Spring time in the Tropics

One of the best things to do in the Springtime on Guam is to get out and watch and swim with the sea life. I have a friend named GiGi that snorkels everyday at 6 am with the Manta Rays at Gun Beach. They just swim right past her and their smooth skin brushes right up against her. It's incredible!

Since I am still getting kids ready for school at 6 am, a few of us gals went out at 8 am to go kayaking to Finger Reef Beach where the 300 lb, 4 ft long Haggan Sea Turtles lay their eggs .

When female Haggan turtles reach about 23 years of age, they crawl onto the sandy shoreline of Guam from April to July and dig a large pit and lay 40-140 eggs, and then cover them with sand. They can lay as many as six clutches of eggs in one nesting season and the eggs take 50 to 90 days to hatch. The eggs will hatch at sunrise when two-inch long hatchlings emerge from their eggs, dig up through the sand, and start their journey to sea. It is a hard journey and while some are lost to the crabs and Sea Hawks that snatch them off the shore, many persevere and make it to the protective surf and ocean to fulfill their destiny.

So we head off with high spirits from Gab Gab beach in the bright sun to Finger Reef to see the turtles.

We paddled out to the reef's edge and left our smooth turquoise water behind and headed out to deep blue ocean.
One of the double kayaks in our group capsized from the big waves and one poor gal lost her brand new $400 waterproof camera. (Unfortunately 200 feet down is too deep to retrieve by scuba diving-- though there was a submarine out there just surfacing and I am sure they could have snagged it.) We secured our belongings and headed for deeper water. It was tiring paddling for under an hour in rough choppy water but my friend Nan and I were determined to make it to Finger Reef. Some of the less experienced paddlers, turned back for fear that even if they made it to the beach, they wouldn't make it back to the ocean with the strong current and giant waves.
Luckily, I timed it just right and 2 huge waves literally threw me right onto shore. At one point I thought I would tip over but those abdominal core strength exercises from Yoga class helped me stay upright.

We snorkeled and explored a rock island nearby and saw sea urchins on shore but didn't see any of the pits where the turtles lay their eggs or mamma turtles. Bummer! We just prayed for a safe journey for the baby turtles that would make a run for the sea in June and July.
We also prayed that we would find a lull in the waves and make it safely out into the ocean and over the reef without capsizing. We watched three different times kayaks being flipped over when the pounding waves hit gals in our group (if you have seen Tom Hanks in the movie "Cast Away" trying to make it over the reef, you know what we were up against) The ocean behind us here doesn't show the high tide and height of the waves we were up against.
Our guide gave sage advice that applies to most everything in life "keep the nose of the boat pointed straight ahead no matter what. Do not deviate right or left or you will get knocked over." I honestly felt like one of those little sea turtles fighting and paddling for all I was worth. The first three waves keep getting bigger and stronger, and I was so out of breath for paddling so hard and fighting to keep the boat going straight. When I saw the 4th and final pappa wave coming at me, I wanted to turn around because I was sure this was the wave that would do me in and flip me into the ocean. But I grit my teeth, said a prayer and hit the wave with full force straight on. When I heard Nan cheer screaming behind me, I knew I had made it over the reef and was safe.

Here is our surviving LDS group. We look a little wet and bedraggled but we are survivors despite falls, cuts, bruises and getting lost. This picture is of a climb we took down to Spanish Steps where the conquering Spaniards built a well. This week we are off to LaoLao and Finata Falls.

We all work really hard here building the Lord's kingdom, shouldering many callings but we realize we 'little turtles' survive and thrive against the many forces trying to knock us down and pick us off because God watches over us.