The EST of Guam

By Est Woman, Lisa Sonne

A few nights before Valentine’s Day this year, a special delegation from Guam was wooing travel writers, travel agents and tourists at the Los Angeles Times Travel Show. There were 400 exhibits vying for attention over the weekend, but I was glad I accepted an invitation to the Guam Reception. The Chamorro dancers were charming, the food delicious, and the knowledge I gained is tempting me to jump on a plane for a more personal date with Guam.

I’ve been called the “EST Woman ” because I am often on a quEST for “est” information and experiences—as in bEST, BiggEST, smallEST. It turns out Guam is full of “Est” according to Pilar Laguaña, Marketing Manager for the Guam Visitor’s Bureau, and publicist Cindy Hanson.

They told the reception crowd that:

Guam is the biggEST Island in the Micronesian chain, the furthEST south in the Mariana chain of Islands and the furthEST Western point of the United States (which is why a motto is “ Where America’s Day Begins.”)

The Mariana Trench also means that GUAM is near the DeepEST part of the ocean which also lets Guam brag about the biggEST ocean mountain in the world. Hanson elaborates, “It’s higher than Hawaii’s Mauna Kea by over 4,000 feet, Guam’s Mt. Lam Lam is the tallEST mountain in the world at approximately 37,533 feet from base to top.

Guam has some of the oldEST coral reefs for some of the bEST great scuba diving and snorkeling in the world “There are more wildlife species and wreck dives than Hawaii or the Carribbean,” says Hanson, “The SMS Cormoran from WWI and the Tokai Maru from WWII lie side by side creating the only place in the world where divers can touch shipwrecks from two world wars at the same time, so Guam is also home to the rarEST shipwreck dive.”

That’s a lot of EST for a place that’s only 32 miles by 4-8 miles with a population of 171,000. No wonder over a million tourists come a year. I was surprised to hear that less than 4 percent of the tourists are from the US even though folks born in Guam are US citizens. Almost 80 percent of the tourists are from Japan.

I have not yet checked out all the “reception” facts above that were dished out with Guam food. I may have to do some first-hand, on site investigating!

I think my hardEST task would be choosing which of the tropical beaches to explore (lava or not?), which of the 32 waterfalls to visit, and which of the activities (river boat safari or hang gliding) to do! I know I would want to scuba dive all the unique spots, and I know I would like to get to know the indigenous Chamorro people and history better. I’d like to go to the Gef Pa’go Chamorro Cultural Village and learn how to make rock salt from the ocean, how to make the coconut candy we ate at the reception, and maybe even to dance a Chamorro favorite!

Continental Airlines has their Pacific Hub on Guam and representative Sandy Paeste Everett at the reception says they have daily flights in and out of Los Angeles that stop in Honolulu on the way. Other airlines, she says, fly you to Japan and then back East over the Pacific to Guam.

When is the bEST time to visit the island where the temperatures in the ocean and air are in the 80s year round? Some say the “Kites for Wishes” Kite Festival in February. There are also athletic competitions, cultural events and carnivals listed on the Guam Visitors Bureau website at www.visitguam.org

The biggEST celebration of the year, though, is Liberation Day, July 21st with a week of fun leading up to it, according to the Guam reception delegation. My birthday is the 21st too. We may have a match! The rEST is yet to come.

Also to be printed in GUAM magazine, Winter, 2007

Photos Courtesy of the Guam Visitors Bureau, and Lisa Sonne.

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