We left Niue with predicted 15-17 knots wind, which in actuality turned out to be 24-26 knots once we got out past the island. It was another tough sail the first day. But, the second day was a nice sail, until it started raining and the wind died so we had to motorsail.
Arriving in Pago Pago harbor, after being in nice quiet places, was a sensory overload. There was a large commercial fishing port, a container port, tuna processing plants, a bustling little city with colorful busses, and a McDonald's on the waterfront. Yes, we were back in America! American Samoa consists of 5 islands, the largest is Tutuila (pop 62,000), with Pago Pago being the main city (pop 6,200). Most of the people are descendants of the Samoans, and the culture is still Samoan modified slightly with American goods and clothes.
(See Photos of Pago Harbor)
Clearing in took a half day because we had to go to 5 places to fill out paperwork. But, everyone was so nice and helpful that it was at least pleasant. We finished by mid-afternoon and went to a resort for lunch and our traditional anchor beers.
We plent the next week taking the colorful buses (converted trucks) around the island. They really pack people in and play either extremely loud music or movies. One of our main events was provisioning for the next 5 months because provisions would be scarce until we reach New Zealand in December. But, we did get out to see the Cultural Museum, Ocean Museum and National Park Visitor Center. The culture here is Samoan, where people have "fale" (a meeting house) in front of their house. They don't meet with people inside their homes, rather in the fale. There are also more churches per square mile than we've ever seen and more denominations than we've ever heard of. They are typically the biggest, nicest buildings, all with twin bell towers. But, the people don't have much and it is mainly a welfare state (thanks to US).
(See Photos of Pago Pago)
One day we hiked the WWII Heritage Trail and saw the guns and dugout structures along the way. The forest is beautiful and they have a lot of birds and fruit bats, that we could hear but never saw one. At the top of the trail, there was an old aerial tram that used to cross the harbor (5,100 feet) at an elevation of 1,600 feet and was a main tourist attraction. It was destroyed when a plane hit it and was never rebuilt. It looked like an amazing ride!
(See Photos of Hiking)
One day we took the bus to Tisa's Barefoot Beach Bar to go snorkeling. While there, we met a couple from Louisiana. He was there on business, consulting for the Starkist tuna plant, to assist with environmental compliance. He confirmed our suspicions that the harbor water was filthy. Turns out he knows a lot of the same people I do in the environmental industry. They gave us a ride back to the harbor, stopping at the Starkist plant to take pictures with Charlie the Tuna.
(See Photos of Tisa's & Starkist)
More later - G&T