Just got back from a 2-week trip to Palau and then Guam.  Returned
early from Guam because a tropical storm was heading that way with the
threat of becoming a typhoon...so gone was I!

I went with Sam's Tours in Palau and stayed at the Plaza--Malakal,
right around the corner from Sam's. Sam turned 42 while I was there
and they had a birthday cake for everyone.  It was easy to see that
Sam is successful because of the people that make up Sam's
Tours...Aireene is especially noteworthy as she kept the customer
counter working smoothly with a friendly smile :-)

After hooking on to the reef for the first two days along Blue Corner
I noticed a pain in my left elbow at 60 feet on dive day #2.  The pain
got worse over time, although depth had no effect.  Perhaps DCS?
After four days of diving I could barely move my arm and so I went to
the Belau Emergency Room on Koror.  The ER appeared very clean at
first and the people were very friendly, thorough, and knowledgable.
At 2 am, the hyperbaric physician was not in and I was told to stay
there on oxygen until the Doctor came in at 8 am.  Not convinced it
was DCS I welcomed a bottle of 400mg Motrin's and went back to my
hotel.  Returning at 8 am, I had blood drawn.  The phlebotomist wore
no gloves and the chairs were kinda ratty, but the needle appeared
clean!  (Did I mention the posters on the wall prominently promoting
the use of MDT to cure leprosy?)  I also had someone scan my elbow
with an ultrasound to look for bubbles...nothing!  (Did I mention the
IV bags left hanging on the stands long after the patients had been
discharged?)  Finally, an Xray picked up some calcification and it was
determined that I had developed tendonitis!!!  Hanging on to the reef
hooks with one outstretched arm pulled the HELL out of my elbow (it is
still sore two weeks later).  The reef hooks help save the reef by
preventing divers from clinging on to coral or hugging the bottom, but
it really did a number on my elbow.  Most of the folks clipped the
long string of the reef hook to their BC, but I was afraid the strong
current would rip the clips off my BC.  The trip to the ER cost a
total of $160 for two separate visits, a bottle of motrin, a full page
of Xrays, a blood test, and an ultrasound...WOW!...and I was out of
there in two hours!

The dive sites in Palau were absolutely great, although Guam had
better visibility. I saw the Blue Sea Explorer, Aggressor, and Odyssey
almost everyday and my boat trips from shore didn't seem any worse
then watching the little shuttles to the same sites from the
liveaboards. I saw more than enough manta's and cured my desire to go
to Yap but not enough wrecks to satisfy my desire to go to Truk. I
also met some very friendly people from Toucan Dive in Chicago! (Hi
Bill, Linda, and RJ!)

As I get ready to move from Honolulu to Philadelphia this summer, I
wonder where the great dive spots are in the Atlantic.  I guess I'll
have to settle for Dutch Springs and Jersey coast!  Actually, my new
friends from Chicago mentioned something about some U boats and wrecks
off North Carolina...will my 1.5mm suit be warm enough?  ;-)

If you're ever in Philly, drop by the Army ROTC office at Drexel
University and look me up...I arrive mid-July 2004.

Army George