New Year's Eve in Guam

Chris got up just before 8 to call the wildlife park to get on the list for the cave tour. But they told him there was only one tour today and it was at 9. Chris woke me to ask if I wanted to try to get there at 9. But I figured with a 30-40 minute drive, I would not have time to adequately prepare. So we decided to do another falls today. We had breakfast and read e-mail.
I looked up reviews for Talafofo Falls Park. One reviewer said to bring a bathing suit so we put ours on under our clothes. We were warned about a small grove containing statues in questionable positions. Love Land.
Chris set the tablet to guide us to Talafofo falls. A woman's voice told us which way to turn. But Chris wanted to go another way. After a while, she gave up. But inexplicably, in the middle of a small town, she came back to life and guided us the rest of the way. We arrived in a parking lot outside what looked like a small amusement park. Chris bought tickets. The lady charged him $12@ but the sign said $20. We walked into a pavilion and took a pic of the mural showing the hiding place that Yokoi made for himself. He lived there 28 years after the USA took the island back from the Japanese. Then we walked out the other side and saw the bumper car ride, but it was not in motion.

Turning right, we entered Love Land. A reviewer had called it artistic, but some of it was downright pornographic. Then we came to the haunted house. We skipped that and proceeded past the shooting range to the tower. Chris climbed all the way up, but I was saving my leg strength for later. From the tower, we were going to walk to the falls, but the road was marked “No Trespassing”, so we had to wait in line to take the cable car. There were two at a time and they only left when two returned from the falls.
At the other end, we were very close to the falls. It was actually a set and we were in the middle. We walked down to the lowest part and across in front. Then we crossed a swaying foot bridge to get to the museum. But the museum was a winding corridor lined with murals showing the history of the island. We also walked the winding path to Yokoi's hiding place. The pictures there were explained in Japanese only. But you could see the entrance and how close it was to the river. It was very close to the tower. Walking would have been much faster. We also wandered about the gift shop. But the widely varied selection of clothing there gave it the feel of a thrift shop. I did not see anything I wanted.
So we walked to the upper part of the falls. There was a sign that said “No Swimming”. But we found a shady rock to sit on and I dangled my feet in the water. It was bliss. At least until I felt something brush my foot. Instantly my feet were out of the water. I looked down to see a spiny creature scuttling away. I put my foot back in and he came back. I tried to take it's picture. Chris came over to look and said it was a prawn. I guess my feet are prawn bait. I found another place to sit and eventually another prawn found me. Again we tried to take pics. Then we went back to catch the tram to the entrance.

There were a pair of deer behind a fence and we walked over there to see them, then we left the park. I had brought our last half of coconut. I scraped it out to feed us as Chris drove. We decided to avoid traffic and drive around the southern tip of the island.
We passed a small beach park and decided to visit. There was no sand, only rocks but it was the most beautiful place I had ever seen. From every angle, in every direction, no matter where you stood, it was gorgeous. It wasn't possible to take a bad picture. Even straight down, you could see the rocks and fish through the clear water. I walked through the water to a small island ('though probably not at low tide). Chris took off his shoes and followed. If I hadn't had my Xero shoes on, I don't think I could have walked on the rocks. I found a shady place to stand in the water. Chris brought a towel and I folded it to cover the sharp rocks (coral) so I could sit. Every now and then I swam out into the cove, but was afraid of getting too much sun. An Asian couple were tossing bits of Vienna sausage into the water to feed the fish. We stayed there for hours, enjoying the view and the water. It was almost 3 when we left.
We drove on around. We stopped at a park memorializing an old Spanish fort. The bones of the fort were still there. On from there, we passed a fruit stand. Another lady pulled up just as we did and she honked her horn until somebody came out. He was so nice and friendly. He was charging $5 for a big clump of small bananas and the green oranges were 3 for $1. I only had $5, but he gave me bananas and oranges anyway. And his last papaya. It wasn't ripe, but he said if we came back in a day or two, he would have one. On the road again, we passed several cemeteries. They were so colorful, that we stopped to take pics. I wondered if their people were buried above ground.

Eventually we made it back to the hotel. Chris gathered up the laundry and headed to the laundromat while I took a nap. When I woke up, he put the pork in the oven to re-heat and made lentils and Brussels sprouts. He said it was hard to do without the proper kitchen utensils. I ate my supper, then read e-mail. I watched a BBC expose on poorly made surgical instruments coming from Pakistan. We folded laundry. I put mine away and washed the dishes. I read e-mail for awhile. We thought we heard fireworks. I rushed to get dressed and ran outside, but it was a false alarm. I went back to my e-mail. I downloaded 120 pics from Chris' camera. Then I e-mailed 14 from my phone to my gmail account. I used the pictures to remind me of what we did today. Then we watched one episode of The Finder. Chris went to bed and I stayed up to wait for fireworks.