Palau Pleasures

 Anchored in incredible Swiftlet  Bay in the Rock Islands, we explored the beach around the corner and David had a Valentine snooze. Ah.....the life!!!!

 Chewing beetle nuts seems to be a favorite activity in Palau, so, we had to try it! Our two days on Sidewinder, with some of the kids who are here working at Sam's , was very fun and they loved watching us try this awful tasting pleasure.    Diving Palau, especially with the mantas, has also been amazing.

 Spending wonderful quality time with Katie, Jim, Jessie and Chari, before they left for the Philippines and Borneo.  We continue to enjoy making good friends on this journey and hope to see them again some time.

Still in Palau Having a Great Time

Well.......it's about time!!!!!!Since my last post, David has been adding pictures to Facebook, letting everyone know where we have been and what we have been up to, so, check out David Sobolewski's facebook page and I will try to bring this blog up to date. It is now March and we have since explored the pristine Rock Islands three different times, each time, basking in the peace of being out among these beautiful islands all by ourselves, with dive boats zipping around from place to place twice a day, across the waters quite far from where we are securely anchored. We took five "kids" out to Rock Islands, on their first sailing  trip and they brought with them 24 tanks, scuba gear, 4 SUP's, and tons of food and drink. We have also gone on 8 dives with Sam's Tours, swimming with the mantas for an hour, hooking onto a reef at Blue Corner, watching the sharks swim by next to us, meandering along exotic walls of colorful soft and hard coral gardens where brilliantly colored  fish hang, watching us go by quietly observing, gliding next to beautiful Hawksbill Turtles who are lazily relaxing and just moving calmly with the current in a world very different from our own.  What a pleasure diving here has been!  We were able to be with friends, Jim and Katy on Tenaya and Chari and Jesse on Maaliwalas before they both took off for the Philippines and now we are on a mooring here with our friends, Rebecca and Patrick on Brickhouse, along with many other friends we have made who have been here for a long time; many who are finally leaving in the next week for the Philippines, as well.  Our plan is to stay here at least one more week, do a few more dives as well as explore the land north of here, and then we also will leave for our next destination, Davao, Philippines. Sidewinder will be hauled out and placed on the hard while we journey home for a few months and then we will return for a new season.  Pictures will follow this blog update, giving you a much better feel for the incredible beauty we have found here, as well as some of the people who make life so interesting.  Love to all our family and friends who still look for us here on the blog!