Guam North

We discovered yesterday the Guam National Wildlife Refuge, Ritidian Beach, and Mt. Machanao. This area, wedged in between the Northwest Field of Andersen Air Force Base and the ocean, is at the northern most tip of Guam and includes ancient ruins and petroglyphs (via walking trails), World War Two historic sites (a cave where US radiomen, smuggled onto the island before the US invasion, were hidden by the Chamorro who had escaped the Japanese), and the most beautiful beach we've seen so far on Guam, with warm, coral filled waters, pristine sand, and plenty of shade. We'll be back to explore further when better equipped.

Above, approaching the beach, the wildlife refuge below, and Mt. Machanao on the right.

The beach, on a beautiful Saturday - probably about as crowded as it ever gets. The beach is laid out almost like a campground - you can drive along a narrow dirt road that runs parallel to the beach and find evenly spaced parking spots with benches and sometimes tables in the shade.

A view of Mt. Machanao, from the beach parking area. The mountains on the north of the island are not as high as the south; Machanao is about 600 feet high. The southern mountains are much denser and twice as high.

We also made it to one of the top tourist attractions on Guam (which is all of five minutes from our apartment; go figure why it took us so long....): Two Lovers Point. The legend goes...well, I don't have to explain - does every tropical island have a tall point where ill-fated lovers chose suicide rather than living apart? Probably.

Above, looking south, with, well, two lovers in the foreground? The area is a very popular wedding site, too, with plaques listing all the names of the hundreds of couples that have been married there, overwhelmingly Japanese.