Larsen's Cove

Back in August, Erin and I hiked to Larsen's Cove, one of the better beaches on the island. After a relatively easy 30 minute hike, you come upon a beautiful, secluded beach:

Climbing down the rocks:

Entrance:

West side of cove:

Fagatele Bay

Looking out to sea:

Interior:

A Harty Halloween Party

The Harty family hosted an excellent Pirate-themed Halloween party at their beach front house on Coconut Point. Ned [co-clerk] and I decided to forgo the Pirate costumes and don our newly made bespoke "Safari Suits".

Hangin' tough:
Our friend Alden cares for injured island fruit bats in a cage behind his house. Appropriately, he brought one of the bats to the Halloween party for all to enjoy, which we did thoroughly:
As I was too lazy to bring my camera, much appreciation goes to Kelly Dixon for the [unauthorized] use of her photos.

Paddling Races

In an attempt to stay in shape, make friends, and avoid island fever, we started an outrigger paddling team through the Pago Pago Yacht Club. We're all above 6', so our team is called U'umi which, loosely translated from Samoan, means "Tall Team".

We practice 3 days a week by paddling varying lengths and speeds inside and outside the harbor. About a month ago we were paddling down the coast, when we stopped for a breather and were rolled by a wave. The outrigger flipped, dumping us into the water. Normally, this isn't a major problem as you simply flip the canoe upright, grab the bailer (a laundry detergent bottle cut in half) and bail out the water. Normally. It seems we forgot the bailer, so we began bailing with our hands -- a tedious process. Full of water, the boat can only accommodate 2 people, so the rest remained in the ocean, steadying the boat. Normally, this would be fine. Normally. However, when you've unknowingly flipped into a smack of jellyfish (yes, a "smack" is the proper term), a problem arises. Luckily I avoided stings, but a few of my teammates weren't so lucky. 20 minutes of jellyfish avoidance and hand-bailing ensued. Then the boat flipped again. Seriously. After another long, painful, and tiring process, we finally regained our boat and were able to limp to shore.

We hoped our luck would improve a few weeks later when U'umi took part in an international paddling competition against teams from American and Independent Samoa. It didn't. We lost.

Pago Pago Yacht Club:
Outriggers:
Outriggers:
Kids sailing in front of the Yacht Club:
U'umi:
Doing my best as steersman of the blue boat:
Post 10k exhaustion:

Amalau Camping

A group of palagis drove to Amalau on the north side of the island for fale camping. Fales are open air, wooden structures with a roof that are common in Samoa. Amalau is a secluded bay, surrounded by tall cliffs, between the villages of Vatia and Afono. The campsite provides nice facilities including a number of fales, full bathroom, running water, showers, and cooking facilities. Activities included snorkelling, football, beach bonfire, BBQ, and my favorite -- floating in the ocean a few hundred feet offshore.

View from the pass over the mountains:
Fale with mosquito netting:
Michael's bivouac:
Chris manning the bonfire:
View from above and to the west:
View of Vatia:

Election Day

Election Day in the territory was exciting from an national and local standpoint. Governor, Fono seats [local legislature], and American Samoa's non-voting member of the U.S. House of Representatives were all up for grabs in a hotly contested election season.

Local campaigner:
You can't buy votes, but you can buy lunch. Candidates provide their supporters with free plate lunches:
Supporters:
One of my favorite candidates was Fagatogo Steve. He seemed disappointed when we informed him we weren't local voters, but was gracious enough to offer us free lunch regardless. Sadly, he was defeated by just a few votes:
A number of island Palagis [a/k/a white people] eagerly awaited the Presidential returns at the Pago Pago Yacht Club:
Sale of alcohol is prohibited on election day. Probably a good idea [see free lunch picture earlier]:

Drive To Work

The drive to work consistently offers a variety of sights - most interesting, some confusing, all wonderful.

The airbrush shop sells great t-shirts. The common themes seem to include "Stuntin' Is A Habit", Bob Marley, and high school football:
One of many island churches:
Flowerpot rock:
Roadside fish, lobster and octopus salesman:
Aiga bus (public transportation). One of the buses has an eagle carrying a briefcase in its talons. We call it the "business eagle" bus. I'll try to get a pic:
Bon Jovi graffiti (in honor of French Bon Jovi graffiti post on Jay's Cho Tsumetai blog):
Another church:
Campaign posters:

Tisa's Barefoot Bar

Tisa's Barefoot Bar, a South Pacific institution, is one of the highlights of American Samoa. Located directly on Alega Beach, it is a restaurant, bar, semi-hotel with a "castaway" vibe, great food, and an excellent Pina Colada.

Erin and I attended Tisa's "Umu" which is the Samoan version of a luau. A large hot rock oven is built and covered with banana leaves. The oven cooks various meats, fruits, and vegetables. The following documents our journey there.

Besides the mountains, the most prominent feature of Pago Pago Harbor's east side is the tuna canneries, which happen to be American Samoa's largest employer outside of the U.S. Government:
View of Pago Pago Harbor from the east side:
Erin next to a sign indicating unknown things:
There are a lot of churches on the island, this one being my favorite. At sunset, from the west side of the harbor, this church is one of the last things to stay illuminated by sunlight which gives one the impression that it's slightly more blessed than the others, although I'm sure the other island congregations would disagree with my assessment:
View from Alega Beach:
Pulling food out of the Umu:
Extremely excited to eat:
Dinner (pork, chicken, lamb, turkey, octopus, spinach, shrimp, breadfruit, corned beef, plantain, etc...):

Airport Beach, Redux

An earlier post told of the "Trash Walk" to Airport Beach. Fortunately, there's another route, and once I had a car we were able to enjoy the much more scenic "Blowhole Walk" to Airport Beach.

The path leads along ocean cliffs and blowholes made up of volcanic rock:
Erin stopped to enjoy the beautiful blue water:
Sadly, a local crab fisherman recently fell off these cliffs and presumably drowned. His body was never found. Fortunately, a similar fate did not befall Erin or me. In more upbeat, ridiculous news, recently discovered Vietnam-era explosives were "safely" disposed of near this path. Read about the discovery of said explosives (during road work) here.

Once at Airport Beach we spotted a black tip reef shark. Look closely at the picture:

Mt. Alava

Mt. Alava is one of the mountains encircling Pago Pago Harbor, and has the distinct honor of being home to American Samoa's radio towers. It is also one of the best established and longest hiking trails on the island. While Erin was here we enjoyed the 6-mile round trip hike.

We started from the trailhead at Fagasa Pass. I'm wearing the shoes I purchased at the supermarket:
View of the village of Fagasa:
Looking west on Tutuilla:
Pago Pago Harbor:
The trail leads down to the village of Vatia. We didn't have time to go, but I investigated the first few rope ladders leading down: