All About Palau

That's right, Palau. As in, the place where Burr and I are going this weekend. To snorkel. To take a WWII Battle Site tour. To lay in the sun. To (probably) get sunburned. To read a book. To Survive...

Ok, that last one is just in reference to the TV show "Survivor." Palau was the setting for Season 10 back in 2005. Any of you who actually watch the show have a big head start on me as to what to expect this weekend! I had never heard of the Republic of Palau until Burr mentioned us going a few weeks ago.

Here is what I've learned from Wikipedia:

Palau (pronounced /pəˈlaʊ/), officially the Republic of Palau (Palauan: Beluu er a Belau), is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, some 500 miles (800 km) east of the Philippines and 2000 miles (3200 km) south of Tokyo. Having emerged from United Nations trusteeship (administered by the United States) in 1994, it is one of the world's youngest and smallest nations. In 1989 Palau was ranked and listed by CEDAM International as the ranking Number 1 Underwater Wonder of the World out of the seven underwater wonders. It is sometimes referred to in English under its native name Belau.

We will arrive in Palau on Friday afternoon and have all day Saturday to play and explore on our own. Sunday we will take an all day tour of the WWII battle sites at Peleliu. Here is what Wikipedia has told me about that!

Peleliu was the scene of intense fighting between American and Japanese forces beginning September 1944 resulting in an Allied victory --though the cost in human terms was high for both sides. After WWII, the United Nations played a role in deciding the U.S. would administer Palau as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Eventually, in 1979, Palauans voted against joining the Federated States of Micronesia based on language and cultural differences. After a long period of transition, including the violent deaths of two presidents (Haruo Remeliik in 1985 and Lazarus Salii in 1988), Palau voted to freely associate with the United States in 1994 while opting to retain independence under the Compact of Free Association.

There are still roughly 100 American service members listed as Missing In Action (MIA) in Palau since WWII. Since 1993, a small group of American volunteers called The BentProp Project have searched the waters and jungles of Palau to attempt to locate information that can lead to the identification and recovery of remains of these American MIAs.

I can't wait to get there and check it all out! This is kind of like a Spring Break trip for us and we are definitely ready for it! March was just WAY TOO STRESSFUL!!!

Talk to you soon!
Rachel