A walk in Kastiyu Wildlife Park

I had perhaps the longest walk I have ever taken since being on Tinian-- almost 10 miles! If I knew it was going to be that long, I'm sure I would not have gone...

My goal was to go up to the top of the Carolinas, where Kastiyu Wildlife Park is located (you can see the antennae at the top of the hill... it is somewhere up there...).

While cutting through the Broadway Estates, I noticed (actually, Terri pointed it out to me...) that the homes there were being re-painted yellow. Very nice!

I was surprised to see so many cute children along the way...

And many wild animals also... hmmmm... perhaps I got that mixed up! But really, I see so many interesting things along the way, it is easy to get confused...

The wildlife was everywhere

As I neared the top of the first section of hill, there is a beautiful apartment building. It would have one of the best views of the village on Tinian!

One always sees small cottages hidden away in the jungle

Once reaching the top of the first rise, I turned south along the ridge. There was a good road here, with power lines lining the way-- all ready for people to build new homes. But there were no homes here yet.

The road narrowed, as the jungle fought to recover its territory

I was once again surprised to find a large farm hidden behind head-high grass and jungle

After finding the 'secret gate' the area opened up, and a wonderful farm appeared!

As always, the flowering vines were everywhere, slowing taking over the island

They seem to always have either white or blue flowers. These flowers had tiny visitors...

It seems that most flowers I saw today had 'visitors'

These beautiful purple flowers are attached to a vicious weed-- it has stickers that sting like crazy after you hit one!

The road continued to close in, and I wondered if it would end all together...

I finally came to a fork in the road... it reminded me of a poem by Robert Frost. It is one of my favorite poems, as I feel I have often led my life in a similar way:

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler,

long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other,

as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood,

and I--I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Tinian is definitely a road less traveled... and this day, I ended up not returning this way again!

Kasitiyu Wildlife Park is up above the Carolinas subdivision, on top of mount Kastiyu. This is a picture of the sign near the road leading to the entrance.

I ended up at the back-door to the park! Oh well, all roads lead to Rome?

The road was not steep-- at least not as steep as the roads leading up to this point. And there were a number of switch-backs as I worked my way up the mountain.

Almost immediately upon entering the park, I noticed an increase in wildlife. There were many birds flying around (you don't see a lot of birds on Tinian, which is a surprise, since there are so many bugs here!); and lots of small critters (shrews?) crossed my path.

There were lots of larger trees, and many Flame trees (I will have to come back in the spring when they are in bloom!).

Sometimes the jungle attempted to re-claim the road to the top of the hill

and became very thick along the sides of the road

But then, the road would open up again, as it wound back and forth up the hill

And then it would seem to close down again

Occasionally there would be a break in the jungle, and I would be able to see the landscape below me: Here is the Dynasty Casino and the Tinian dock from (almost) the top of Kastiyu hill

And here is the village of San Jose (I usually call it the village of Tinian, but the actual name is San Jose)

And by leaning out a little, you can see Marpo Heights, and the road to the airport. I suppose you could see Saipan from here, but it was very cloudy and rainy, so visibility was low.

Finally, at the top of the hill, was the antennae that I had seen from the bottom

To my surprise, the top of the hill was much larger than expected (I had been told by Jim Bell that this was the case--he had walked up here last week some time, which had actually given me the desire to see it for myself... I had just been putting it off, because I knew it would be quite a walk!)

Here is a shot of the village from the top of the hill

The top of the hill flattened out into a large grassy area. It was just amazing how much land was on top of this hill!

No matter where one looks, there is another open meadow stretching out away from the road running through the park

Then, suddenly, there were lots of roads going this way and that, all stretched out into the distance to some unknown location

All along the way there were flowers-- with visitors...

And on each side of the road, open, grassy areas spread out as far as one can see!

All the while the roads continue to travel over the hill and down the other side.

Finally, in one open area, you could actually see Saipan in the distance, surrounded by clouds. I had been lucky so far, as the rain had been passing by me without actually hitting me.

I finally decided I was lost, and back-tracked to the last fork in the road. This time I took the road 'more' traveled... wanting to find my way out!

Once again, the road simply wound its way through large open areas

Finally! Signs of life and civilization! But which way to go? I assumed that going left would take me further into the park... so I decided to turn right...

It seemed the right way to go, as I could see the ocean in the distance.

But once again, the road turned and seemed to go on endlessly toward some unknown destination. I was getting tired, and darker clouds were moving in...

The road turned again, this time downhill--which was a good sign! Most of the roads on top of the hill were relatively flat.

Hurray! The front entrance to the park was in sight. I knew this road would lead down to a paved road that ran behind the Dynasty Casino, and up towards the Scenic Overlook.

To my right was a deep canyon (there are canyons on Tinian?),

with steep walls dropping down into the small valley below

On the other side of the road the landscape dropped off also, into a heavily wooded area

When I finally hit the paved road home, I found lots of tiny flowers lining the sides

There were many types and colors of flowers mixed together-- all I needed was a vase!

There were some flowers so tiny, it was hard to get a picture of them!

Home again, home again, jiggity jig...

Taga beach was quiet this morning

They continue to dig a big hole behind the new amphitheater

While another worker welds the new railing being installed on top of the wall for the bleachers

And other members of the crew finish building forms for additional concrete to be poured

Two young men at the Grace Christian Academy give me thumbs up for making it back alive!

Flowers, flowers, and more flowers!

My sore feet say: The end!