Day 8: Last Day in Palau

Our final day in Palau began with “Classroom on Wheels”. First we stopped for breakfast at The Rock Island Café. It is a pleasant restaurant which offered a great variety of food, even breakfast burritos and pizzas when you have had enough of Asian food, at inexpensive prices. This restaurant was conveniently close to Fish n’ Fins, so we stopped by so that Tova could give us a tour of the facility and we could take this opportunity to purchase t-shirts from the shop. Next we were off to tour a few hotels so that we would be familiar with other properties than Palau Pacific.


The first stop was a budget hotel, Desekel, which was older, but clean and conveniently located to Fish n’ Fins and two of the restaurants we had dined at. Next stop was Carolina’s Resort. A group of 8 cute cottages located on a hillside overlooking PPR. These romantic little cottages are not for those out of shape however because the walk to your cottage from the office is a good cardio work out. Our final stop before going to NECO Marine for lunch was the Cliffside Hotel. This property is owned by NECO Marine and was where we had dined just a couple of nights before at the Under the Mango open air restaurant. An older property positioned on a hillside as the name suggests, the management is remodeling the rooms to bring the hotel more up-to-date. The Cliffside is a good alternative if you heart is not set on be located on a tropical beach. The bonus to both Carolina’s and Cliffside is they have an agreement with PPR that will allow their guests to use the amenities at PPR.

At the end of our tour, we returned to NECO Marine to dine at their outside café, Drop Off, shop in their store and close out any tab we might have. It was an enjoyable meal with the friends we had made their in the past few days.

After lunch we were free to do what we chose, so we asked Judy, our bus driver, to drop us in the center of town so I could go shopping for a story board. The story boards are a Palaun tradition of carving their tribal stories into wood plaques which can be found in all shapes and sizes. I had seen a few in the stores yesterday, but Rod suggested I hold off until we went to the jail to see what the inmates had carved. We went through a door in the back of the police station and told the guards that we were interested in purchasing a story board. One guard went to get the gentleman who was in charge of the store and then we were allowed to pass through the doors to shop. I chose the story of the turtle carved in the shape of a fish. All the boards are marked with “suggested” prices, but you can haggle for a better one.

Now that I had found my treasure, we grabbed a taxi and returned to PPR. After packing our bags, it was off to another treat; my massage and facial at Elilai by Mandara Spa. I enjoyed my Balanese massage as I lay in a beautiful wooden, hillside bungalow with an open-air balcony overlooking a little inlet. The tropical breeze pleasantly blew into the room while the birds sang in the canopy of the trees. As time passed, the sun set and the sounds of the birds gave way to the chirp of the frogs. All too soon my treatment was over, but now I was relaxed to face the next saga of our journey, our late departure (11pm) to the airport for our flight (1am) to Yap. With that said I will close today’s blog and double-check that we have packed everything before they come for the bags. GOOD NIGHT!