Forbidden Island: There & back again

For the second time this month, I found myself taking some friends (no Hobbits) to Forbidden Island. Rosita wanted to show JP and her cousin, Lino the hidden pool there, and asked if I could lead hike. I asked Laurina and DJ to come and join us, since I haven’t taken them along in an excursion for quite some time now.

The hike almost got cancelled because the day started out quite rainy and there was some worry about the hike being too muddy. I was glad that I was able to convince the group that we can go slowly and that getting dirty on the hike was part of the fun anyway.

Rosita looked a little worried about the muddy trail.

Good thing she had her trusty walking stick! You have to go cut through some sword grass in the sabana to get to the islet.
Happy hikers: Rosita and Laurina
Then you go through a bit of secondary forest. It was pretty muddy and slippery. I thought for a second that maybe I shouldn't be so gung ho or determined the next time it's this rainy.

The hike was nice since the sun wasn’t too intense but we did need to be careful not to slip on the muddy ground. We had to make a few stops just to scrub the mud off the soles of our shoes on roots and rocks along the way. The trail was slowly getting overgrown by the foliage again. Time to bring a machete! DJ actually did most of the leading since this is his fourth time on the hike. I was glad to be at the back this time around, taking my time to look at things and to take a few pictures.

The pretty and fragrant Sumac or Aidia cochinchinnsis

Wild passionfuit or Passiflora suberosa
Dizzying heights

Can you see the fringing reefs? There she is!
There was enough walking sticks picked up on the trail between Laurina and Rosita for an entire cadre of hikers.

Looks quite treacherous!

Easy! Carefull!

Plenty rocks, nei!
Pretty sandstones in the dirt
Our constant seashore companion: Princess Naupaka, the Half-flower.

You can see two types of Screw Pines here: Pandanus tectorius in the foreground with the slimmer, longer leaves, and P. dubious in the background with the wider, shorter leaves. The Chamorros call these Kafu and Pahong respectively. There will be a quiz later.
Lantana camara or Wild sage. It is a pretty flowering shrub with an interesting odor.
We found some Dodder or what the Hawaiians call Kauna'oa growing in the sabana or grassland
Can you see the small white flowers of this parasitic plant?
I blogged earlier about the Hawaiian island of Lanai's official lei made of orange Kauna'oa

I made DJ a quick mwarmwar with Kauna'oa and Lantana .

I asked him to look like a matao: a Chamorro chieftain.

We made it! Laurina, JP, DJ, Lino and Rosita.

JP on location
Nice outcropping where you can see different layers of earth
I see you!

A Polished nerite (Nerita polita)

Some Plicate nerite (Nerita plicata).

These shells are bright yellow inside and can crawl pretty fast.

Are you all ready to go to the hidden pool?

Looking straight down to the opening of the cave

Lino squeezing in the narrow passage

C'mon, Rosita! I'll catch you if you fall!
JP, the avid photographer

The last time I was at the pool, I was a bit disappointed because the water was so low. We trekked out at about 2 P.M. thinking that the high tide would be upon us in an hour to insure enough water in the pool. Man, I’ve never seen that pool so low! It looks like the surf affects how much water there is more so than the tide itself. Oh, well. DJ and I jumped in the stagnant water anyway, and shared the time with the a few flagtail fishes and a lone sea cucumber.

An hour or two later, it was time to climb back out

Tanke Beach, Kagman

After Forbidden Island, I wanted to see Tanke Beach to maximize our time in Kagman. It gave DJ, Lauire and I the perfect opportunity to beachcomb a little for some neat critters. There are usually lots of marine debris on this beach since it faces the Pacific Ocean in the east. All sorts of trash washes up here from all over the Pacfic Rim.
Here's a curious sole with oysters growing in the little spaces or pockets.

A closer look after carefully taking out a few reveals some Isognomonidae, or Tree oysters. The beautiful inside is nacreous or pearly. The ancient Chamorros fashioned fish hooks out of these shells.

Plenty trash, nei!

A little hermit crab in a nice Fine-net Peristernia (Peristernia nassatula)

There are enough signs at Tanke Beach saying that it is a Marine Protected Area, yet we saw this guy obviously fishing there.

Goose barnacles (Lepas sp.) that were still alive attached to an old water jug.

Ti napu.

The Beachcomber

Wild Passion in the Jungle

Bubbles Bev (or is it Mae now) told me that a title makes or breaks a story. So, I hope I hooked you into reading my story. Passion, fervor, ardor, obsession, infatuation, excitement, enthusiasm, zeal, craze: these are words that are enough get us all hot-blooded. We all need a little passion in our lives right? But, I hope you laugh a little when I slowly transition into talking about plants and flowers in my story.

Flowers fascinate me, but not just because of their beauty. Why are there flowers anyway? Flowers are well, basically sex organs. They are made for the purpose of continuing the line of the plants that make them. Their form, color, scent, feel, arrangement, etc. all point to the act of pollination. Flowers are either male, or female, but more often, they have both male and female parts.

When was the last time you received flowers? Sent flowers? People have tagged different meanings to types of flowers or the color of flowers, but the reason for the busiest day in the flower shop points to passion. The last time I sent a dozen roses to some one, the recipient said, “I loved them, sweetie! I thought I just wanted you to save the money for dinner and a movie, but these are breathtaking! I’m so glad you got them.” So in conclusion, no matter what they say: Flowers = Chichiiing! Hehehe! I jest.

I’d like to introduce you to the Passifloraceae family of plants. Passiflora means “passion flower” and we have two kinds on Saipan that were introduced possibly by accident. Their flowers are so attractively intricate and it’s hard to imagine that some people don’t notice them. Well ok, one is really small and cryptic. The PIER (Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk) lists them as an invasive threat to our islands (especially to the Northern Mariana Islands) since their vines can cover other plants. When the conquistadores first saw these flowers in Central America, they named them after their symbolic passion for Christ. These particulars make the passion flower very fascinating to me.

The Fetid Passionflower (Passiflora foetida) is the larger of the two flowers. Look at how beautiful they are in the pictures below. But why is it called “fetid”? Some publications say that the plant has a stinking smell to it. I’ve never noticed their alleged stinkiness. The white and purple flowers are about 5 cm, and the 2 cm fruits are either pale yellow, orange yellow or red. The pulp and crunchy seeds offer a little and often unsatisfying snack, but they really resemble the taste of the more bigger commercial varieties of passion fruits. The climbing vine is hairy with lobed leaves and you’ll see them in trails, open lots and on wire fences. The pictures are from Coral Ocean Point, and the Costco lot. The beautiful Chamorro name for this flower is Kinahulo’ atdao, which means sunrise. I first got introduced to this particular Passiflora while growing up in the town of Canlubang in Laguna, Philippines. My friend Mark A. started eating them off the vines and said that they were called Kurumpot. What an ugly sounding name for such a pretty flower, I thought to myself!

Kinahulo’ atdao (sunrise): Does the name fit the flower?

That fruit's almost ready to eat.

Those are immature fruits in those pom poms. Pom Pom is also the Pohnapeian name of this fruit. The corky or wild passion fruit (Passiflora suberosa), like P. foetida, is also considered a weed vine. The small dark purple fruit is food only for wildlife but the 1.5 cm flower is just as intricate compared to the rest of the family. It is easy to see why people don’t notice them though, since they are very inconspicuous. Suberosa means “wood cork” and refers to the wood-like quality of the very mature vines. The fruit pictures I took at the Marpi area and the flowers pictures are from the Hyatt Regency garden and San Antonio Beach.

A ripe fruit for the birds. Some immature fruits on a creeping vine.The last story I would like to share with you involves a medical doctor that I knew on Guam who fell in love with the Indonesian passion fruit while vacationing in Bali. He loved the purple passion fruit or Siuh (Passiflora endulis. F. Endulis), but knew that customs would not allow him to bring any to Guam. So Dr. L decided to enjoy and eat as many as he can the evening before flying home. He made sure that he swallowed enough seeds whole. Lo and behold, a few months later he had a trellis with a beautiful vine full of immature passion fruits! Kind of a funny story, and I am sure that Dr. L's digestive system "cleaned" the seeds out, but this is a good opportunity to remind you that bringing plants or fruits from other places can have a devastating impact on our island’s unique ecosystem. Introduced species can become invasive and compete with the native flora and may even bring diseases or pests that can ravage the unwitting existing system. We must do what we can to protect an environment that can't do it by itself.

Thank you for letting me share.

The Beachcomber