MICRONESIA. Guam (7')
telecasted by RAI for GEO &GEO
with the collaboration of:
Tour Operator Contea Viaggi
Continental Air
Piero Pollone
Roberto Chiesa
Jean Claude Uldry

Guam, the largest of the Islands of Micronesia, is the capital of the Mariannes. Bordered on one side by the Pacific ocean and on the other by the Indian ocean. Its original inhabitants were called “Chamorro”. Today, Agana, the capital, is a type of American city with wide streets and tall buildings, but still possesses a jungle, intact in spite of the passing of time. Two Chamorro guides show us how to make hats out of palm leaves and how to recognise the rare plants around a spring that survived the 1997 typhoon. To the South there is the Soledad fort, built by the Spanish to ward off pirate attacks, looking onto mount Lam Lam, the highest mountain in the world at 350 metres. It starts, in reality, at the bottom of the “trough of the Mariannes”, 11,000 metres lower down. A submarine conveys the tourists between the coral reefs and fish at the edges of the legendary trough.

MICRONESIA. Yap (10')
telecasted by RAI for GEO &GEO
with the collaboration of:
Tour Operator Contea Viaggi
Continental Air
Piero Pollone
Roberto Chiesa
Jean Claude Uldry

Yap is part of the western Caroline Islands and is noted as the most ethnologically whole island of the Pacific. Women walk around topless while the men wear a type of sarong around the waist made of a cloth called “thu”. Yap is also the home of “stone money”, the biggest stone coins in the world, some as large as 3 metres inn diameter. There are about 13,000 of them and their value is proportional to their size. The dances are very practised and are performed by girls that wear colourful skirts. As far as nature is concerned, Yap is known for its mantas on the coral reef. So, they can be reached by anybody and at any time of the year.

MICRONESIA. Palau (13')
telecasted by RAI for GEO &GEO
with the collaboration of:
Tour Operator Contea Viaggi
Continental Air
Piero Pollone
Roberto Chiesa
Jean Claude Uldry

The Rock island of Palau are reputated one of the seven natural wonders of the world: they are calcareous blocks, emergent from the emerald sea, on which a thick vegetation is grown. The waters of the big lagoon are the most rich on the Earth. In these waters they live 1500 species of fishes and 700 of corals. But here there are also 35 little lakes, and many of these have special characteristics: some are inhabited by crocodiles, but the most famous are those with the yellow jelly-fishes. These medusas are not dangerous. They are millions and move following the sun. The big cave on the Peleliu isle is spectacular for the large abundance of gorgonia, alcionaria, corals and fishes. The film closes with the "men houses", old images of the inhabitants of these islands, with their long pirogues.

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MICRONESIA. Truk (24')
telecasted by RAI for GEO &GEO
with the collaboration of:
Tour Operator Contea Viaggi
Continental Air
Piero Pollone
Roberto Chiesa
Jean Claude Uldry

The atoll of Truk with its 130 km circumference, is the biggest in the world. During the second world war, it was the site of one of the most important battles in the Pacific: the fourth Japanese fleet was sunk by an American attack that destroyed 60 ships and 100 aircraft. After a brief look at the inhabitants and the nature on the islands, its time to dive, dive, dive on the trail of the most important wrecks like Fujikawa Maru, Aikoku Maru and the Shinkoku Maru. One of the biggest thrills is finding the legendary “zero” fighter planes still in the hold, used by the kamikaze pilots at the end of the war. In one there is still a skull after more than 50 years. During the dive, tanks, cannons, machine guns are found, along with holds full of tractors and lorries, the ship’s bridge riddled with bullets and jeeps, plates, telephones and gas masks. The presence of a vast quantity of plankton in the lagoon has allowed the outsized, brightly coloured alcionari to grow and also numerous types of coral, so much so that the whole look of some of the wrecks has changed, unrecognisable with their new covering. It’s as if the sea wanted to bring these wrecks back to life: a life without hate and pain.
MICRONESIA. Ponape (13')
telecasted by RAI for GEO &GEO
with the collaboration of:
Tour Operator Contea Viaggi
Continental Air
Piero Pollone
Roberto Chiesa
Jean Claude Uldry

This is the garden of Micronesia, since 300 days of rain per year mean a vegetation so thick that the houses are built on stilts in order to be more easily reached. Many fishermen live and work around its large lakes. The palace of Nan Madol is built out of megalithic basaltic blocks. Its history is, to this day, still cloaked in mystery, even if carbon dating has put its origins at around 1285. According to many esoteric doctrines, it is perhaps the only remaining link with the legendary Mu civilisation, the Pacific equivalent of Atlantis. Ponape has also pompously been called the Venice of the Pacific because it is spread over 80 artificial islands separated by channels that are navigable only by boat. There are 65 waterfalls and some, such as the one at Kaipiroi, have warm water (27°C). Some splendid countryside completes the picture of the mysterious, perfumed Ponape.