February 4, 2023 – American Samoa

I spent the last 2 days taking meds and sleeping.  I feel much better today, thankfully.  I didn’t want to miss another destination.  

As the sun came up, we could see land.  American Samoa!  It sits in very deep waters of the South Pacific.  Unlike the Island of Moorea with it’s reef and shallow waters, American Samoa is very dark, deep blue water.  We are visiting Pago Pago today (pronounced Pahngo Pahngo).  As we got closer, we could see tall hills and a majestic harbor.  Hills on both sides and water deep enough we could go right into dock.  No anchoring today.

Drawn by the need for a coaling station, an agreement involving the US Navy and American Samoa initially sparked the American use of Pago Pago harbor.  In 1899, America was granted complete control over the harbor as a station for the US Navy.  In 1951, President Truman shifted control the American Samoa islands from US Navy to administration by the Department of the Interior.  The islands are currently separated into American Samoa and the independent Kingdom of Samoa.  Today, American Samoa is a non-incorporated territory under sovereignty of United States.

The pilot did a big ‘U’ turn in the harbor so we were facing out when it was time to leave.  The dock was small, but the town was mighty.  Hundreds of people came to greet us.  Music, singing and dancing!  They were very happy to see our ship arrive.  We are only the 2nd ship since Covid so they were anxious to have visitors.  Small buses lines up and decorated with flowers and palm fronds.

I had not booked a tour here and just though we’d ‘wing’ it.  I’m glad we did.  As we disembarked there were so many people waiting to greet us and offer tours of their small island.  We met a beautiful woman that said her husband owned a taxi and could give us a private tour of the island for $20/pp.  Perfect!  We got in his pickup truck and off we went.  He would stop at picturesque spots for photo opportunities.  Flower pot island was one of them and can understand how it got it’s name as we got closer.  

I liked riding and just observing their way of life.  I saw American Flags hanging with pride.  Modest homes painted with bright colors.  The island is small, yet I saw more churches than I’ve ever seen before.  Most houses have a covered patio attached by a breezeway that they call ‘guest houses’.  They use these to entertain.  In the front yards of the house would be the family cemetery, decorated with flowers.  Some houses had many tombs.  

On Sept 29, 2009, two large earthquakes (8.1) struck midway between American Samoa and Samoa.  The earthquakes generated tsunami waves of up to 72 feet that engulfed the shores, killing at least 192 in both areas, extensive destruction and injuries.  We visited an area where a tsunami hit, mostly children since the school was close to the ocean.  We saw a memorial and a large area where houses use to stand.

Each evening around dusk, villagers observe a time for prayer called Sa.  If you are entering a village during Sa, stop and sit quietly still until Sa ends.  

We had a ‘selfie’ with our driver and his wife.  She wanted to post on her Facebook page.  They were both very sweet and glad we took their tour.  We went back to the harbor and walked a short distance to the museum.  Normally, closed on Saturday, they opened for our ship’s visit.  We saw the US Post Office across the street and many little vendors selling their goods.  It started to rain so we made our way back to the ship.  A few hours later, the sun came out and we enjoyed views from our balcony.  Across the harbor we could see the tuna cannery.  Apparently, American Samoa was the number #1 producer of canned tuna (StarKist Tuna).

The ship’s engines started and the horn blew.  I’ve never heard an echo like that.  We are sitting in a harbor with steep mountains on each side so the horn was very dramatic.  We pushed away from the dock and slowly move towards the ocean.  Suddenly, we could hear all the church bells ringing as our ship passes.  What a beautiful way to end our visit to American Samoa.