March 28, 2026- Day # 83

 

Hope you enjoy this narrative and pictures of Pago Pago, American Samoa. In the heart of the South Pacific, American Samoa is made up of 7 islands: 5 rugged volcanic islands and 2 coral atolls, (see my prior information on atolls). Only four islands are inhabited, with the main island, Tutuila, having the capital city of Pago Pago. The population is declining due to several factors including low fertility rates, massive migration to other areas, especially the mainland US. We were told that prior to the earthquake that occurred 150 miles off the coast and resultant tsunami at 6:48 am on September 29, 2009, there were about 70,000 inhabitants on Tutuila,  Over 35,000 people perished in the tsunami, many of whom were children.

You can see some pictures of the locals who came to the pier to greet our ship. This is a group of high school students singing and dancing to traditional songs. Our tour today was called, Samoan Cultural Experience. You can see one of the many signs we saw, warning of a potential tsunami area, and we could see evidence of damage from the 2009 disaster still present. Our tour guides were two college “kids” who had been high school classmates. They talked about the typical rivalry between the 60 villages on the island and their high schools. Each village has its own chief and the eldest daughter is the village princess. If they decide to get married, the title of village princess gets passed to the next eligible daughter or niece. We did take a bus ride (see picture) of the rustic bus with wooden seats, no A/C except to open the windows and get some air flow. As the bus went up and down the hillside you could smell the hot rubber or brakes, hoping that we did not lose brakes coming down curves of the mountain. Oh by the way, the weather was very hot and humid, then we got a very heavy rainstorm. Back at the village, they performed a ceremony that is called the ‘Ava Ceremony that is only used to install a new chief or welcome visitors. Because we were visitors, we got to see the ceremony where the chief, high priest, and princess create the Ava drink to share with their guests. We all got the chance to taste it, and it really just tasted like dirty water, but it is the “thought and hospitality that counts”.  Starkist has a major factory here, and they say that many days you can smell salt water and tuna in the air all around the factory. Also, some fantastic views including of Camel Rock.

If you can’t tell from the number of pictures and narrative we really are enjoying the Polynesian and Samoan part of the world. I think I included enough information that the pictures will make sense.