flats of the island.

No exploration of the reef would be complete without seeing a triggerfish or Humuhumunukunukuapua'a--the official fish of Hawaii but also common on Guam's reefs. It's a cool-looking fish and fun to chase around when you are snorkeling on the reef.

Another triggerfish you can occasionally see when you're diving on the reefs around Guam is the clown triggerfish. These fish can be feisty--and they have a nasty bite--so be careful when swimming around them.

Low tide view of Two Lover's Leap at the northwestern end of Tumon Bay with perhaps Ritidian Point showing in the distance.

Archeological sites on Guam indicate that the island has been inhabited by humans for many years before Magellan stumbled upon the island in 1521 during his (or at least, his fleet's) circumnavigation of the world. Before long, Spain had claimed the island as one of its possesions, and used the island as a re-provisioning station for its Manila Galleons (Did you know that they got really good milage with those ships? At least 10,000 miles per galleon! --just kidding...!).

The Spanish had control for almost 300 years--until the Spanish-American War... when the U.S. gained control of the island (which they used for a coaling-station and reprovisioning station for their ships).

On December 8, 1941--at the same time they were attacking Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, the Japanese attacked and gained control of the island.

It was almost 4 years later that the island was recaptured and "liberated" from the Japanese by the U.S. forces.

Now, the island is a modern and beautiful tropical paradise... and most of the tourists on Guam are from Japan and Australia, with tourists also coming from China, Korea, and the U.S. Mainland.

One of the main attractions of the island are the fantastically bio-diverse coral reefs--SCUBA divers and snorkelers have a treat waiting for them when they enter the warm Western Pacific waters of Guam.

When we moved to Guam, we noticed that it was really GREEN! Behind our house near Inarajan we had a row of banana plants. We eventually learned that there were many different kinds of bananas that grew on the island. Some were the sweet, tiny, finger-sized bananas... others were the big, thick, and starchy plantain cooking bananas. Even the leaves of the banana plant (it's really an herb!) are used, as are the banana flower.

Across the street from our house was a huge breadfruit tree. The tree provided welcome shade druing the hot days. We learned to cook the breadfruit by slicing it into thin pieces, then frying it, and then lightly salting it before eating it like potato chips or like french fries. You can also cook a ripe breadfruit by rolling it onto a campfire--wait until one side is blackened, then roll it over and cook the other side briefly. Once the other side starts to blacken, roll the fruit out of the fire and cut it in half with a machete. When the inside of the fruit is scooped out and eaten, it tastes like sweet potato or yam.

In our front yard, once we cleared out all the razor-sharp sword-grass that made our "lawn", we discovered a coconut that had sprouted with a small 3-foot high single frond.. We decided to leave it there as an "ornamental" addition to the yard. Behind our house was the crown of a mature coconut palm--I could look out my bedroom window and watch the bees gathering around the coconut flowers and then through the season watch the flowers develop into small acorn-like baby coconuts and then the large green "young" coconuts and finally the brown "end-products". The coconut palm next to my bedroom window was a 20-footer at least--but because the underbrush was so heavy, we didn't realize this until we had hacked away the underbrush to discover the cliff next to the house.

Also surrounding our house--and seemingly every road on the island--were stands of a mimosa-like tree called by the natives, "tangantangan" (or maybe "tangentangen" --hyphen between the tangans optional). This stuff grew like a weed (in some places of the world it's considered a pesky weed)--but for us, after we figured out how to "tame" the trees.. they became a nice source of firewood for our barbeques, which, because of frequent power outages during typhoons and other reasons, were a regular occurrence.

Other fruit trees we had near our house were papayas. These fruits were the small, wild ones--they had very little meat to them and a lot of seeds. But if you could scrape out the meat, they were sweet. The larger papayas were also available on the island (and which we started growing near our house) were among the larger varieties (there are a lot of varieties). These are tasty fruits--great for breakfast!

Pineapples grow on the island, but they aren't common. They are still nice to find--they are among a bunch of other "bromeliads" that grow in the forests of Guam. Fresh picked ripe pineapples are a great treat, however.

An interesting tree that one sees when driving around the island is the kapok or "cucumber tree". These trees have seed pods that resemble cucumbers--and when they lose their leaves, they look even stranger. The seed pods are filled with silky fibers that in pre-nylon and synthetic fiber years was used as filling for pillows, stuffing for dolls, and bouyancy-providing filler for life-preservers.

Other strange-looking trees on the island are the pandanus or "screw-pine" trees. They look a lot like those drawn by Dr. Seuss. And their fruits resemble pineapples--so the trees are sometimes called "tourist pineapples"--because tourists mistake them for pineapples.

And then you have the attractive palm trees called cycads or sago palms. They used to cut these trees and tie them to the roof supports in the old Kinney's restaurant on the back road to Anderson Air Force Base. The fruits of the cycads used to be harvested and processed through a lengthy procedure into flour for tortillas... but then it was found that the fruits contained other stuff in addition to the cyanide, so this practice has been discontinued.

The "noni" or Morinda citrifolia is also common on Guam. The ripe fruit is sort of stinky and sticky--and it's used for medicine in many Pacific islands. It's now commonly sold in liquid form at health-food stores. But since the fruit is also commonly known as "barf-fruit" (in the vernacular of the many Pacific islands), most folks don't go running to harvest these things.

In certain areas, you could find huge stands of bamboo--this attractive and versatile plant seemed predominate along the banks of the Talofofo river, and in some of the low-lying areas of Barrigada, Mong-Mong-Toto, Chalan Pago, and Mangilao. Almost everywhere near the non-tourist oriented beaches you could find small "party-huts" constructed with bamboo framing and sides and with bamboo leaf or coconut palm frond thatched roofs. A favorite place for us to gather were the huts alongside the Inarajan salt-water reef pool.

One of our favorite Guam fruits was the mango--these grew year-round around the island and were a refreshing treat. Very sweet, juicy, and tasty. At the time, we didn't know that the mango trees were relatives to poison sumac and poison ivy.. and that the sap and pollen from these trees can seriously affect those who are allergic or have severe reactions to poison ivy and poison oak. Luckily, we weren't affected by this more insidious aspect of the trees and their fruits.

Perhaps the weirdest fruit we saw on Guam was the "langka" or jackfruit. This fruit is a relative of the breadfruit, but is way larger, has a spiny skin, and has a more citrussy (?) fruit (at least as for the taste).