Ten eager hikers sign up for the ferry ride over on Friday evening. We meet at Charlie Dock at 5:30 p.m. for the 6:00 p.m. departure on Super Emerald Ferry. This is a special ferry schedule for the festival, for regular passengers and a number of bikers with their mountain bikes for the race on Saturday.
On top deck ready to take off are RedEye, Sparky, Peppy, Giggles, Rexplorer, Thor, Mary, Linn, Cutie, and CC. Bikers are sitting around as well, anticipating a "rough" ride over.
A close up look at BSI yacht.
The ferry ride over is, as expected, a bit rough. CC, having taken Dramamine, is too busy and drowsy holding on to take any photos. Part way down the coast of Saipan, approaching the channel between Saipan and Tinian, the white caps become more aggressive, and we get tossed around a bit. Then a downpour drives us under the partial cover, as we quickly put on our rain gear. The sky is dark and cloudy. The rain finally stops as we approach closer to the Tinian coast.
Although the distance between Saipan and Tinian, from shore to shore is only five miles, but from port to port the distance is 26 miles. Hence when we reach Tinian dock it is nearly 9:30 p.m. We are definitely happy to see Edwin, our guide from the mayor's office. He is a hiker, explorer, fisherman, farmer, and very knowledgable about Tinian. We are fortunate.
We head over to JC Cafe for a late dinner. Sparky, Thor, and RedEye patiently wait for their food. The cafe is packed with customers. We eat a very late dinner. CC decides to pack her fried chicken as take-out.
Saturday morning we meet at the grand entrance of the Dynasty Hotel lobby for our hike.
The hike begins right off from the hotel on a nice meandering path through the garden.
Walking path along the beautiful shoreline. The morning is cool and breezy. Tinian is not affected by the two typhoons that has decimated Saipan. Trees and plants are healthy and nice.
We leave the paved road and enter this boonies trail. It is well-kept and relatively clean.
Soon we leave the cleared trail and step into the boonies. Here we see an ancient Chamorro
mortar (Lusong).
A great find of Ancient Chamorro Latte Stones still standing, the capstones are on the ground.
Between the Latte Stone Gate, Back row: Peppy, Sparky, RedEye, Edwin the Guide, Rexplorer, Mary, Linn. Fron row: Cutie, Thor, Giggles, CC.
Edwin shows and explains the spiny roots of a wild yam plant.
We can hear the water from the trail that parallel to the shoreline. We take a short detour to see a retaining wall used as a loading dock during the war.
Who will take the challenge of "Guessing the Shoe Time!"? A small prize for the winner...
Another side trip to the water frint. Giggles, Cutie, Thor, and Peppy gingerly make their way down the sharp coral rocks.
From the jagged coral rocks, we see a nice little cave that sends out a plume of sprays with each onslaught of big waves.
Everyone is busy doing something on the coral rocks. Careful steps are taken to avoid injury.
We have planned to continue onto the road for our return trip, but Edwin informs us that it is a long way to the road where we could walk back. So instead, we decide to take a rest, eat snacks and turn around back the same way. Giggles brings her favorite cake to celebrate our first ever off-island and Tinian hike. Notice the fried chicken from last night. It is delicious.
In the middle of the boonies, we have a good time laughing, eating and sharing our joy with Edwin. He looks forward to our future visits!
Thor the Mermaid from afar!
Relaxed!
We return and on the way stop over at Taga Beach. An amazing little "window" opening to the swirling water below.
Taga is a favorite and a wonderful swimming beach.
Off to the Pika Festival. This booth is decorated with flowers and red chili peppers. Tinian's famous hot peppers (doni) grow wild in the boonies. Farmers pick them and make sauces and pastes for sale. During the festival, the most popular activity is the doni eating contest. There is a women contest, and a men contest. The first contestant finishing 100 tiny doni wins! Doni is definitely a product Tinian takes great pride in. Currently there is a concerted effort to prevent outside farmers from pulling the whole pepper plants for cultivation, instead of just picking the peppers. The motto is "Prune it, Don't Pull it!"
Beautiful arrangement.
Photo of Hikers with Executive Director of MVB Perry Tenorio, Acting Governor Hocog, and Tinian Mayor J. P. San Nicolas.
Tinian High School Honor Guards. After Alexis Hofschneider sings the National Anthem and the NMI Anthem, the guards perform their ceremonial exercise, before the official opening of the Festival.
Hikers enjoy the festival until time to head over to the dock to catch the ferry back to Saipan.
On the way, we make a quick stop at the House of Taga Park where this incredibly huge latte stones (15 feet) is the only one standing. Cutie gives a perspective of the size of the stone, as she stands next to the cap (tasa). The base (haligi) is down behind the cap. From the park we walk over to the dock where the ferry is waiting.
While waiting, Thor, who has brought along a bottle of red wine on the trip, decides it's time to have a drink and watch the rest of the passengers come aboard. Great idea to top off our fun trip. We all agree that we will revisit Tinian, hopefully soon.
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