Two Lovers Leap From Tall Cliff - Guam
View From the Top
Image taken by me with GoPro Hero 5
One of my earliest and most vivid image of Guam when I first came here in 1974 is the deep cliff known as Two Lovers Point. Located on the NW coast of Guam, it is literally a 400 foot vertical drop from the top to the ocean below. The view above is looking southward across Tumon Bay. The name "Two Lovers" is derived per the story below. I still like to make a visit here from time to time to take in the views. Now, there is a restaurant built along the cliff's edge where you can leisurely relax, sipping on your favorite cocktail while watcing the sun set over the Western Pacific.
Two Lovers Point courtsey of Google Images
Courtesy of Two Lovers Point Park:
Once long ago, in the time when Spain ruled Guam, there was a proud family living in Hagatna, the capital city. The father was a wealthy Spanish aristocrat and the mother was the daughter of a great Chamorro chief. The family owned land and were highly esteemed by all, Chamorro and Spanish alike.
Their daughter was a beautiful girl, admired by all for her honesty, modesty, and perfectly natural charm. Her beauty bestowed the greatest pride and dignity unto her family.
One day, the girl’s father arranged for her to take a powerful Spanish captain as her husband. When the girl discovered this, she was so distraught that she ran from Hagatna all the way to the north of Guam until she found a secluded and peaceful shore.
There, on the moonlit shore, she met and fell in love with a young warrior from a very modest Chamorro family. He was gentle, with a strong build, and had eyes that search for meaning in the stars.
When the girl’s father learned of the two lovers, he grew angry and demanded that she marry the Spanish captain at once. That day at sundown, she stole away to the same high point along the shore, and once again met her Chamorro lover.
Her father, the captain, and all the Spanish soldiers pursued the lovers up to the high cliff above Tumon Bay. The lovers found themselves trapped between the edge of the cliff and the approaching soldiers. All the young warrior could do was to warn them to stay back, and the father ordered the soldiers to halt.
The lovers tied their long black hair into a single knot. And acting as if they were entirely alone, they looked deeply into each other’s eyes and kissed for the final time. Then they leaped over the long, deep cliff into the roaring waters below.
Her father and all who remained rushed to the edge to stare in great anguish.
Since that day, Chamorros have looked to the jutting peak above Tumon Bay with reverence. The two lovers remain a symbol of true love – a love in which two souls are entwined forever in life and in death. Forever after, the high point on the cliff was known as Two Lovers Point.
Two Lovers Point courtsey of Google Images
