Travel to Tinian - A Vacation from Our Vacation

I learned today that 9:30am is too late to go for a jog. I ran by the beach in the breeze, but the sun is sweltering hot and the air is muggy and I had to walk part of the way. Early morning is the only time for physical exertion out of the water here in the tropics. I also tested out our air conditioners, one in every room, in anticipation of the hotter weather soon to come, and our visitors. All of our "air-con" worked, except for the one in my office, where I work all day and my computer needs to stay cool! Dear landlord... Despite this heat and our little dilemmas, we're falling more in love with this island everyday. Our relationship with Saipan has been a little like taking on a new lover. At first we were shy with her, admiring her beauty, allowing her to introduce us to her friends and family, visiting all her favorite haunts and dining out together, but keeping a little distance. Protecting ourselves, a little tentative, watching to see if this new love is going to grow or fizzle. Then, as each day passes and we learn more about this enchanting creature, we're beginning to let go, falling hard and fast into our new love's beautiful blue eyes, or in Saipan's case, her beautiful blue seas!

A couple of weeks ago we took a short break from our new love and visited her sister island, the very close island of Tinian. Howard went there to work. Cheri went to relax and play.

Howard went to Tinian to work on some post-delisting of the Tinian Monarch. No it isn’t a butterfly, like we both thought, but a bird that is now found only on Tinian.



Although there's only 4-5 miles between the islands, it appears the Tinian Monarch has never been found on Saipan. And the Mariana Swiftlets and Golden White-eyes of Saipan have never become established on Tinian. Why, in the name of Science??!! Visiting these islands definitely encourages one to think about island ecology, evolution and time and space. Is there some kind of ecological competition too great to even see, preventing one of these species from becoming established on the other island? And just imagine where these birds have come from in the first place – how far they have had to fly! Fascinating.

So now a little more Geography of the Northern Marianas Islands. (Facts from Wikipedia)

Tinian is about 3 miles (8km) southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 40 sq.mi., about 10.5 mi long and at most 5 mi. across. It has a population of only 2000 people. Tinian's largest village is San Jose. It has clear, warm waters that are ideal for snorkeling and scuba diving. Compared to Saipan and Rota, Tinian is flatter (highest point is 564 ft) and doesn’t have an obvious high volcanic peak as its high point.

Tinian has two gas stations and two main hotels. What more do you need? The largest hotel is The Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino, which includes a luxury hotel, shops and restaurants and is adjacent to Tachogna and Taga Beaches. The other is the more modest and quaint Fleming Hotel, store and restaurant.

After World War I, under Japanese rule, Tinian was largely a sugar plantation. At one time it produced a major proportion of the sugar in the world. Tinian was then captured by the United States in July 1944 in the Battle of Tinian. After the capture, the base was laid out in a pattern of city streets resembling New York's Manhattan Island and the streets were named accordingly - Manhattan and 86th are the main roads. The northern end of the island was almost entirely occupied by airfields, nearly 11 miles of taxiways, and was designed to accommodate the entire 313th Bombardment Wing and B-29 Superfortress bombers. The airfields are now overgrown and abandoned.

Tinian is perhaps best known for being the base from which the United States launched their atomic bomb attacks on Japan during World War II. It was from Tinian that the bombers from the 509th Composite Group carrying the atomic bombs Little Boy and Fat Man were launched against Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

We visited the the northern area where these famous planes took off and where the atomic bomb storage pits still exist, and were saddened by the historical monuments and ruins we found there. It felt ironic also, as Americans, to be viewing this tragic site alongside a couple of busloads of Japanese tourists! I suppose this demonstrates that people, or at least generations of people, can be forgiving. Time is the salve that helps cure these types of wounds, as we are finding out as well. It seems a little strange to create historical showcases of such disturbing artifacts, but as with many historical events, we need to learn about and remember what happened so as not to allow it to be repeated.

It’s hard to visualize what the islands were like during WWII — Tinian was the world’s busiest air base back then, traffic generated entirely by American war planes. Yet today, it's a tiny, tiny place — peaceful and lush. Cheri thought of Tinian as a lost island. It is so quiet. Occasionally we would see a busload or two of Japanese tourists from the Dynasty Hotel, but only for a short time, and then no one. When away from San Jose, we saw no other cars on the road; no one else at the beautiful beaches.

This is the view that greeted us when flying into Tinian Airport. This is the small village of San Jose, its port and its beautiful coral reefs.

Cheri was so overtaken by the beauty of the beaches and the warm, tropical waters that she jumped into the water and swam at every beach we visited! (Sounds good, right Gracie?) It was so beautiful watching her in these tropical waters on the white sandy beaches!


Here she is swimming in one of the beautiful coves we found while exploring. The first of many ocean waters she just had to jump into that day!

Back to work Howard… one of the reasons I went to Tinian was to help survey the Tinian Monarch – counting all birds and noting those that had previously been colored banded. This year the other biologists I went with observed a bird that had been banded in 1995!! Fifteen years OLD! See what happens when there are no Accipiters, or any Raptors. It would be interesting to see what age structure the population has with this lack of predation.

Here are the mist nets we set up and some of the birds we captured. Just like the mainland, just different birds in the net.

I was also given a tour of the island by the Brown Tree Snake (BTX) technician, Ton, who lives on the island. His job is to keep the Brown Tree Snake (BTS) from Guam or anywhere else, off Tinian. On Guam, over the last 45 years or so, the existence of the BTS on island has resulted in over 13 species being lost, gone for good from Guam! Exactly how the BTS showed up in Guam isn’t known, but it was most likely shipped there as a stowaway in military cargo from the Papua New Guinea area during the post World War II years.

The species that have been lost on Guam include; the Micronesian Honeyeater, Mariana fruit-dove, Micronesian Kingfisher, Nightingale Reed-Warbler, Guam Flycatcher, Rufous Fantail, and the Bridled White-eye!! And many other species are threatened with extinction. You can see why this is a very important program. In fact, one thing I would like to accomplish here is the hiring of a BTS biologist on the Island of Rota. Rota has no protection and has just begun receiving ships into its ports directly from Guam.

Brown Tree Snake Traps around the port of Tinian.


One of the things that Ton does is to setup and maintain a whole line of BTS traps around the perimeter of the port. He also has a dog named , that is a snake dog! He takes it to the port whenever a ship comes in and has it “sniff” for snakes particularly the Brown Tree Snake.


Howard was working on Tinian most of the week, until I met him there on Friday afternoon. Then he got to play! I flew over in a 6 seater plane in the co-pilot's seat. Oh good! I exclaimed when I heard I got the front seat, but the pilot told me first class was actually in the back. We started down the runway and the door beside me was open, so I tried to close it . No, don't close it, the air conditioner doesn't work, he says! Okaaaay! I guess we're not exactly in the U.S. anymore! I understand what he means by first class now. We take off down the runway and start to lift up and THEN he reaches over, slams the door shut and flashes me a grin. My heart is beating a little faster now, as we head out across the ocean to Tinian, but it's so pretty and the ride is so short, about 7 minutes, that I soon forget and get lost in the scenery below.

Howard picked me up at the airport with his co-worker on this island, Ton(e), short for Antonio, and takes me to our swanky getaway hotel, the Tinian Dynasty. It's very glamorous with marble floors, glistening chandeliers and a CASINO! But not exactly Las Vegas style. Our room is beautiful, decorated in soft rose colors and includes a spacious bathroom and luxurious matching white robes! Our window looks out over the tranquil waters of the swimming pool surrounded by drooping palm trees and spans all the way out to the powdery white sands of the beaches beyond. And the room is cool, air conditioned. I never knew I could be such a fan of air conditioning.

So you think Cheri is tough right?! Well, this is where I stayed before she came over - the Fleming, a nice little hotel, restaurant, and store.

Now this is where we stayed when Cheri came!!

...I know, I'm spoiled, but really, isn't this much better?



Times are hard in Tinian. Half of the casino has been mothballed, but it's still very lively, primarily occupied by Japanese tourists. The gigantic pool is one of the favorite sites, along with the water slide. Screaming and yelling is screaming and yelling in any language, and there was plenty of good natured Japanese screaming on the water slide. It was fun! We slid down together screaming along with our new friends that we couldn't communicate with in any way except sign language and smiles!


You can tell she hated every minute of it.

After settling into the hotel, Howard took me on a quick tour around the island. We took a short walk down a trail to a hidden cove that was so fabulous I had to go for a dip! The cove was protected from the outlying ocean by a barrier of rocks. You could see the ocean beyond and the waves crashing over the rocks, trying to barge their way into the cove. I swam out a bit, wanting to gaze out over the rocks into the deep ocean, but the water rushing in and retreating with the waves was so strong I decided to be satisfied with my glimpse from midway. The day was wonderfully hot so the water felt very refreshing. Then we were on to the next sight, the Tinian Blowhole.

This is a natural hole carved in the coral rock shoreline. When the waves roll in, it produces a gigantic geyser of water that reaches far up onto the viewing rocks above, splashing the onlookers and their cameras. We observed this sight along with a busload of tourists from our very own hotel, the Dynasty. After the breathtaking water sights, we solemnly headed to the war monuments Howard discussed before. So sad and forlorn and forgotten.

That night we found a most unique outdoor Tinian "bistro", complete with giant screen movie (Harry Potter playing in the background), hammocks and tiki lights. We had a very delicious island feast of sashimi and seafood soup with udon noodles, full of succulent crab and clams and shrimp and fish. Mmmm! They served cocktails in tiny wine glasses the size of small teacups. Our neighors at the next table were having a grand time also. We took turns taking pictures of and for each other, recording this momentous occasion. There was a mother hen and her babies wandering around looking for dropped food. The chicks especially liked the udon noodles, probably because they look like juicy fat worms! We were so happy with this laid back dining establishment that we returned there the next night.

A friend had mentioned the bread on Tinian and I didn't know what she was talking about. She said you could buy it at the casino. At the time, I thought, oh sure, I'm going to be heading right to the casino and, really, what casino sells bread?! Little did I know that I would be staying at the hotel/casino! But was she ever right about the bread! Right there in the hotel kitchen, the bakers concoct the most delicious loaves of bread you have ever tasted. Our favorites were the walnut and raisin and the coconut bread. Sweet, but not too sugary, just perfect. We brought home a couple of loaves and I took one to Lee, who had told us about this island secret.

The next day we ventured out to a snorkel spot Ton had suggested we try. We parked on the bluff above and had to hike straight down the rocks, through the spider webs and over and around the undergrowth to the beach. Whew! Not that hard, but not really easy either. When we got down, we walked out onto a beautiful, secluded beach with not another person in sight.

THESE UNDERWATER SHOTS ARE FROM OTHER DIVERS… I hope to get a waterproof case for my camera soon. But these show some of the things we saw while diving Tinian. I think I was most amazed at the giant clams – they were beautiful and appeared in a myriad of colors, turquoises and purples and blues. Outstanding!

It was quite an exotic site, but I was a little worried about snorkeling here. What if something happens, a shark attacks one of us, we could never get out of here or get help very quickly. My mind seems to wander to disaster at times. Ask my family, I'm the worrier. But I let it go because what's the worst that could happen. We all know that the worst has already happened. And life continues, so I put these thoughts aside. We snorkeled through some spectacular reef, with all kinds of new fish that we had not yet seen, swimming alongside us and peeking out from the coral. We went over the reef to the the deeper water beyond. We were surrounded by so many different kinds of sea creatures and plant life. I was pretty relaxed. I'm getting more and more used to this new ocean environment everytime we go out. But it is a little daunting.

When you look out over the placid waters of the sea, you never think about and sometimes can't even imagine the incredible, busy, diverse world that exists just below the surface. I think I feel most at peace while snorkeling, floating and moving with the water, listening to my breath, coming face to face with the most colorful fish, even if I do occasionally cast an eye about to make sure there are no dangerous creatures lurking around the corner or under the rocks.



We visited a many of the beaches, not all, but a lot. To visit all of them would probably take another weekend or two! Here are some we visited while taking our first tour of the island….

That dark spot is a turtle we spotted from up above!

Cheri was lucky enough to spot a turtle while snorkeling also. She saw the turtle and was desperately trying to get my attention and luckily did. I turned and there it was "flying" through the water. They look so big, and though awkward and lumbering on land, with just a few quick paddles of their fins, they can disappear into the deep blue sea in seconds.

Sunday was our departure day. So sad to leave this peaceful interlude in our lives. But there was still some fun to be had. Ton invited us to BBQ lunch at the beach with his family. They were all very gracious and seemed to really enjoying sharing their delicious traditional Chamorro BBQ feast with us. We stuffed ourselves with freshly caught fried unicorn fish, barbeque chicken, barbequed eggplant and fresh coconut juice. Ton cut a hole in the coconut and we sipped the juice thru a straw. After we had finished lunch and the youngest baby had been rocked to sleep and was snoozing peacefully on a tiny cot beneath the trees by the beach, Ton's brother went snorkeling with us. He pointed out many fish we had yet to see and named many others for us that we had seen but didn't know what they were called. But I (Cheri) will never remember the names. Name identification has it's place in science, but when it comes to just communing with nature I believe Eckhart Tolle is on the right track when he says "When you don't cover up the world with words and labels, a sense of the miraculous returns to your life that was lost a long time ago when humanity, instead of using thought, became possessed by thought." I'm enjoying experiencing that sense of the miraculous.

While hiking around the island you are likely to stumble upon an old Shrine - the Japanese love to establish shrines. Even a shinto shrine can be found on Tinian. These shrines were built to house the gods. The people would leave offerings of salt and rice for the gods.

Cheri found another old shrine in the middle of San Jose. But this is a more modern day, Christian shrine, a beautiful bell tower.

On the old church grounds was one of the trees that provides one of the favorite pasttimes of people on these islands, the Betel nut!! Look it up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beetle_nut . They chew it with a conconction of the nut, lime, and sometimes tobacco. Betel nuts have been used by the islanders for thousands of years as a mild stimulant. Frequent use stains the teeth red. It's a legal dug and grows freely all over the islands.

After these few days of hiking, swimming, exploring and eating, Howard and I packed up our bags and headed back to the airport.

One thing I love about this area are the clouds! Big beautiful white puffy clouds.

It is an odd concept - the fact that we really enjoyed our vacation away from Saipan! Saipan is our working vacation, and we felt like we were escaping. But, on the return trip to Saipan, we peeked out the window of the plane and said "Look! There’s home!" So that’s how it begins. We're feeling more and more at home here. We Fergusons always say that home is where you hang your hat, so Saipan has become home for now. Danielle arrives for her visit in two weeks and when she hangs her hat up here, it will truly feel like home.