Day 31 American Samoa

American Samoa 

Pago Pago Bay is one of the most dramatic harbors in the South Pacific, a region known for dramatic landscapes. Eons ago, the massive seaward wall of a volcano collapsed and the sea poured in. Today, dramatic mountain peaks encircle the deep harbor. The capital of American Samoa, Pago Pago is more village than city. The town is dominated by looming Mt. Pioa, whose summit draws moisture-bearing clouds, earning it the nickname of "The Rainmaker." Indeed, Pago Pago draws more than its fair share of rain - the island of Tutuila is a vision of deep, verdant green. Pronounced "Pango Pango," this island paradise awaits exploration.

American Samoa is a US Territory and its citizens are US Nationals, not US Citizens. Home to the only US National Park in the Southern Hemisphere (below the equator).

Far out view showing many islands in the area

American Samoa and Samoa are two different sets of islands. American Samoa is on one side of the International Dateline so it is the same day as the US. Samoa is more tied to New Zealand and the other Pacific Islands in between so it is on the other side.

If the Princess Patter, Princess App and Port Guides don't tell you what is going on, the Wake show every morning, with our Course Director Cole, will tell you.  He is usually joined, like today, by one of his assistants Liberty or his boss, Susan (head of Entertainment).

 

Views as we came into port.

We docked on time by 9 am but it took awhile for them to get everything in order to get off. But they kept us entertained with music and dancing on the port. We were the 2nd cruise ship since before COVID so they were excited to see us.  Talofal is there word for Hello in Samoan

Heading out of our room on the Baja Deck.  They have large screens everywhere that not only tell you where you are that day, but you can scroll through all the activities for the day.

Finally got off the ship and checked in with our tour.

The have redone their buses to have all wood inside and plexiglass window. The seats are wood too. No cushions!!

Glad this wasn't our bus

First stop was at their historic Tram site. It was not fixed after an accident when an airplane hit the wire. It was on their flag day in 1980. An Navy P-3 had just dropped parachuters out as part of their festival when it hit the cable. As the plane was going down, people on the ground saw the pilot fighting to keep the plane from hitting big fuel tanks. Unfortunately, it hit a small hotel where some Navy and NASA employees and one tourist were at.

We got a good view of the ship.

Next was the most exciting stop for Toni and Rob. They like visiting national parks and this was one they never thought they would see. And they got their National Park Passport book stamped.

They had some really neat display of the whales, dolphins and big fish.

And even a whale skull

Had a small aquarium with fish.

Our next stop was to see some wildlife.  These are bats that they call Flying Foxes since the are so big.  They have 3 foot wingspans.

"Large flying foxes, also known as fruit bats, are one of the more unusual animals in American Samoa, especially for visitors from areas where bats are small and rarely seen. Three species inhabit our islands – two large fruit bats (Pteropus samoensis, P. tonganus) and a small insect-eating bat (Emballonura semicaudata). These three are the only native mammals in the Samoan islands." https://www.nps.gov/teachers/classrooms/frubat.htm

At another stop, we weren't allowed to go into the water!!

Our tour guides

And they told us look up as we were walking and stopping because you never know when a coconut could drop. 

Many distinct buildings and churches

 

Land and house stay in the family and the children will build next to their parents. Since it always stays in the family generation to generation, they actually bury their people in their yards, usually right in front of the house.  Our tour guide said there were some that actually buried their family members inside their house.

We had stops at beaches and overlooks on the mountain

And always too quickly we were back on the bus.

Even NAPA is in town

Last stop was to see Flower Pot islands just offshore. They legend has it that...

"A fisherman named Fatu was out at sea fighting off a shark when his wife Futi approached the shoreline. Worried about her husband she began to enter the water. He called out to her to stay away, but she didn’t listen. In an effort to save her he turned himself into a vast rock situated between the shark and his wife. She became so distraught, she also turned herself to rock to always be near him."

Info on Flower Pot Island and other sites

And when we left the port, we saw it again from the ship

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The biggest industry on the Island is fishing and the biggest company is Starkist. They had a statue of Charlie the Tuna that we got to get a picture of.  Our tour guide said we would know we were there by the smell and he was right. But he said on the island they call that the smell of money since it is about 70% of their economy

At the end of the tour, they had samples of local fruits and snacks.  Rob liked the banana chips

They also demonstrated how to crack a coconut with a rock. Inside was the coconut water. 

Then he shaved all the coconut meat out of the shell before squeezing the meat through the hair from the coconut husk. Then the poured the milk into the shell of the nut.

We walked around town after the tour. As we were stopping by the Fire Department, one of their trucks went out on a call.  But I got to meet one of the Fireman and see their big truck

Stopped at Sadie's 

Sadie Thompson is a 1928 American silent drama film that tells the story of a "fallen woman" who comes to Pago Pago on the island of Tutuila to start a new life, but encounters a zealous missionary who wants to force her back to her former life in San Francisco. The film stars Gloria Swanson, Lionel Barrymore, and Raoul Walsh, and is one of Swanson's most successful films. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadie_Thompson_(film))

We hit Sadie's right as the kitchen was switching between Lunch and Dinner.  The bartender saw our disappointment that there was no food. Next thing we knew, there was a plate of nachos on our table with fresh made guacamole and salsa (was really good sweet salsa).

As we walked by the Firehouse, one of their trucks went out on a call

Passed the Naval Communication Service Building

And the US Post Office.

They had the pillars of this building wrapped with leaves and flowers.

After we got back to the ship, we were watching as people walked back to the ship. We saw two officers out by the gate waiting. Then some of the excursion buses came and dropped people off. But the officers were still out there pacing.  Next thing we saw two people sprinting down the street as the last excursion buses were pulling up. The two officers had a talk with them but as they got close to the ship, they were "greeted" by another officer. Is "restricted to bread and water" still allowed on ships?

When we were in LA, we saw how they cargo ships got loaded and unloaded simultaneously with huge cranes that picked the containers up quickly and dropped them exactly on the mark.  Here two men were up on the container and were moving it in place.  And we got a dance and a wave from one of them (the crane in LA didn't say goodbye to us!!).

And we are pulling out.  And getting a little help on the way out.

And then they turned back to port and we were on our own.

Got to see the airport on the way out

This looked like a Christmas tree that is even bigger than we had as kids though I think it was two trees next to each other.

Last view of Flower Pot Island

Jet Skier trying to pass us

Heading south with the western sunset out our balcony

Back aboard ship and after getting cleaned up, we went to the buffet. And they had made a peacock out of a watermelon, fruits and vegetables.

Dessert and a nap out by the pool and Movies under the Stars.

A few days at sea coming up as we now head southwest to New Zealand.  And we will again cross the International dateline near Tonga tomorrow but the ship won't skip the day until we get near 180 degrees longitude which is half way around the world from 0 degrees longitude.  That 0 degree line goes through Greenwich in London and why time and timezones go by Greenwich Mean Time. "Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_Mean_Time