Palau, Micronesia, SAM'S TOURS.

Koror, Palau, Micronesia
Sam's Tours SHARK DEN!
For Immediate Release: SHARKS IN FRENZY DEVOUR GROUPERS!

The Sam's Tours SHARKS basketball team continued their unbeaten streak last night against arch-rival The Groupers, earning a 9 and 1 record to protect their first place position!

The SHARKS were looking for blood last night as last season they suffered their worst defeat against the Groupers and were later knocked out of the play-off finals in a second but very close game against the Groupers. This time around the SHARKS were really hungry for fresh Grouper, and so were the SHARK-FANS who brought out the scissors, paint brushes and cans of spray paint and spent the day making SHARK PROPS to cheer on their team. When the SHARKS and their fans showed up a the gym, the Groupers knew right away they were deep in SHARK TERRITORY....and were surrounded!

SHARKS Jason and Jake practicing their SHARKS BITE!

In the first quarter, the SHARKS circled and bumped the Groupers as they tested their prey. By the second quarter, it was clear the Groupers were running scared, but they weren't gonna give up without a fight....just what real SHARKS like!

SHARKS fan and Sam's son Max got a Grouper!

With the SHARKS on one side and SHARK FANS (chumming the waters) on the other side, there was simply no escape for the panicked Groupers as the SHARKS began expertly picking them off one by one. Swimming in ever tightening circles, the SHARKS swarming defense completely shut down the Groupers game and by the fourth quarter the SHARKS were in full frenzy, devouring every last scrap of Grouper bait! And then it was over! No more Groupers!

SHARKS and SHARK FANS post game. Check out the SHARK PROPS in the background.

After the game, the SHARKS and Friend & Fans "re-grouped" at Sam's Tours to re-live the excitment over a few cold beers and tasty pizzas. One noticeable absence was our very good friends Les and Ann from the sail boat SURRENDER who set the standards for SHARK FANS throughout our first season last year and who continue to inspire SHARKS and SHARK FANS today! Les & Ann sailed away from Palau earlier this year to continue their round the world adventure, but if you come across them anywhere, let them know they've been made HONORARY SHARKS!

GO SHARKS GO! GO SHARKS GO! GO SHARKS GO! GO SHARKS GO! GO SHARKS GO!

There are unconfirmed reports that the reality show SURVIVOR will return to Palau in the next month or so to shoot their second show in Palau. The last SURVIVOR PALAU show was reportedly very successful in attracting record numbers of viewers. Details are sketchy at this point but stay tuned for more information about Survivor Palau II. Who knows what devious games have been concocted for this second series shot in Palau.

Although I'm not a viewer of the show, as a resident of Palau and a member of the tourism industry I'm happy to report that the last time Survivor shot in Palau they made a very positive contribution to the local economy and did an excellent job of ensuring that spending was widely distributed to all manners of local businesses. The production crews patronized lots of businesses and participated in all sorts of tours with a wide variety of local tour operators. The close to three hundred persons involved in the production for several months proved to be excellent positive members of the community throughout their stay. Contrary to many fears that were expressed within and withhout of Palau before and during their presence here, almost every single area that was used during the shoot was left in a much improved condition when the show was finished. The team worked closely with local conservation organizations and law enforcement and to great care to preserve and protect the environment.

There were two minor issues with respect to the killing of a shark and a sea snake which upset quite a number of people including me however, they were addressed to the shows producers and dealt with constructively and in no way overshadowed the overall positive experience for Palau that the Survivor shoot brought about.

Sam's Tours looks forward to confirmation of the return of the SURVIVOR PALAU team!

Dermot

I was just looking for some information for one of our visiting divers and decided to make a quick visit to the DIVERS ALERT NETWORK (DAN) web site at: www.diversalertnetwork.org

Wow! I'd forgotten what a tremendous resource the DAN site is for divers. I quickly found what I was looking for and lots more too! I bookmarked the site and will go back later and spend some time refreshing myself on all sorts of dive related subjects.

It's also a good time to remind other divers to check out DAN, and especially DAN's various insurance plans! If you're an active diver and or going on a dive vacation, don't even think about leaving without your DAN Membership and Insurance in place. For example, a visit to the chamber in Palau costs over $500 per hour or about $2,500 for basic treatment! DAN Membership and Insurance is less than $100. There's also the comfort of knowing that no matter where you are in the world, the medical experts at DAN are just a phone call away, whatever your question may be.

Do it now! Visit DAN today at: www.diversalertnetwork.org

Sam's Tours is a DAN Business Member #1307017

Dermot

This just in (see info below) from my very good friend Gunther Deichmann, world class travel photographer with whom I made a quick trip to Cambodia's famous Angkor Wat temples following the recent ADEX Show in Bangkok. Gunther, a certified Apple Aperture Trainer will return to Cambodia in Septembet to conduct one of his very popular Travel Photography Workshops at the wonderful Heritage Suites Hotel in Seim Reap, close by the famous temples region. Gunther and his staff at DreamTime, his creative agency, are the creators of Sam's Tours website and serve as the marketing agency for the Philippine-Micronesia Alliance (www.alliancediving.com) of which Sam's Tours is a founding member. It's hard to keep up with Gunther as he's either traveling on a shoot, conducting a workshop somewhere around the world, or busy with his creative company DreamTime. If you're a photographer looking for a chance to learn from one of the top professionals in the field, think seriously about joining Gunther's Cambodia Workshop. I spent a few days side by side with Gunther watching him shoot during our recent visit to Angkor Wat and I have to say he's amazing! If ESPN saw the way he works out during a photo shoot I'm sure they'd be calling photographers "athletes" pretty soon! Gunther is a "light-a-holic" he drinks it in like no one I know and uses it to power his creativity. It's hard to explain, you just have to see it. But don't worry too much about the pace of things, at day's end there's the beautiful Heritage Suites hotel to relax in (with their amazing bathtubs that I carried on about in an earlier post). Clean up after the shoot, enjoy a great meal and some wonderful wine, and wrap the evening up with some great photography education.

SPECIAL OFFER from Sam's Tours:
Book Gunther's Cambodia Workshop and mention that Sam's Tours referred you and we'll send you a voucher valid for 2 Full Days of Diving in Palau, with Sam's Tours (a $240 value). Use it yourself or give it to a friend! Or save it 'til next April and use it during Gunthers photography workshop in Palau in April 2008 with Sam's Tours.

Picked up from PCCI posting:

CAMBODIA: A Photo Safari/Course on Travel Photography
The Philippine Center for Creative Imaging (PCCI), in cooperation with GDPHOTOWORKSHOP, invites you to join a photo safari/travel photography workshop to one of the most popular destinations in Asia: Cambodia. The Photo Safari Workshop will be conducted from September 7-11, 2007, and is open to all serious amateur and professional photographers interested in exploring the renowned ancient temples of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, while learning to master the complexity of travel photography.

This four-day workshop will focus on photography in the Angkor Wat region of Cambodia. In addition to covering the area, its people and culture, the course will provide a learning experience from one of the top rated travel photographers Gunther Deichmann, including all aspects of a shoot: solving technical problems, working with the locals, gaining access to unique places, the digital workflow and more.

Gunther will share his knowledge on the art of successful travel photography and guide you through post-production workflow and techniques using Apple Aperture, a productivity tool for which he is an Apple Certified Instructor.

Two weeks prior to departure for Cambodia, a cocktail reception will be held at the Philippine Center for Creative Imaging (PCCI) to allow participants to meet one another and receive the final pre-departure briefing. In Cambodia, work shop evenings will be spent sharing experiences from the day, critiquing the shoot, and planning the next one.

Workshop participants will receive a Certificates of Completion from both PCCI and GDPHOTOWORKSHOP, and a complimentary signed copy of Gunther’s most recent book, Journey and Time. Images from participants will be featured on the GDPHOTOWORKSHOP website and automatically entered in the Cambodia Photo Contest to be displayed at the PCCI Gallery. Winning photos are eligible for prizes that include a Grand Prize of a free trip to Cambodia for two with hotel accommodation!

Total package price is U.S. $1,650 (or peso equivalent) which includes roundtrip airfare from Manila-Siam Reap-Manila; 4 Nights & 5 Days accommodation at the 5 star rated Heritage Suites Hotel, including breakfast, ground transportation and guides. Also included are Angkor Wat Heritage Site permit fees, Cambodia visa fees, evening lectures at the Heritage Suite Hotel conference room, and a signed copy of Gunther Deichmanns latest book Journey Through Colour and Time.

Enrollment is limited to only twelve participants.

For complete details, please visit www.gdphotoworkshop.com

Gunther Deichmann is one of Australasia’s most accomplished travel photographers. Of German birth and a paleontologist by vocation, Deichmann settled in Australia when we was 21 years old where he got exposed to the beauty of the country. This led him to his current preoccupation, photography. His photographic opus appeared in different magazines such as the cover of Time Magazine (USA), Bulletin (Australia), Der Spiegel (Germany), Bunte (cover), National Magazine (South Africa), National Geographic, New York Times (USA), Sued Deutsche Zeitung (Germany), Grand Reportage (France), VSD (France), GEO (France), Terre Savage (France), and Figaro (France), and in other major book productions such as The Racing Game, National Geographic, Time-Life, Readers Digest, BBC (London).

He recently published his own book entitled Journey Through Colour and Time a 30-year collection of photographs featuring Australia, Europe, Asia, and Micronesia. For more information on this multi-talented and multi-awarded photographer, visit www.deichmann-photo.com

Contact Gunther at: gdeichmann@mac.com
Tel/Fax: 00 63 2 523 3179
Tel: 00 63 2 522 5232
Malate, Manila, Philippines

or E-mail PCCI at: mgm@pcci.com.pcci.

Other Links for Gunther:
Website: http://www.deichmann-photo.com
RSS Feed: http://www.deichmann-photo.com/files/page0.xml
Bookmark my Blog: http://www.deichmann-photo.com/blog.html
Photo Shelter Gallery: http://www.photoshelter.com/c/gdeichmann

The Ocean Horizons Scuba gang has been out diving for two days…but would you believe it, I haven’t seen a single underwater shot yet! Oh, everyone is talking about how awesome the diving is and what they saw and how well the guides Dexter, Daniel, Jim and Jason are taking care of them and how easy going the boat captains Flavin, Rodney and Jonathan are. But no pictures. Looks like I’ll have to do it myself. I did manage to squeeze a few photos out of them to include in the Blog….but they’re all after the diving while they’re chillin’ out on the beach. Still looks pretty cool to me if you ask me!

I scrambled around today trying to find Gary Simpson’s e-mail address so we can send him a link to the Blog and I hope we got it right! Tonight back at the dive shop Paul the group leader dropped his shades in the water so a few of the kids (some Sam’s, some mine) jumped in and were able to retrieve them! Way to go Carson, Mimo and Noel! I saw a lot of happy faces when Paul gave them a nice tip! Better watch out or they’ll be throwing the guests sunglasses in to water for pocket money !

Weather has been great and the water flat. Paul and the gang were hanging out tonight at Bottom Bar and Grill at Sam’s Tours having a few sundowners. They’re headed back to their hotel at Palau Pacific Resort for a quick shower then we’re supposed to meet up soon for dinner so I’ve got to wrap it up. More later.

If you’re interested in a great group of divers to travel with, check out Ocean Horizons Scuba, Brooklyn, New York, www.oceanhorizonsscuba.com or e-mail Paul Bardo at: oceanhorizon@aol.com Paul booked his group through Will Mc Farland our good friend at World of Diving www.worldofdiving.com
Dermot

Blue Corner here we come!

Alright, where the heck is Gary?

Your photographer.. but 500 images in one day!

Hey, Will told me it would be flat but this is ridiculous!

Ocean Horizons Scuba group at the beach!