The Next Chapter

Our time on Saipan has quickly come to an end. Tomorrow we leave the island and begin our journey home in Seoul, South Korea. 

In our last two weeks here we managed to squeeze in a few new adventures. On Saturday we took the ferry out to Mangaha which is a tiny island off the shore of Saipan. Nobody lives on the island, but you can go out there for the day (some people go camp out ther for a night or two) and hang out. With the sun over head and beers in our hands, we spent a great day there with friends enjoying our last Saturday in the Marianas.
On Sunday we took the 20 minute plane ride to Rota, another island in the CNMI just south of Saipan. With only about 1000 people living there it is one of the most pristine places I have ever been. The forest was endless and untouched for miles and the cliffs along the shoreline made for an epic view any way you looked. We only had two days to explore this beautiful place but we saw as much as we could. Going with John of course meant seeing the birds was one of our top priorities. We spent a few hours at the bird sanctuary and saw some amazing new species! We also spent a few hours driving around in search of the Rota Crow (an endangered crow species only found on that island) and the Guam Rail. Our perseverance paid off and we ended up seeing both birds (we even got a picture of the rail which was pretty exciting!). After driving around a bit more to take in the scenery, we headed over to the swimming hole that was probably one of the coolest places ever. It’s pretty much a natural pool right on the ocean but blocked by rocks so you can relax and swim all you want. We couldn’t believe that we were the only ones there and spent the whole afternoon playing in our private pool on the ocean! For dinner we met up with some of the people studying the Rota Crow at one of the three restaurants on the island. It was really interesting to hear about the work they are doing and their lives on Rota versus life on Saipan. 

 After our two days on Rota we headed back to Saipan for a day to do laundry, pack, and say bye to our friends there before leaving for good. We have made so many great memories and new friends here it is hard to say good bye to such a beautiful place. The only things making it easier is the excitement of our journey ahead and knowing we will see our family and friends back home soon!