This is the most unbelievable place ever. I know - you think I'm going to talk about the ocean life, the corals, the amazingly clear blue warm waters, the perfect stand up paddling conditions, and the totally unique picturesque Rock Islands. But NOOOOOOOO. That's not it at all.

For a few days about a month ago we were teaching Fuanes' wife Lani to drive. We've donated a chunk  of our boards, paddles and other gear to them to start their own business here: Stand Up Paddle Tours. When we leave, we plan to give them our car as well, so they can pick up their paddling guests. For that to be useful, Lanie needed to become a licensed driver, something she's never really needed to do.

Ok, so my mom came to visit and the only thing she wanted to do was see a crocodile.  Well, ok, that may not be entirely true, but this croc sure did want to see her. :)

Here is where she sat so as not to get in the way of the food the croc was trying to eat.

So, we've just returned from Thailand and the Philippines.  Wow, what a trip!  Since we are now back in Palau and still on dialup, I can only upload a few pictures, but the videos of the whale sharks are amazing!  Sorry I can't share them with you. :)

These gentle giants live at an Elephant Conservation Sanctuary.  They have all been rescued and live happily now a bit north of Chiang Mai.  Here they are at bathtime...

Just returned from a great trip to Angaur!  Could be my favorite island so far here in Palau - peaceful, beautiful, relaxing...

We hopped on this state boat/barge on Friday afternoon, expecting to return on Sunday, but after the 4 hour trip, we found out that the boat was rescheduled and not due to return until Monday...

 Back on December 20, 2008, I started the Great Basil Experiment of 2008. We bought a little planter box and followed the directions on the seed packet perfectly. I figured with the HOT, humid weather of Palau, that the basil would stand a better chance if kept inside. I got all excited when my first basil shoots erupted from the soil. I had visions of pesto in my head as I watched them grow bigger each day.

On January 1st the basil began to wilt. By January 4^th all the little basil shoots were lying face down in the dirt. It was time to order little teeny basil-sized caskets. It was evident that my basil plants would be leaving this earth for a far, far better place.

My dad came for a visit last week. He's not much of a water guy so we didn't do any stand up paddling or snorkeling, but we did do stuff. Here are just some of the highlights.

First we got a boat ride  from Koror, through the Rock Islands to Peleliu. Godwin, of Dophin Bay, is a great driver, guide, and all around good guy. We dropped us off at Giant Clam Beach while he took the rest of the folks on board over to Jelly Fish Lake for a swim.

We took a trip to Yap over my birthday weekend.  Going to Yap is definitely taking a step back in time as you will see from these pictures.  At the very end is a link to a video, so make sure you get to that point as it is VERY cool. :)  Or at least, we think so...

Here is where we stayed at a place called The Pathways...  If you got to Yap, this is the ONLY real option - unless, of course, you want to stay in  a place that resembles Motel 6 but with a fancy name and high prices...

Ok, so here's the video Rachel created earlier today.  We got a call from a friend, like I mentioned in my last post, and some fishermen from his village caught this in the area we paddled yesterday.  Sounds like they will be off eating this soon...

 

Oh yeah... some fishermen from the Fuanes' village caught this baby just out where we went paddling yesterday.  Kinda freaky... I'll post a video your children shouldn't watch a little later and update this post if it actually uploads. :)  So, until then, have a look at some pics...

Today we are on a Rainy-Day-Schedule. Since we couldn't go paddling today, and we had already played several rounds of Heads Up, 7-Up, Simon Says, and Duck, Duck Goose, we decided this was a good day to take care of some other business. Little did we know what adventures awaited us.

On the walk home from our workout, we saw there was a normal looking (aka: western looking) hair salon that opened at 11. We decided, against, our friend, Erin's advice , to go  and get our haircuts done here today instead of going all the way out to PPR. After lunch we headed out. Interesting experience.

First, the lady seemed hesitant to really cut Shauna's hair. Shauna had to keep telling her to take a little bit more off. That was until the lady pulled out a straight-edge razor. She used it to cut above Shauna's ears. Shauna wasn't going to dare ask her to tidy up the back side - not with that thing in her hand. We're still not sure what the baby powder spread over Shauna's ears as a finishing touch was all about.  In the end, Shauna's hair looked pretty decent so I deemed the hairstylist safe. My bad!

She asked what I wanted. I said I wanted my same hair cut, just shorter.