Flame Tree Arts Festival

Saipan has an annual Flame Tree Arts Festival. This year it was held April 23rd-26th. We attended on Saturday the 25th.

Above is a Flame Tree. I have seen pictures of the Flame Trees, they are usually much fuller and filled with red blossoms, this year most of the Flame Trees were naked trees. I am not sure if it is because there has been less rain, or exactly why but most of the Flame Trees have not bloomed as much. I will post pictures when their blossoms really start to come out. I was told that the Flame Trees are not native to the CNMI. They were brought here and planted on the islands.

This was the 34th annual festival. I couldn't find any history about the festival. We attended early in the day and it was not very busy as you can see in this picture.

*Just a side note, this is a picture of a tank from WWII, that never made it on shore. You can also see a large ship in the background as well. There are usually 4-5 large ships on this side of Saipan. It is anchored just outside the reef.

Mt. Laso

Last Saturday, Chris and I went exploring.

At the top of Mt. Laso, we found the remains of another Japanese Shrine.

The shrine is shown on the map but has no markers or signs. So, I can't give any information about it.

This is near what appears to be the entrance.

The view from this beautiful vantage point.

The picture really doesn't do it Justice.

Here is a map of Tinian. I have the pen pointing to where we were.

Here you see what appears to be a pile of rocks next to that tree, we believe that is where the B29 Homing Tower may have been. It is definitely a great place to see the whole island, and it would be easy to spot planes from here.