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:

Airport Beach

One of our first excursions was to Airport Beach, appropriately located -- you guessed it -- next to the airport runway. Accessible from Lion's Park (where I live), the path is covered with trash - detergent bottles, sandals (at least I can save money on footwear purchases), assorted plastics - making the 45 minute journey somewhat unpleasant, although slightly humorous in a morbid sort of way.

Initially you walk along Pala Lagoon, as Erin demonstrates in this picture:

Looking east on Tutuilla:

Erin, relaxing:

Sadie's By The Sea

Upon arrival, my house wasn't quite ready (i.e. the "cleaning crew" hadn't had a chance to take all the good stuff the previous owner left), so the High Court put Erin and I up at Sadie's By The Sea, one of the nicer (see only) hotels on the island. It's located on Pago Pago Harbor, in the village of Utule'i, across the main road from the Governor's mansion. Notably, it is directly next door to the abandoned Rainmaker Hotel - one of the South Pacific's most legendary accommodations - which was once crashed into by a U.S. Navy plane after the plane hit the cables of an aerial tramway during a Flag Day demonstration in 1980. Here's the now dilapidated Rainmaker with its namesake, Rainmaker Mountain, in the background:

I took a swim out front: