Friday, January 30, 2009

An afternoon swim at Taga

We went to swim this afternoon and as usual, we drove up to see the progress on the new casino.

I noticed that they have built what I assume are water collection boxes, where the rainwater from the roof is fed into the top.

There has not been much building since we were last here. They have extended their gardens though...

There are two large rectangular holes that have been dug. I'm not sure if these are for foundations of buildings to be built, or just catch basins for runoff from the site.


On the way to our swim we passed some children playing a game. It sort of looked like Red Rover, but they did some other running around, so I'm not sure what they were doing... but they were having fun!


Taga beach looked great, with small waves. It was high tide, to the water came up quite far onto the beach.

We arrived at the same time as a family of tourists, with two little boys.

Terri head out into the warm water...

And is soon casually floating out to sea...

Day trip to Kastiyu Park

With a new MD now working at the Clinic, Terri was able to get some time off, without call. So we decided to go on a day trip into Kastiyu Park. There is a lot of area up on top of the Carolinas hill, and a lot of road that has been built to get to various overlooks and WWII sites.

On the way up the road, a small side-road opened onto a wonderful view of the village, the Dynasty casino and the Tinian beaches

Not a bad view! One day this will be where someone will build their home! It is still hard to believe the colors of the water here on Tinian.

As you enter the first gate of the Park, on the left is a wonderful canyon, that looks as though it could be somewhere in Utah.

After a couple of turns, the roads seem to stretch out quite far into the distance. The top of this hill is incredibly large--both very long and very wide. Taking the first major road to the right leads you to an overlook that looks down upon the Suicide Cliff monument site.

Once on top of the hill, it is easy to see quite far into the distance. This is a view of the end of the airport runway from on top of the hill.

You can see how open it is up on top of the hill! Off in the distance you can see Saipan.

Terri and I at the first overlook

Terri is leaning against the protective wall at the overlook. In the back you can see the Suicide monument below, and Marpo Point off in the distance.

This is a close-up of the Suicide monument far below and to the left of the cliff.

At this overlook there are at least two caves that open-up onto the face of the steep cliff, where, I assume, the Japanese lived, watched and waited for the Marines to invade.


Directly below is where a popular sea-wall overlook is located. The sea-wall must be 200-300' high to the plateau below, and we must be another 500' or so above that.

The next overlook is in Kastiyu Wildlife Park. To the right, unseen around the cliff, is the Suicide cliff memorial we saw before.

To the left we are much closer to Marpo Point that was far in the distance before.

Terri and I standing (literally) at cliff side with Marpo Point in the distance.

Once in the wildlife preserve there are a lot of animals and birds to see and discover.

Here is one of the 'guest cottages' that are being built in the wildlife park for use in overnight camping.

Some wild turkeys I captured on camera as they ran for cover

Yet another cabin in the wilderness, at the end of a road that runs the length of the wildlife park.

At this point, the park has curved enough that you can see Suicide cliff memorial off in the distance. At the first overlook, it was far off to our left. Now it is far off to our right!

Directly below (far below) the land flattens out again before reaching the sea-wall. We are told there are goats and deer down on the plateau. There is a trail leading from the top of the cliff, down and across the plateau to the sea (you can see the trail cut across the jungle).

Here is the inside of the pre-fab cabins being built (this is unfinished, having just been put together).

Terri standing in the door of one of the cabins being built.

Once again, Marpo Point is still to our left.

In walking back through the park, we found other overlook sites where you could see the Suicide cliff memorial.

A couple of turtles in their personal spa



One of several lizards they have to see at the park

Many kinds of birds and animals seemed to cross our path as we wandered around the park

As we continue to explore the upper plateau, there are great views of Tinian below

The road often seemed to simply go off into the distance forever. Once on top of the hill, it just seems incredibly large.

As usual, wonderful flowers and plants can be seen all along the roads traveled



At the end of one road that branched off and headed north, there was yet another WWII site, where, I assume, the Japanese had hidden caves.

There was an altar and memorial here at one time, but the brass plaque had been removed. This cave was so large, they actually built concrete steps so that you can walk down into the cave. This is just one of a series of caves in this area.

This is just another entrance to the caves

And another entrance

Some of the entrances had guards at the door...

Inside the large cave there was not much to see, just a large empty cave.

And here is a picture inside the cave looking out at the entrance

You can see the steps leading down into the cave entrance

More steps led to even more caves in this area

This large stone or volcanic growth seemed to guard over this cave complex

Just another road leading off to who knows where on top of this huge plataeu. We could see the ocean in the distance, so we assumed that this would bring us to an overlook.

A wall is a good indication of an overlook!

Terri looking off into the distance. To the left you can see the island of Saipan.

There was a beautiful tree growing out of the side of this cliff

The flower is very large and very bright in color

Terri and I at the overlook-- couldn't find a place to get us and the view in the same shot!

But here is the view of the east side of Tinian. As you can see, there are no beaches, just an endless sea-wall stretching off into the distance!

To the right was the cliffline we had been following north

Directly below the cliff was a flat plateau that stretched out until it hit the sea-wall, which then drops another distance into the ocean.

To the left you can see the east side of Tinian stretched out to the north, and Saipan sitting under the shadow of rainclouds in the distance.
We had come to the end of the road, and retraced our trip into Kastiyu Park. One needs a car or a scooter to get to these sites, as it is quite a long distance. We spent a good four hours exploring the park, and I'm sure, just hit the highlights.
We will be sure to return again.