Yesterday(Wednesady) afternoon, we decided to play tourist. Sure, our outboard needed some work but what the heck. It was a nice sunny day and we just wanted to get away and see some of the island. We hopped on board a bus for Leone, a village on the west side of the island. Thank heaven they had at least a bit of padding on the seats. The roads in Pago Pago(the biggest city) aren't that great, but get into the backwoods and well, to say they have some pot holes would be an understatement. Now keep in mind that the buses here in American Samoa are just about all hand built from wood. At least the main body is. The frame and the drivers seat are sort of original equipment. The rest, seats, sides, roof and floor are all made of wood. Many have metal on the outside to keep the water out. Some don't. Each bus is privately owned but the fairs they charge are controlled by the government. It's pretty much $1.00 no matter how far you are going on a bus. Be it across the island or just a couple of blocks since it's pouring. It's a buck.

We boarded the Leone bus in downtown Pago Pago and off we went. Bouncing along the road, getting thrown from side to side as we climbed across the hills on the island. People getting off at random places and others taking their place, along we went. Now we had been told by other cruisers to make sure you ask the driver when you get off the bus, when he will be returning so you can come back to the city. Once we got to Leone, we were the last people on the bus. We asked the driver his schedule and he told us that he wasn't going back as he had been told by his "tire man" that he had a flat tire and to come in and get it fixed. That was the end of his run, but, he would let us off where we were sure to get another bus back to the city.

We were passed by many cars as we sat under the shade of the bus stop waiting for some bus. Any bus as long as it was going our way. About 20 minutes later, along came a bus. Nope, he was going the other way. Five minutes later, another bus came along. We talked to the driver and yes, he was going back to Pago Pago. We climbed on board and off we went on another ride.

The tour was fun. Not a lot to see other than a bit of the ocean, homes along the road and lots and lots of green foliage. As we traveled along, we saw many homes(most really) that had graves out in front. Long since dead parents, aunts or uncles. Even children are buried out front of their homes. Some are simple graves and some have entire structures built around and over their graves. As to what happens if the blood line dies out or all the children move away, I have no idea. Would you buy a house with the relatives of the last owners buried out front? Earlier in the week, we talked to a sales person in one of the stores. She had been born in American Samoa but moved to Minnesota 20 years ago. Her sister lives in Idaho and brother is in the military. Her father had gotten ill and she and her kids(two teenagers) had come back to take care of her father. He's passed about a year ago and she stayed on to take care of her mother. Her two kids? Well, they were adapting to their new home but having spent their entire life in the US mainland, I don't know how I would take it suddenly getting ripped out of everything I knew and loved and plunked in American Samoa.

It took another hour to get back to town but we made it just fine arriving back at Zephyr shortly before the Sun went down. This morning, the weather had changed. It was cloudy and over cast with continual threats of rain. Between one set of showers, we put our dinghy into the water. During the next, on went the outboard. Now we just waited to a short break in the rain. Friends of our off Wind Ryder had taken off a bit earlier but had a bit of trouble getting their outboard started and that delay caused them to get drenched on the way in. Tracy sat on deck watching them get swallowed by one of the downpours. We met up later at McDonalds(wifi hot spot) and they were just this side of a being ready to participate in a wet teeshirt contest. Heck, even their pant we soaked and they had had on foul weather coats on.

We took off for the Post Office as we needed to mail back another piece of equipment that just failed for repairs. Don't think they will have it repaired before we are set to take off for Micronesia so we'll just have it sent to our forwarding service in Florida and get it later. While we waited, it poured again and I mean poured. You couldn't see across the bay it was raining so hard. It went on for so long, we decided to just get on another bus and head out and try and do some more errands. Well, we got to Carl's Jr just in time for lunch and a break in the rain. As we had lunch, it started to pour again. So we just sat back and waited and waited. Finally, we made a break for it and got on another bus for Cost U Less. A couple of container ships had come in over the last few days and that means new things at the markets. We found a few things and gathered more provisions for the next trip and headed back for Zephyr. Again, it started raining as we were driven back to the wharf. Once at the dinghy, I had a ton of water to pump out as the rain had done a great job trying to fill her. With the motor started, we headed home to Zephyr to sort out the groceries and start the generator to recharge our batteries. Rain, or shine, those batteries need some juice every day.

Let me explain a bit about American Samoa bus etiquette. It's not like in the US where it's "I've got this seat, go find your own". These buses have about 7 rows of seats on each side of the bus that each fit two people. Samoan are large people so sometimes it gets a bit cramped. If there are two people on a seat near the front of a bus and they pull up to a stop and more are getting on, if you're on the outside section of the seat(next to the aisle), you get up and move farther back in the bus giving your seat to the new people getting on board. As long as there are seats farther back in the bus, this custom continues. At each stop, if there are more people who want to board, and while you just got an board and got your seat near the front of the bus, you move farther back giving room to the next. Once the driver sees that seats are all full, he will pass a "regular" stop till someone gets off the bus. There is no standing in the center aisle. We have seen it time after time as the buses go about their routes. To say that a bus has a route is incorrect. When you get on, you tell the driver where you need to go--the name of a store or perhaps the Medical Clinic or even your nome address. He'll leave the main road and take you where you need to go, no matter how far off the "normal" route. You get to see a lot more of the island that way, let me tell you.