DAY 37-PAGO PAGO, AMERICAN SAMOA

       This is another NEW port of call for us.  American Samoa is a US territory covering 5 South Pacific islands and two atolls.  Pago Pago is located on the largest of the islands, Tutuila, and is the capital of American Samoa.  It was first settled around 600 BC by Polynesians, as were most of the Pacific islands.  From 1878 to 1951 it was the site of a coaling and repair station for the US navy, known then as “United States Naval Station Tutulia”.  It became a US territory in 1900.  People born in American Samoa are American nationals but NOT American citizens unless one of their parents is a US citizen.  They do not pay US federal income taxes.  Pago Pago has a natural harbor that is framed by volcanic peaks up to 1700 feet high.  There is an international airport here as tourism is a major economic driver.  There are also several tuna canneries on the island.  StarKist exports several hundred million dollars worth of canned tuna to the US each year.

WHAT WE DID TODAY:

 It had been raining before we arrived and was still overcast so not too hot yet.  I went up on top deck to take these photos and my camera lens fogged over, so it took a while for it to clear.

              There were some large tuna f.ishing boats opposite where we are docked

                      Another large tuna fishing boat in front of us at the dock.

 My bus and guide for the "Village Way of Life" tour this morning at 9:30.  The bus was NOT air conditioned and had wooden seats with some thin padding.  I'm sure the 3.5 hour ride in this did not do my neck any good.

This is called "Flowerpot Rock".  Not sure why as there were not flowers on it.  We had a 10 minute photo stop here.  Not sure why as it was not much to look at.

Next stop was at a golf course for photos.  Another waste of time in my opinion.  There were restrooms however.

                           2000 foot mountain was highest part of the island.

                               Third stop for photos of coast.

 Fourth stop was at the memorial for the 2009 Tsunami that it the island and many lives were lost.

                              Flower and vegetable stand along the road.

            Last stop was at a small man made village to experience the Samoan culture.

We got to taste some of their foods:  cooked breadfruit, cooked bananas, cooked spinach (looked like our spinach dip), and some chicken.

                  Here they were demonstrating how the Samoans make things.

                                They are roasting cocoa beans.

                    Here they made a cocoa drink that we sampled.  It was not bad.

 Getting ready for demonstration of how they cook foods here.  Food was cooked underground.  They placed the wrapped foods in hole.  Covered food with banana leaves and then put hot rocks on top.  Said it took 25 minutes to cook the spinach we had tied.  The men do the cooking here.

                                         Taking husk off a coconut.

                                          Samoan dance

                                               Bananas

                   Low tide so the coral was exposed on our way back to the ship.

       One of the passengers on my bus summed today's tour up pretty well and as he got back on the bus after our last stop at the village.  He said, "Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it did!"

       Just to prove that Rebecca is still alive (but maybe not well), she got off the ship for less than a half hour this afternoon.  We crossed the street and bought two t-shirts at $10 each.  The sun was out this afternoon and it was HOT!!!

       We will sail at 4:00 pm today for our next stop, Fiji.  Tomorrow is another day at sea.  As I mentioned in yesterday's posting, we will go to bed tonight, Saturday night, and when we wake up in the morning it will be Monday!!!  We lose a day by crossing the International Date Line.

       We may go up to Sette Mari (Italian restaurant) tonight rather then dine in Compass Rose.  No decision has been made on that yet.  We WILL be going to Brandi Chapman's show at 9:30.

WHAT WE DID LAST NIGHT:

After dinner in Compass Rose we went to see headliner, George Kamikawa's, show.  Seemed to be a "lounge act" not one for theater.  We will skip his second show.