Pago Pago / Sun Jan 27

Today we're in Pago Pago, American Samoa. It's located 1600 miles northeast of New Zealand and 2,200 miles southwest of Hawaii.

Pago Pago is pronounced 'Pango Pango.' It's the only urban center in American Samoa and it sits on Tutuila Island which is 52 square miles in size. The island is one of 5 volcanic islands and 2 atolls that make up American Samoa.

American Samoa is a U.S. territory considered to be an 'overseas possession.' People born in American Samoa are American Nationals with the right to live in the US but they're not American citizens unless one of their parents is.

Pago Pago's harbor is one of the world's largest natural harbors and it has the highest annual rainfall of any harbor in the world. There was a rain shower as we sailed into the harbor so we were greeted with a rainbow!

Then the sun came out.

We took a private tour of the island. Beautiful scenery! On the dock, we were greeted by Miss American Samoa (sorry didn't get a photo of her). Our tour bus was one of many highly decorated buses that families on the island use.

The people on the island are very religious and on Sundays they traditionally pray and sleep. Since we were there on a Sunday all businesses were closed. On our tour we stopped at a number of scenic spots and drove through several villages. Each village has a bell they ring at 6pm each day to announce prayer time. It also rings at 10pm as a curfew for those under age 18.

One of the main employers here is the Starkist Tuna cannery. About 3000 people work there.

We visited the office of the National Park of American Samoa. We were lucky the government shut down was over so it was open. It's the only National Park Service site south of the equator.

And yes, there is a McDonald's on the island!
Below are photos from our tour ....

Flower Pot Rock

Two of our tour guides telling us the story of Flower Pot Rock

The other day we received our certificates confirming that we crossed the equator. This is mine:

Now that we've left Pago Pago we have two days at sea before we arrive in Fiji. Tomorrow we cross the International Date Line so Mon Jan 28th just disappears!

Comments

Jamestown, St. Helena / Thu Mar 21

Today we're anchored off Jamestown, St. Helena which is a small (10 miles x 6 miles), volcanic island that's part of the British Overseas Territory which includes Ascension (more about that in the next post) and Tristan da Cunha islands. St. Helena is located approximately 1,100 miles directly west of Luanda, Angola, Africa and about 2,000 miles east of Brazil - basically in the middle of nowhere. Population is 4,500. The island is famous because it's the place of Napoleon Bonaparte's exile and death. When our ship's Captain came on the PA system the other day, he described these islands and what they had to offer. He ended his comments by hoping that we enjoyed our time on these two rocks in the middle of the ocean! LOL! We truly enjoyed our time today! We went on a ship tour that took us around most of this scenic island. Again, the pictures cannot convey the landscape's beauty. Jamestown is wedged between two very high peaks. We drove around m...

A Week At Sea / Thu Feb 21 - Wed Feb 27

We have 7 full sea days crossing the Indian Ocean until we reach our next destination which is Port Louis, Mauritius. When we docked in Freemantle our butler (Marcelo) left the ship. His contract ended and he flew home to Brazil for a well deserved vacation. We're so sad to see him go as we had grown quite fond of his cheerful greetings and lovely manner. Our new butler is Jean - also from Brazil. When we began the cruise we weren't sure what to do with the butler service that came with our cabin but it turns out that they can be very helpful with just about everything! Each day around 5pm our butler arrives with a variety of canapes to snack on before dinner. Jean really out did himself one day with this display (partially eaten before I took the photo) of crab claws, lobster meat, cheese and crackers! It's hard to imagine but the days at sea fly by. We're keeping busy with lots of activities including some excellent enrichment lectures and bri...

Perth / Wed Feb 20

Today we docked in Freemantle which is a port city about a 20 minute ride from Perth. Perth is the capitol and largest city in the Australian state of Western Australia. We boarded a ferry in Freemantle for a ride up the Swan River to Perth. Lots of yacht clubs and beautiful homes lined the river. The approach from the river was quite scenic. In the photo below you can see the Tree Top Walk in Kings Park. We drove through various neighborhoods in Perth then stopped to spend time in beautiful Kings Park which is one of the largest parks in the world - even larger than Central Park in NYC. There were beautiful views of Perth from the park. We then had a brief stop at Cottesloe Beach before driving through Freemantle and returning to the ship. On our drive back to the ship we passed through some o...

Opals and Romeos

Search This Blog