The Palau Adventure - Takeoff

6 months or so ago, my father announced that we were going to Palau, no exceptions. It has been at least 7 years since we have taken an official family trip. It's a place I saw in National Geographic growing up, but never really imagined I would go and has been known to have the best diving in the world. Fantastic! My first scuba trip and it's all downhill from here.

Sayin' hey to Hawaii on the way (I still miss it)

Flight out of Dallas was 5:40am to Houston, then to Hawaii, then to Guam, then finally to Palau. 24+ hours later, we finally made it. We arrived around 9pm met with the owners of the live-aboard to discuss route plans, and headed to bed after watching a video of sharks rip apart  manta ray that had died the day before. You could hear all the ripping and chewing. Sound is crazy underwater.
Where the hell is Palau!? You might ask. It's right here, in the middle of the Pacific! What is Palau? Remember the Battle of Peleliu?

Palau was declared independent in 1994. Their first language is a local Palauan language and second is English. So far, everyone has been extremely friendly, people in cars waving and yelling good morning as they passed us on our morning walk. Lots of dogs, and chickens. SO MANY Chickens. And if you wear more than shorts and T-shirt, you are overdressed.

My first impression is similar to Hawaii and Taiwan. Very tropical and jungly. We encountered these neat little ground ferns that close when you touch them. Many of the chickens we saw were tied up so they wouldn't run off (or most likely fight each other). They were also of the cock fighting variety, so maybe these were the special, prize chickens.

                               

After exploring Koror for a while, the most populated city of Palau, we made our way to the dock where we were greeting by a swarm of goldens, Mochi quickly losing interest in us to go chase crabs on the dock. She's never caught one.

All aboard Ocean Hunter III, the newest and largest of the Ocean Hunter fleet. Previously an Australian research vessel, this boat was perfectly renovated and equipped for diving and rough seas.