Joel's Island Tour

Joel wanted to take a family island tour before we go to Palau. He made a list of the places he wanted to visit. We started on Mount Santa Rosa. Santa Rosa is the name of the town in Ecuador where Marisol's family lives.

The Spanish ruled Guam for many years. Amelia and Joel visited the Chocolate House where the Spanish governor and his family sat and drank the customary hot chocolate each afternoon. See the Spanish coat of arms on the wall.

One of the symbols of Guam is the carabao (water buffalo), and one can find painted ones all over the island.

In Agaña, the capital of Guam, the Boy Scouts built a replica of the Statue of Liberty in 1950 to commemorate their 50th anniversary. However, this is not the original statue but a replica of the replica, which was destroyed by vandalism.
We watched the boats going out to sea at the Agaña Marina.
Joel and Amelia explored some of the caves used by the Japanese for hiding during the American reoccupation of Guam in July 1944. Talk about LIVING HISTORY!

Before we went home, we went swimming at Agat Beach. Agat is one of the two beaches (along with Asan) where the American forces landed on July 21, 1944, to capture Guam back from the Japanese. The Japanese treated the Chamorros (native Guamanians) very harshly and forced them to do much physical labor, building the caves, etc. The Americans were considered true heroes after freeing them from the Japanese.

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