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| The garden thrives |
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| And blooms! |
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| Our wall map...the journey continues |
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| Pago Pago Harbor |
Today's port of call was Pago Pago (pronounced Pango Pango), American Samoa. Five volcanic islands make up American Samoa, one of which is Tutuila, where we docked today. The total land area of these islands is only 76 square miles, but the waters surrounding the islands include 200 miles of economic zone, making their total area 117,500 square miles. This is about the size of New Zealand. The tallest peak on Tutuila is over 2100 feet, and the island is covered with dense growth, a tropical rainforest. Many of these trees house fruit bats, as we would see today. We are here during their wet season, December to March, although the rain that was predicted never did fall. No kidding, that's because we packed those umbrellas again today. It was hot, however. The temps of 82 degrees sounds fine, but believe us, it comes with heavy humidity making it feel much hotter.
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| Not sure, but this may be a tuna packing plant |
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| Docked right in town |
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Docked in the container terminal
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| Native greeters |
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| Our gangway |
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| Crew busy painting |
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Visitors bureau handed out information
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| Amsterdam docked |
We have been here before, actually twice before. The first time we took a tour to see the sights and learn the history of the island. Back then, it was not the best of tours. We convoyed in ten small buses to each site, where one guide gave a talk on what we were seeing. The problem arose when the buses began arriving late, and you missed half of the talk.
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| Local transport |
Being in one of the last buses, we ended up hearing just about nothing at the end of the tour. The only consolation was that the tours were cheap, but that was the reason why.
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Walking the gamut of souvenir stalls
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Many souvenir tents
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| Local sellers weathering the heat |
The next time we were here, we opted to take a walk through town, past many historic buildings, and the scenic harbor full of fishing boats. That was about the time that the skies opened up, and we decided to head back towards the pier. When it rains here, you know it. Sure wish we could have sent that rain to California, where we needed it and still do. The remainder of our time was spent at the pier souvenir stalls where we found some nice sets of puau shell jewelry, pareos, and t-shirts. The funny thing was getting soaked from the tents overhead that filled with water, then suddenly drained on our heads. Well, that was then, and here is now.
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| Nice jewelry sets and affordable |
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| So many t-shirts |
The Amsterdam was greeted by a local group of drummers fairly early this morning. How did we know that? Because they were literally right below our window on the dockside. Later in the afternoon, this group would come back with 13 dancers to give us a rousing sendoff.
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Dancing ladies with farewell performance
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| The men joined them |
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| Smartly staying in the shade |
With the town easily accessible, we chose to walk the waterfront once again, taking the same direction as we did a few years back.
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| Jean P. Haydon Museum |
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| Carved tree trunk |
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| Outside theater |
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| Modern building |
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| Religion is foremost in Samoa |
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Colorful island flame trees
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| Boat harbor |
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| Dead (from the heat) dog |
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| The marketplace |
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| Downtown |
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| Fish in the creek |
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| Typical building built in the late 1800's to the early 1900's |
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| Another preserved building |
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| The closest building to a mall |
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| Fire truck |
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| Large palapa, or cedar-roofed shelter |
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| Nicely built, but will it survive a storm? |
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| All the beams were lashed together with twine |
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| Carved pillars |
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| Safe to swim |
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| Only a few of the locals went swimming |
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| Several such huts |
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| These three blondes are the only kids onboard the Amsterdam |
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| An old longboat |
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| Plaque for shoreline project |
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| Part of the project |
Don't laugh, but we are still in search of dirt (no, not the gossip-type dirt), but potting soil for our growing garden. Just about the same time we spotted the ubiquitous dubious strange passenger popping out of a shop across the road, we ducked into what appeared to be a local hardware/electrical/plumbing store. Turned out to be a good move, because it was like an Ace Hardware store we have at home. They had two items we needed.....a new thermos, and a bag of Miraclegrow potting mix.
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| Him again????? |
We thought we were safe from an encounter with the "priest", but no such luck. We can tell you first hand that he was here to solicit money from the store-owners. When told a definitely, but polite, NO, he stood there staring at them.....perhaps intimidation would work. We quickly paid for our purchases and left. All we saw were the shop owner's heads shaking no, not today. Our purchases were heavy, so instead of chancing being followed by this man to each and every business, we headed back towards the ship.
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| Some local produce |
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| Bananas |
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| Clothing shop |
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| Many crafts |
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| Handmade jewelry , headbands, and purses |
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| Island clothing |
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| Looks familiar |
A perfect stop was at McDonalds for ice cold sodas. With the forecast of rain, we almost hoped it would to cool things off. But it never happened. The cafe was full of locals and passengers alike using their email system. Every cafe we saw today was full of people doing their emailing, an indication that the ship's service is still not fixed.
We went back out again, thinking we would walk to the left to see what was there. Good thing we did, because we discovered a shoreline spit of beach and park with tables and chairs and some shade too. Bet this place gets busy later, since the Amadea pulled in alongside us around noontime.
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| The Amadea sailed in at noon |
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| Small beach area |
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| Grassy area near the beach |
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| Great place to swim and snorkel |
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| Many tables and chairs |
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| Remodeled shade |
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| Vistapoint |
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| Palms on the beach |
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| Watch out for falling fruit |
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| Goat Island Cafe |
Anyway, after walking the beach and inspecting the recently-renovated palapas, we stopped at Goat Island Cafe at Sadie's at the Sea. This is an older-style waterfront hotel with a swimming pool, shops, and a couple of restaurants. The sign read that the grounds were for guests only, but we did learn that for a mere $5.00 each, you would have access to their pool and facilities. We were more interested in something cold to drink and food.
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Here we are
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| Civilized setting |
Making our way to their outside patio, we found a table that faced the harbor and had a stiff, steady breeze blowing.
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| What a view |
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| Two ladies sailing |
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| The entrance to Pago Pago Harbor |
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Plenty of shade
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| Inviting bar |
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Sadies by the Sea swimming pool
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Not sure of the brand, we ordered two local beers with a chicken quesadilla to share.
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Can I drink it now???
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| Chicken quesadilla and dips |
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| Best spot in the place (kitty on the right side) |
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| The cats loved the chicken wings |
Two household cats seemed to think we should share our meal with them as well. Right next to us, a local couple were dining on chicken wings, and they readily gave each cat a bone to chew on. They did not only chew them, they devoured them completely. We like animals, so it was nice to watch them enjoy a meal, as long as they were not in our laps.
All aboard time was 4:30pm, with a sailaway happening on the aft deck. That gave us a little time to stroll through the numerous tents on the pier to look for treasures. It was tempting seeing the various settings made with the puau shells, but already owning a set was fine. The prices were right, however, and the seasoned passengers were loading up on possible gifts we think. Colorful cotton napkins and placemats were sold everywhere we went.
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| Sailaway party |
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Even too hot to swim
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| Dropping our lines |
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| Leaving downtown |
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| Governor's Mansion |
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| Goodbye Amadea |
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| Hillside homes with a view |
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| McDonalds, a most popular spot |
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| The Marketplace |
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| Tugboat |
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| Seaside resorts |
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| One of many churches |
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| Many volcanic peaks |
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| Fishing vessel |
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| Looks like fish processing factories |
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| Going through the narrow passage out to sea |
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| Forested hillsides |
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| Flower Pot Rock |
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| heading towards Fiji |
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| American Samoa in the clouds |
We were finally cooled off by dinnertime, thanks to our room fan and a cold shower. Tonight, we had company, making our table of nine, a table for eleven. Cozy, to say the least. Our guests were half of the Black Tie group, Uri and Val. Having known them from previous trips, they made themselves at home, engaging every one of us in interesting conversation. The mealtime went by swiftly, and our kind waiters were able to handle the extra work with ease.
George Sakellariou, an international guitar player, entertained the crowd this evening. We have heard him play on many cruises. The entertainer last night, was a lady comedian, who happened to be a singer as well. You would have never guessed that from her description.
Tomorrow is Superbowl Day with lots of fun things happening onboard. We'll tell you about the specials tomorrow.
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| Our latest gifts.....pens |
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| Can be used with the new handheld devices |
