Enter the air-plane of course. Our Christmas holiday gave us the opportunity to fly from Tokyo to Palau via Seoul, Korea.
Tucked away in the middle of the vast Pacific is the nation of Palau, legendary in our family as the home of my cousin Joel and his wife Laura.(More about Palau, click here) Over 40 years ago Joel fell in love with these beautiful islands and has lived there since. He has a doctorate in tropical agriculture and has become a central activist in educating and advocating for the unique environment of Palau.
Joel in a proper Palauan pose at home:
And his lovely wife Laura who is currently the Governor of her home state; on the beach with one of their sons:
We were thrilled to spend time with them as we explored a world we knew very little about... starting with a dramatic change from from a chilly Tokyo at -1 (C) to a humid, hot and tropical world at 28 to 30 (C).
Our first gift in Palau was to get to know Joel's family who graciously gave us an insight in Palauan food, language and culture. (Yes there is a Santa as well in Palau, only he was wearing a T-shirt and short sleeves!) At our Christmas we were astounded to sing Silent Night in 7 languages (!!!), all languages that are used currently or historically on this island:
Currently: English, Palauan, Sonsorolese (Laura's native language), Yapese (another nearby island), Hawaiian, Japanese (colonialists for 30 years) and German (previous colonizers before the Japanese). Laura's mother didn't speak much English whereas her father was fluent in English along with Sonsorolese, Palauan, Japanese, and Tobian)
We shared special gatherings with extended family where we had the opportunity to hear about traditional practices, about different clan cultures and family lineage, about unique ceremonies and some of the historical challenges facing the different regions on the island.
They introduced us to some of the ancient stone monuments from prehistory:
Our family and history conversations flowed aided by delicious picnics on various beaches prepared by Laura...
Joel's boat gave us the opportunity to explore extensively throughout the Rock Islands, one of the world's best locations for snorkelling and diving. Joel knew the nooks and crannies and took us into
magical places.
Deep into the mangrove swamps (where we almost lost our boat keys!)...
And to some of the prime snorkelling areas that he knew about...
We got quickly oriented to our new equipment...
And dove right in...
To the magical world of the coral reefs:
Wait... where's the snorkel? Laura's son is a researcher at the Palau aquarium and helped us understand what we were actually seeing in the ocean:
Joel was gracious enough to organise exposure to all types of tropical weather, including the howling tropical downpours soaking us to the bone in minutes...
And just in case we hadn't getting wet enough from the downpours, Joel took us to a "secret" water fall on the main island to enjoy a fresh water shower:
Our New Year's trip gave us the gift of remembering what a broad concept "Family" is and how family weaves together so many important values of caring, of history, of culture and of humanity. Thank you Joel, Laura and family!
It also gave us the gift of celebrating the magnificence of relatively unspoiled Nature on these tiny little islands of Palau out in the middle of the Pacific.
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