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Explore the island and enjoy photo opportunities at locations such as Ga'an point, the old Spanish bridge, the Magellan Monument, Bear's rock, Plaza de Espana and Maria Cathedral Basilica.
Have a lovely day on the island during this tour, with a picturesque drive full of photo opportunities. You will make a photo stop at Ga'an point -- the landing site of U.S. forces during the liberation of Guam. You'll view the old Spanish bridge during your drive, then enjoy another photo opportunity at the Magellan Monument in Umatac Bay, which honors explorer Ferdinand Magellan who discovered Guam in 1521. You'll drive by Bear's to -- a natural land form that depicts the shape of a bear and is over 50-feet high, then you'll visit Plaza de Espana, the location of the Governor's Palace during Spain's long reign. See original structures from 350 years ago, like the Chocolate House. Finally, you'll see Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica, a massive, beautiful Roman Catholic cathedral and the site of the first Roman Catholic Church in Guam. Notes: Wear comfortable walking shoes.
Our tour took us on a semi-circle around the southern half of Guam. The ship provided free shuttles running every 30 minutes from the port to the main city of Guam, Hagatna. The buses dropped people off and picked them up at the Agana Mall. You could also purchase shuttle transportation to the Micronesia Mall for $25 round-trip. The Micronesia Mall is in Tumon, a larger city in Guam that is about twice the distance from the Port as Hagatna.
This point of land was at the center of Agat landing beach. In July 1944, dense groves of coconut palms covered the area. After Americans secured the island, the Navy cleared the field and set up shelters here for more than 6,000 native Chamorros released from Japanese concentration Camps on the east side of the island. Today at Ga'an Point three flags are flown to commemorate those who died for their country: Americans, Chamorros, and Japanese.
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I don't know if this is the mountain mentioned in the tourist brochures, but Ga'an has the highest mountain in the entire world, sort of. If you measure the height of the mountain from its base which is at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, then this mountain is 36,000 feet tall, around 10,000 feet taller than Mount Everest. But, only about 1,000 feet of this mountain is above sea level so it is pretty short by standard mountain measurement standards. On the right above is a cross that the native Chamorros carry up to the top of the hill and plant every Easter.
Our tour buses at Umatac Bay Park. You can see both Umatac Bay and the Magellan Monument in the above right photo.
A closed elementary school due to lack of young children. What children still live in this village now go to an elementary school in another nearby village.
A massive, beautiful Roman Catholic cathedral and the site of the first Roman Catholic Church in Guam.
Our tour was supposed to end back at our ship at the port but Barbara convinced them to drop us off at the Agana Shopping Center instead. This is where the ship was running free shuttles every 30 minutes. We figure we could explore this shopping center and then take a free shuttle back to the ship. Several people on our tour bus decided to join us and get off at this shopping center.
We read that there were shops operated by native Chamoro people in the north end of the shopping mall and we managed to find them on the second floor of the mall. Most of them were closed because it was Sunday and they are a very religious people. However, a few of them were open and we visited and purchased a few things at those that were open.
We celebrated by doing a Mini Mule Tasting and each having the 4 mini mules that we liked followed by two very unique Martinis, one chocolate and one that tasted like espresso but wasn't. Then Debbie, who is our bartender at this bar sometimes, gave Barbara the above purse as a birthday present.
We continued our celebrating of the eve before Barbara's 70th birthday in the Grand Piano bar.
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