Pago Pago, American Samoa was our next stop and last organized excursion. American Samoans played a large part in US Naval and WWII history. The National Park if Samoa is the only American National Park south of the equator. The park preserves and protects coral reefs, tropical rain forests, native animals and their culture. They have strict building codes in Samoa that limit the height of buildings therefore protecting the views of the city and harbor area. When you get out of town some of their notes sites are Camel Rock,Flower Pot Rocks which are a series of tiny islands, Leone Village the site of the first missionary monument from 1830, Leala Sliding Rocks an ancient lava flow that has petrified, the Governor Tauese Museum that we went to and Tia Seu Lupe which was the playground of olden day chiefs where wives were won based on the number of pigeons caught!!
Transportation here is antiquated with old open air buses and vans with mostly wooden board seats and brightly colored exteriors. All tours are basically island drives of beautiful scenery. The island inland is mountainous so there are not many tours there. In 2009 they had a tsunami. Many tours cover myths and legends of their history. People here are under US territories act but unincorporated and are US Nationals. More Samoans live outside of Samoa. About 90 % of the surrounding islands are undeveloped. You pronounce the port as Pango Pango. We dock right at the center of town and you walk through a market right by the ship where you can bargain! You can mail postcards here for the US price finally!! The population of Pago Pago is about 6000. The main industry is tuna and 80% of the population work there. Starkist Tuna is the processing industry ad you can smell .
People love the old buses that are not air conditioned and provide the area with a means of getting around inexpensively. There are beaches everywhere.
Tiny islands look like flower pots and many buses stop right there for photos. Turtle and Shark Site is a Site where an old lady and young girl jumped off a cliff due to famine. They believe the turtle and shark are them in the after world. It’s a sacred site so no swimming here. There is a protected rainforest and National Park. They protect a coral reef there. Samoa has five distinct rainforests types there and it is the only US park to have this. Tisas Barefoot Bar is a famous place to get a drink and use they beach! They say for $5 you can buy a drink and then get in to use the beach and get internet.
Our tour starts a little before 9. It is humid and warm. We take off in an open air van full to the limit! They say they get 250 inches of rain a year. It’s definitely the tropics!! Chickens run free, breadfruit trees are bursting with fruit and the town is a mix of the historic and the modern architecture. Some places have gorgeous flowers with huge trees and yards that are manicured and inviting. In 2009 when the tsunami hit the water came up into town 20 ft. All the sailboats were stacked up in the town. Many homes we see now along the road are new. The mountains come down tight into the town and leave little usable land to build on. The power plant is close to town and looks relatively new. The tuna plant is next and really smells. Workers are on break and sitting outside on picnic tables with their hair nets on, having something to eat or drink. Like other island cultures they like brightly painted houses. Many houses have their burial sites right in the front yard of the family chief and his immediate family. Fruit bats hang from the trees. The rain begins but the sky is blue!! We climb a steep hill headed to the National Park. Our guide assured us that our buses are checked every day for the safety of their brakes and the tire wear. We sure hope so when we come back down!! We stop at the top to see the Rainmaker Mountain, a revered and sacred site. As we travel down the other side the rain turns into a fine mist and then stops. Below is a spectacular view of the ocean as we descend. The hills couldn’t possibly hold any more trees or plants. It looks like clumps of green frosting has covered every inch of the hilly landscape. It’s looks like a daily battle to keep the forest at bay from homes and highways. Hibiscus here are giants and one grows high into the trees in all colors. Fern fronds are some of the biggest I have seen. Mina birds holler to us along the way. Vegetation is so thick on the edges of the road that the eye can not penetrate any further. No one in any of the island areas we have been to uses a mower. They all use a weed whacker and what a long hot job!! Some of the road becomes dark from the heavy shaded canopy above. Wild ginger grows so tall and the flowers are plentiful in every hue. We arrive to another view point where we stop for photos. Our guide gives us more of the history. He tells us about the coconut crabs that actually husk coconuts and feast on them. The look blue after they eat them. If they look orange and purple don’t eat them because their meat will be rather poisonous from what they have ingested. One large crab can feed three or four people!! They are becoming more rare now because people sell them for up to $50 a piece. Folks bait them at night leaving coconut for them. There are huge wild pigs here and snares have been broken that could catch up to 1500 pounds!! Our next stop is the village where we can take a 15 minute walk down to the beach if we want. The walk is heavily shaded with huge old trees. Dan finds a small crab and a few frogs. Plumeria are everywhere. After our walk the guide takes us to his sons home for lunch which is breadfruit, naked bananas, mackeral , pineapple, mango, taro leaves with coconut cream filling and home made lemonade from their trees. We stroll down to the beach area which is littered with plastics and garbage. He says it is much better than it was. It’s very hot and humid and the sky is looming with heavy black clouds. Soon it’s time to head back to the port and see the museum and city square. We cool off with the breeze coming in the windows. The van takes us to their little museum. It has a few exhibits but overall is very old and not well taken care of. We tip our guide and driver and then head off to the public library for some internet. They charge $5 for internet and it is very slow but all we could find. After about an hour we are off back toward the port and go through a few local tents where folks are selling souvenirs. The sky is getting darker and it looks like this rain is going to be a drencher. We heard back to the ship. Once onboard we clean up with a shower and head to deck 9 to the Crows Nest for the sail away party. A large group of friends are there and we share our days activities. After this port we will have 5 sea days till Hawaii.
Docked at Pago Pago..
The Museum right by the port.
A newer open air van ( not ours) and a view at our the top close to Rainmaker Mnt.
Small islands pop up everywhere in the surrounding waters..
Lush and beautiful landscapes.
Our old open air van..
Creatures found in their park..
Grave sites in their front yards...
Our drivers house where we used their bathroom for the women ( men just went in the back yard!!) and had our lunch here.
Our lunch.. papaya, pineapple, baked bananas, coconut, sweet potatoes, baked taro leaves with coconut cream filling, breadfruit and taro root, and mackerel casserole.
The beach front by the village.
Dan found a little crab on our walk.
Let’s go for a boat ride!!
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