Since we had entered Rota from Guam we only needed to clear Customs. We had let them know we were on our way and had been provided numbers to call when we arrived. We understood that since it was a Sunday we would need to pay overtime rates for two people.
Dean called the numbers and left messages. He called back to Guam and also Saipan and they couldn’t advise us of contacts we weren’t already aware of. So although technically we weren’t in quarantine, we finally decided to hoist our Q-flag and just wait until Monday morning.
Meanwhile two small boats came in from Saipan, delivering goods. The “Captain” came over for a chat and he was really nice. He knew Jacky from Guam and had actually delivered many of his boats for him. He also knew Kumar from Pohnpei who I have previously said seems to be connected with a great many people!
Although we did get some sleep on the journey we were pretty tired so decided on an early night. We’d just gone to bed, then I decided to get up for a bottle of water. Although we are at dock, we are the only people here, all of our lights were off, so I went to the fridge wearing very little when suddenly a torch light shone through the window! I jumped back to get some privacy and called Dean who got up to see who it was. Oh it was customs of course! Somewhere, somehow the message had finally come through that a boat had arrived.
Dean was actually glad to get the paperwork done. It was very easy, we’d already filled out the forms that customs Guam had provided us. The only additional question was were we bringing in anything for anybody who lives here? No. Ok thank you, come up to the office tomorrow and pay your fee. Good night. Oh, so funny.
Monday morning Dean went to the office located just behind us near the dock. Cost- US$48. And do we need to pay fees on the dock? No. So our worry about how much Rota was going to cost proved baseless. And the only reason we had a fee at all was because of the after hours visit by the Customs Officer, and that ended up being quite reasonable.
So let me introduce Rota and where it fits into the scheme of things as a country. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), is an unincorporated territory and Commonwealth of the US. It includes the 14 Northern most islands of the Marianas chain. The majority of the population reside on Rota, Tinian and Saipan, all of which we are hoping to visit. We may also visit Pagan (pronounced Pargan), but are yet deciding, and time and weather will probably be the limiting factor for us, rather than the active volcano that is the reason most of its inhabitants no longer dwell there!
Rota is nicknamed the Worlds Friendliest Island, so we will see how they compare to the Ni Vanuatu, who were pretty damned friendly. We feel we simply had to visit, as all of the Guam locals we have met have said how wonderful it is. It is only about 20 km long and 7 km wide.
At the end of WWII Rota became part of the trust of the Pacific Islands that I have previously spoken about, and in 1978 became part of CNMI.
As part of its history in the war, it did have Japanese stationed here, and was bombed to try and take out its radios that communicated with mainland Japan. B-29 bombers would also dump their bombs there if they had a mechanical issue on the way to raid Japan. However US troops never invaded the tiny island, and only one hour after the surrender of Japan, US marines arrived to accept the surrender of the garrison stationed here.
We haven’t been out much but so far the people we have met have lived up to their name and been friendly. It is really hot despite the constant winds blowing in, and the Customs guys gave Dean a cold Dr Pepper to cool down when he arrived to pay the fee.
As we were just out looking at the harbour wall a local man driving by stopped to have a chat with us and find out our story. We spoke for quite a while, and he is blind in one eye and the other one hasn’t got much time left by the looks of things. He couldn’t give a name to what he had but from what he described he had cataracts and macular degeneration. He told us he was 67! I loved his beard, and asked if I could take a photo. He agreed but said he wouldn’t smile- betel nut teeth!
Tomorrow the hire car company are picking us up so we can get our car at the airport, then we are going to have a day of exploring. So I am really looking forward to that!
Run to Paradise 