Palau - Day 3 (Second kayak tour)
Although this was technically the same tour as the one I took two days ago, we had a different guide, much better weather and apparently a completely new agenda. The day got a very slow start and the morning consisted of mostly kayaking through parts of the Rock Islands, although we did make a quick stop at a second Japanese Zero sitting in about 8 feet of water. Saw some small stingrays and mangrove crabs in one of the mangrove swamps. Our guide warned us about a plant that is as toxic as poison ivy. If you even have rainwater wash onto you from the leaves you will itch like mad!
After lunch, the tour got a bit more interesting. We rowed to Mandarin Fish Lake, now in very low tide, and saw the elusive and rather diminutive Mandarin Fish - one of the most colorful fish I've ever seen. After that we did some more snorkeling and finally hiked up to the top of one of the islands to see the German Lighthouse, spotting Japanese guns and pillboxes along the way. Finally, we jumped into the swift moving channel once again for a quick trip back to the dock.
