Conky Tonkin' with The Pfeifers: From Salmon to Samoan- We Journey to American Samoa and the Hawaiian Islands

OK. So you’re thinking. American Samoa! What could possibly possess them to go below the Equator to that South Pacific island? Well, believe it or not, as a United States territorial possession, there is a national park, specifically, the National Park of American Samoa located there, and it is on the list of 59 parks to visit. Why are we visiting now?

Surfer dude Duke Kahanamoku

Well, that’s a little longer story that goes back to our visit to Wrangell-St. Elias N.P. in Alaska. Last year, being Honda Goldwing owners, we joined the Goldwing motorcycle club in Baton Rouge. A small group of club members were planning a trip to the Hawaiian Islands and asked us if we would like to go with them.

Sunrise on Waikiki Beach

Hawaii was something on Jane’s list and we were signed up before Capt. Larry knew what hit him. Enter Wrangell-Elias N.P. While visiting this park we met a professor of ‘travel and ecology’ from the Detroit, MI, area, a Dr. Diane Pick. Diane was interested in our national parks bucket-list item as she had visited every one of the parks at least once, and may 2 or 3 times.

Beach life on Waikiki

When she learned that we were going to tour the Hawaiian Islands, she asked: ‘What about the park in American Samoa? You are going to Honolulu and you have to go through Honolulu to get to American Samoa. Well, we knew about the park and figured that we’d get to it sometime, but she got us thinking. Since we were already flying to Honolulu, it seemed to make sense, both time wise and economically to attach a side trip down to the island. We got with our travel agent (who tolerates our idiosyncrasies) and she changed our itinerary to include a swing down to the island. We would leave a week before our other motorcycle riding brethren, spend a week in American Samoa, then fly back and hook up with them for the cruise of the Hawaiian Islands. Why a whole week? Well Hawaiian Airlines, which is the only carrier from Honolulu to Pago Pago, only flies there twice a week- on Mondays and Fridays. So we could fly in late on a Friday, have two days to see everything the out on Monday, or in on a Monday and out 7 days later. We chose the latter to give us time. So everything is so simple, right?

To get to American Samoa we had to fly to Honolulu, spend a night, and then fly out the following afternoon. This gave us a little time to quickly sightsee Honolulu and Waikiki Beach.

Lunch at Sadie's

We arrived at the Pago Pago airport around 2130 and were met by a shuttle that would take us to our hotel, Sadie’s by the Sea in the village of Utulei.

Enjoying Sadie's pool

We picked this hotel because it had a private beach, a bar and restaurant, a gift shop, and because it had our granddaughter’s name in it- Sadie. We had read some online reviews about the place, many of which spoke of the devastation of the 2009 tsunami, but all indicating a great staff and nice facility after the tsunami damage was upgraded. We weren’t disappointed.

Sunrise over Pago Pago Harbor

Every place we’ve stayed at has little quirks of some kind, and Sadie’s was no exception. But all in all it was a great resort. We got settled in for a nice long rest, but were up at the crack of dawn the following morning because of time zone changes. The sun rising over the mountains surrounding Pago Pago Harbor were absolutely gorgeous. We went walking, took our first swim in the Pacific Ocean, and then spent some time by the pool.

American Samoa is a familiar place. It is American in that the language, money, postage, etc. are the same as the mainland, but it is still native and independent in many ways.

Pago Pago's own zip code

Most of the time we heard Samoans conversing in their native language, but they could fluently start speaking English to talk with us. And the thing we liked the best was that this South Pacific island is not touristy by any stretch of the imagination. We had to really search to find some post cards that featured the island, and ended up sending the hotel’s postcards as an alternative. But we definitely liked the climate.

A beautiful Pacific beach

It is situated in the South Pacific region of Oceania and is about 2600 miles southwest of Honolulu and about halfway between Honolulu and New Zealand. It is one of two U.S. possessions, the other being Jarvis Island, in the southern hemisphere.

The beautiful north shore

At about 14°S latitude, the island is located approximately halfway between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn which gives it an equatorial tropical marine climate. November to February is Samoa’s rainy period.

Breathtaking!

Temperatures are a little lower due to overcast skies, but the temperature still got into the lower 80’s each day, and with the breeze it was very comfortable. We seldom ran the air conditioner, it was that comfortable. At 170° W longitude Samoans are among the last peoples to end each day as the International Date Line, where tomorrow begins, is only about 100 miles to the west.

After our first day there we had two requirements; 1) where to find some liquor, and 2) where to get a rental car. On our morning walk we saw several convenience stores or markets that had beer, but no liquor.

Almost there

When we inquired as to where we might purchase some liquor, we were told: ‘Sadie’s by the Sea Resort-’ the place we were staying.

Getting the STAMP!

Sure enough, we got back to the hotel and found the gift shop and low and behold a liquor shop. How could we have missed it? With that necessity taken care of, we went to the front desk and inquired about where we would have to go to get a rental car, thinking that the nearest agency was back at the airport. Nope! Sadie’s also rents cars. We selected a Toyota RAV/4, and off we went.

We made it!

Our first mission was to go to the American Samoa National Park visitor’s center and collect the stamp, then head out and see the park. We found that the 2009 tsunami had totally devastated the visitor’s center and everything had been rebuilt.

View of a north shore bay

The ranger on duty filled us in about the park and we watched a couple of videos and viewed the exhibits before heading out. The park is actually located over three islands that are all part of American Samoa. But they are all about 60 miles apart and the only way to visit the other two islands is by plane (a boat does make a once-a-week run, but it’s impractical to see them by boat).

The Cock's Comb

So we were pretty much relegated to seeing the park on the island of Tutuila. But this wasn’t bad at all. We drove over the island’s main ridge of mountains and were agape at the stunning scenery we were looking at. The bays and inlets at sea level are breathtaking, but the views from altitude are even more stunning. After seeing the park, we headed back to our room to relax and chill out.

We like to walk every morning for exercise and to explore the area, and had read warnings about the number of dogs roaming Pago Pago in packs which could bite or attack.

Samoan mongrel

We did see a large number of dogs, but none of them were threatening. One thing we did notice about the Samoan dog population was that all of the dogs looked like they came from the same litter.

They're all alike

They all looked to be of the same breed- Samoan mongrel, and were all almost identically sized, colored, marked, and had the same disposition.

Our favorite, Molly

We began to think they were all descended from some great Samoan chief’s dog. Mostly we found the dogs to tolerate us well and basically lie in the sidewalk and make us walk around them.

The Tool Shop Dog!

There was one special dog, however. Every morning when we walked past the hardware store we saw this dog resting on the sidewalk. It resembled Labrador retriever and was the only dog we ever saw with a collar that was embroidered with her name- ‘Molly the Tool Shop Dog.’ We said ‘hi’ to Molly each and every day we passed her.

Our walks generally took us around Pago Pago Harbor, a deep, natural, well protected harbor surrounded by high mountains that provide protection from the wind.

Tuna nets ready to go

The harbor is home to a stevedoring company that maintains fishnets for the tuna boats. Every morning we would pass this operation and see the workers repairing, making, and readying the nets for the fishing boats.

Containers ready for shipping

On our second day, a Holland America cruise ship on a 60-day South Pacific cruise docked at the Pago Pago terminal. Local merchants set up an open air market that had Jane salivating, but the market was in a restricted area for the passengers and we were not allowed to enter. Jane was disappointed she couldn’t spend her money.

Cruising to somewhere

However, we spoke with many of the passengers who were looking for a mall that was a map they were given that we were pretty sure did not exist.

Tuna boats in the harbor

We had walked the route before looking for places to shop and couldn’t find any. Not believing us, some wandered on for a considerable distance before giving up and having to endure the smirks on our faces when they passed us again.

The tuna plant

We learned that Pago Pago is not a common stop for cruised ships and only about 18 a year pull into port.

An NFL Charlie the Tuna

Our walking route took us to the head of the harbor where a number of sailboats were moored. We saw flags from Canada, Japan, and the U.S., and Capt. Larry began wishing he were younger and could do that kind of adventure. Our route would end at the Star-Kist^® Samoa tuna processing plant where they would process and can tuna for export.

American Samoa is about 5 miles north to south, and about 20 miles east to west making it slightly larger than Washington DC, with approximately 60,000 inhabitants.

Converted Toyota pickup bus

There is one major highway that runs east to west with north-south offshoots at intervals. Traffic is a headache with the maximum speed limit on any of the roads set at 25 mph. Most of the population gets around by private buses that are pickup trucks that have been stripped down and an open air bus body added.

Buses at the bus depot

Being private concerns, they are quite colorfully decorated in religious, island, or NFL football themes. Speaking of football. We noticed that several fields near the schools were being used to practice football.

Title restoration ceremony

Samoans are naturally big people, and their youth are finding that the way to the big time is to practice and play football well so they can get scholarships to major American universities with the hopes of eventually making it into the NFL. Samoan players are currently found throughout the NFL and for many, it is their ticket to fame and fortune. We headed toward the western end of the island with the intent of driving the road to its end at the little town of Fagalamo.

Hauling out the mats

We got to the village of Leone, the second largest town on the island, and we saw a local native festival being celebrated right next to a catholic church.

Honored dignitaries

We stopped to see what was going on and were informed that it was a ceremony for the restoration of a title.

And more mats....

There was an older chieftain looking person with headdress that everyone seemed to be paying homage to. And homage was paid by presented these woven reed mats that were painted and decorated by various families in the community. And there were hundreds of mats. There were crews of men who would unroll the mats from their storage location, and younger members who would present the mats to the head honcho.

Road to Fagalamo

View outside Fagalamo

This went on and on with an occasional break for a dance by some of the women. We learned later that the mats were originally used as money in the Samoan culture and giving a mat was a special way to show respect. We watched this ceremony for about one-half hour then headed down the road toward Fagalamo. To get to Fagalamo we had to go over some mountainous roads (or cow paths) that were really challenging.

Ubiquitous warnings of where you are

Once we arrived we were on the north side of the island and the view and scenery were stunning. We took all of this in for a while then made our way back to our hotel where we decided to sit by the pool. Unfortunately, our pool experience was cut short by a group of loud, obnoxious Russian youths that drank too much and were way too raucous. In our travel experiences we have always found the Russians we encounter to always have a high decibel bravado that we interpret as an attempt to convince everyone present that they are still a superpower. We left the pool area and went to the beach where Capt. Larry swam in the Pacific Ocean for the first time. After cleaning up, we had dinner at the hotel and turned in early.

The next morning we decided to take the major highway east to its end at Onenoa. The western part of Samoa has higher peaks getting a lot more rain with rain forest areas scattered around that end. The eastern half has lower mountains, but beautiful tropical sandy beaches all the way to its easternmost tip.

A village church

View near Faga'itua

At Aua we headed across the ridge to the little community of Vatia. The northern shore is absolutely breathtaking. Back across the ridge we continued on to Faga’itua where we again shot across the ridge to Masefau. Back to the main road and on to Tula before ending at Onenoa.

A north shore church

All of these villages were quite picturesque. We were amazed by the number of churches that were supported by these little villages. Every village had 3 or4 churches that we were adamantly informed were supported locally and not by missionary contributions.

And another

There were so many churches that we are posting a separate gallery of the churches of American Samoa (and by no means did we get them all).

Finding coconuts while doing laundry

To see the gallery, follow this link : Churches of American Samoa We needed to do some laundry and were going to stop at a laundromat in Pago Pago. But on our return trip Jane spotted a laundry on a stretch of sandy beach. We stopped and did the laundry while we took in the beach and the South Pacific.

The funeral store

One thing that Jane became fascinated with was how the Samoans buried their dead. We were watching TV one night and up pops this ad for a casket shop that featured a showroom stocked with caskets, floral wreaths and anything else one might need for a funeral.

Front yard grave sites

When we were out driving the next day we spotted the placed and pulled in to take some pictures. Jane was reluctant to go in (bad taste, you know), but when the owner spotted her taking pictures through the window she rushed out and invited her in.

Grave by the carport

Samoans are very religious people (as evidenced by the fact that nothing goes on a Sunday) and they have a special place for their dead. Turns out to be on the front porch of their homes.

Fancy grave with picture headstone

We had noticed gravesites and tombs on porches, carports, and next to houses, and were told by the casket lady that Samoans consider it a great honor to be buried on the family lot.

A 'party hall'

Samoan landowners have no restrictions on the use of their land and can literally anything they want with it. This includes the burial of family members. And a Samoan funeral isn’t cheap.

Another one

The only thing we wondered was what it did for property values if Aunt Bertha is buried on the front porch and someone else is thinking about buying the place. This brings us to another observation.

Let the celebration begin!

We aren’t sure how property is exchanged, as we never saw a ‘for sale’ sign on any property. Maybe they hang on to their property and Aunt Minnie’s grave forever. Another interesting thing we found in Samoa was what Capt. Larry called ‘party halls.’ These are large, outdoor, open-air shelters that are apparently used for family get-togethers and celebrations. These are everywhere, and come in all shapes and sizes, and as far as we can determine are built and maintained by individual families. Between the churches, gravesites, and party halls we found the Samoan culture to be very colorful.