The Pursuit of Yappiness

All right, first things first.  Where the heck is Yap?  Part of the Caroline Islands, it is a group of islands in the Pacific ocean, about 500 miles southwest of Guam.  Yap is one of the states that make up the Federated States of Micronesia (the others are Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae).  This country sees fewer than 3,000 tourists annually.  One reason for this may be that there are only 3 flights per week.  The other may be the extreme inconvenience and cost of getting there.  Luckily we were able to use a chunk of our frequent flier miles to reach this far-flung place.

 

We arrived at the tiny airport, which doesn’t have X-ray capabilities – luggage is searched by hand – and stood outside while waiting to pass through customs into the single room arrivals lounge.

We were greeted and lai’d by a topless local woman.  Traditional Yapese women do not wear shirts, but at the same time, consider it rude to expose the knees.

Yapese society is organized in very strict caste systems within each individual village.  The elders of the villages run things, and they seem to have more power than the state government.

Each village has a men’s house, located by the water, which women cannot enter, and a meeting house, used for gatherings and traditional dances.

All land is privately owned, necessitating asking permission to walk on trails.  A quirky custom is the practice of carrying something green, like a branch, when walking through villages.  This is meant to signify respect.  So, every time we went somewhere we had to pluck a fern and carry it in our hands.

What made Yap even stranger for us, is that in the face of this unique Micronesian culture, is a massive American influence.  The country uses US dollars, has a United States post office and zip code, and many citizens serve in the US military.  They drink Bud light, root beer and Dr Pepper.  When they say football, they mean NFL, not soccer. The electrical outlets are North American style.

The compact of free association between the USA and FSM means that the US provides services and financial assistance.  This accounts for the abundance of American products consumed by Yapese.

Known as the island of stone money, Yap is perhaps most famous for its limestone currency.  Beginning nearly 2000 years ago, Yapese traveled via canoe to Palau, 250 miles away, to quarry stone, which they made into large discs.  Many died on these perilous journeys.

The value of each stone depends on the size, history, age, and risk involved in its production.  US dollars are used for everyday transactions, but the rai (stone discs) are still used by villages in special situations, such as a repayment for a slight on another village.  The huge slabs line pathways in villages, in what are know as “stone money banks”. 

During WWII, the Japanese were stationed on Yap, and the allies bombed their airstrip until the Japanese surrendered the island in 1944.  The result of the battles, is that US planes literally litter the island.

Mangroves cover the north and east coasts of the main island.  They are home to some rare species of birds.

 We kayaked through the mangroves one morning.  It was such a peaceful expedition, paddling through the quiet, serene waters. 

Yap is on many divers’ bucket lists, because of the unspoilt reef surrounding the island.

But, the presence of manta rays is the real draw.  Mantas are large rays, that look like birds flapping their wings as they swim.  Our planned trip to Yap was one of the reasons we decided we should learn to scuba dive.

We did two dives with Sue from Nature’s Way, and essentially had a private tour, as no one else was with us.  On our first dive, we clung to a shallow reef where mantas are known to congregate to clean themselves.  We saw two mantas!  They were so ethereal, floating by, gracefully flapping.  We felt so fortunate to have seen these incredible creatures on our first dive after certification.  Many people spend years trying to see mantas, without success.

Next, Sue took us to “Vertigo”, where we swam with sharks!  They were black tip and gray reef sharks, which generally do not attack people, although one of our Yapese friends, who happens to be a dive guide told us about a Korean man who was bitten by a shark in Yap.  Having sharks circling us underwater was unnerving at first; the body automatically recoils when the eye beholds the shape of a shark.

Ask the Yapese if they dive, and they’ll laugh and tell you they dive, but don’t need tanks.  They are expert free divers, meaning they descend to the same depths that scuba divers do, stay under for awhile, looking for fish and turtles to hunt, then go up, all on one breath.

The most impressive stat we heard was being able to free dive for 5 minutes!  I’d probably pass out after 40 seconds, and that’s without the effort of swimming at a depth of 60ft.

 When the sun is shining, the water surrounding the island is the most striking shade of blue.  It’s as if someone threw millions of neon blue highlighters into the shallow ocean between the reef and the shore.  We had the privilege of snorkeling with Yap Divers in this water, which superceded any other snorkeling experience we have had.  

Extrodinarily, there is actually a small brewery on the island.  The beers are only available at the Manta Ray Bay Resort bar, which is situated on a boat in the harbor.  Sitting on the top deck, sipping a sapid beer, with a cool breeze curtailing the humidity after a day of swimming in pristine waters, was bliss. Contemplating the laid back lifestyle, exotic culture and divine ocean around us, I felt close to contentment.  The pursuit of Yappiness was successful.

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Beer of choice: Stone Money Brewing company’s Texas 2-Step (combo of the Hammerhead Amber and the lager)