Talafofo & Jungle River Cruise

Gracie convinced me to let Lydia skip school for the remainder of the week and Lydia was thrilled. We woke up early one morning and after Johne left for school (he hates missing school) we piled into the car and drove to Talofofo. We had to stop and check out the gorgeous views of the island and the ocean. 

Then we headed down to the bay to load for the Jungle River Cruise. 

I spotted some mango's in the tree. Mmmm! 

Inside the tourist area and gift shop they have a room dedicated to this Japanese soldier who spent 28 years living in the jungle on Guam. He was afraid to be captured and just stayed hidden for all of those years. I want to get my hands on his book. His story sounds fascinating. 

We had some time to kill so we walked passed the boat dock and over to the ocean to explore. 

This black sand is beyond soft. It felt like we were walking on a pillow top mattress. 

We all got nice and muddy before the boat cruise so we found a nice worker with a hose who let us clean up a bit. 

Our tour guide was so loads of fun, he made the kids all sorts of creative things out of palm leaves, they offered refreshments, let us throw food to the crabs and cat fish.....etc. They even played a prank on the Japanese tourists using a fake spider. It was very entertaining. 

We got off the boat to do some exploring. This is a old home built on latte stones. 

Our guide told us all about the fruit trees, flowers and trees. 

Birds of paradise. 

Ginger. 

These lovely ladies made baskets, hats, fans and many more things for us to take home. 

Our guide showed how to start fire. He made it look easy and then Tyson gave it a whirl. 

They had a few animals caged up for us to see. Deer, pigs, crab......

and a cariboa. 

I love this shot of the two girls together. 

Let me mention for the record that Gracie is 10 years old (almost 11) and Lydia is 7. Lydia has a good inch on her. Its true. 

Gracie won this waterbottle holder. Very cool! 

After our Jungle cruise we headed to Jeff's Pirate Cove for a nice view and some burgers. 

Sharing this island with family is so much more fun than we had anticipated. Ali and Gracie loved everything about it so far and it made us appreciate it all the more too.