Author: richwest3

September 15, 2012

One of the most striking and unique features of Tutuila (the main island of American Samoa) are the rock islands that are scattered along the south shoreline. They contribute greatly to the magical feeling of this island. -Cyndi  

September 15, 2012

The first place we wanted to see was Pago Pago, the famous deep-water harbor that many cruisers (including us) dream about seeing but often don’t because of its mixed reputation. It’s beautiful, but it has a few downsides including a bottom so littered with debris that anchors can get hopelessly caught or end up dragging, a tuna processing plant which produces pungent aromas, some unattractive old buildings scattered along the shore, a tendency for litter to wash into the bay, and of course the gray skies and rain.

Pago Pago has all these things, but it is still magical. The harbor is big and deep, nearly cutting the island in half. Mountains tower above the blue green water in the bay, and while much of the style of the place seems stuck in 1949, that is part of its charm. -Cyndi

September 15, 2012

The moment we stepped off the plane, we noticed what we had heard was true: that in spite of its proximity to Western Samoa, it is cooler here. I believe the reason for this is Rainmaker Mountain, which towers over Pago Pago Harbor and creates rainclouds, which in turn give this harbor the highest annual rainfall of any harbor in the world. While the clouds are mostly clustered over the harbor, the rest of the island gets some of the effect, too. The sun does come out, but it’s never too long before you get a visit from some passing clouds and a rain shower. We ended up giving this island a nickname: The Seattle of the South Pacific.

After we landed, our first order of business was to get checked into our hotel. We were staying at the Tradewinds, a mid-level hotel near the airport that, while not luxurious or special in any way, was quite nice (think Holiday Inn). After we checked in and rented a car through the front desk, we went to the room to drop off our stuff (think backpack).

To most people, this would be a reasonably nice room in a reasonably nice hotel. To us, it was like a palace! There was a king-size bed (!), a TV with cable (!), and most fantastic of all, a shower with all the water we wanted! There was also a desk with an actual chair (sized to fit the desk) and an electric coffeemaker!

It was hard to leave this garden of earthly delights, but we had some things we wanted to see on the island and planned to get started that afternoon. -Cyndi

September 15, 2012

After day two of our car rental, Rich and I were much happier here in Western Samoa. We could stay cool and comfortable in the car during the day while having plenty to see and do. By the time we’d return, it was cool enough to sustain life back in the marina. We’d get home, enjoy a cool shower, then head up to the restaurant/bar above the marina for good food and a cold beer. We decided to rent the car for a few more days.

We headed in early the next morning to extend the car rental and were shocked to find the car had been rented to someone else. We hadn’t anticipated this possibility! We walked away on foot, dazed. We had planned to leave, but our next weather window for the passage to Tonga was a week away. Meanwhile, a string of long, hot days lay ahead, and we needed to figure out how we would survive. We weighed our options. We could rent a car from another agency, but the process was a rather costly hassle and we’d likely end up with a stick shift. We thought about getting a hotel room, but Aggie Grey’s was booked solid, and the other nearby hotel was pretty spartan.

Rich came up with a great idea: American Samoa! We had heard from a good source that even though it’s only 80 miles away, it’s a good 10 degrees cooler. We had wanted to go there originally but had given up after hearing about the many difficulties of anchoring a boat there. We knew we could fly from Samoa but didn’t plan to bother with it. Now, we had reason to bother: survival! Rich got online and looked into it, and the price was very reasonable. He booked a flight, and soon we had a hotel booked, too. We planned to spend two nights there, and during that time we could see the island and buy some American goods at their big Costco-like store.

Two days later, we were boarding a morning flight to Tutuila, the main island in American Samoa. It was a smallish plane, seating about 12 people. Today it seated two: Rich and I had the plane to ourselves. The pilot turned and asked if we’d seen the east side of Samoa before. We fibbed and said no, not really, then said absolutely yes to his offer to give us a little tour from the air!

We figured we’d be in for a fun ride, and we were right! Our pilot flew low over the north coast, giving us am amazing view of the coastline and coral reefs. We even saw a humpback whale mother and calf! We then flew low over the mountain rainforest, coming out over the east coast, where he turned down to give us a good view flying low over the offshore islands. It was a thrilling ride!

After a short flight over open ocean, which was flat calm and an unbelievable shade of blue, we were coming in for a landing in American Samoa and so happy to be there. And for once, customs was quick easy as we were back on US soil. -Cyndi

(Rich… I can’t believe how strange it felt to be using US currency again. Ironically, it felt very foreign.)

September 08 – 19, 2012

Aside from the restaurant above the marina (we never did learn the name of it) and (we admit it) Mc Donald’s, we had some other choices for food.

Our very favorite restaurant was Paddles, which luckily was just down the street from the marina or else we may never have tried it. It’s owned by an Italian-Samoan family and would be right at home in a foodie place like San Francisco or New York. Even with the favorable exchange rate it was rather expensive; so we only went a couple of times, but we sure enjoyed it when we were there. (As I’m writing this blog in Tonga, I can now say that this is our choice for the best restaurant in Polynesia.)

We did have a pizza place in town, and it was pretty good, but it was just a little too hot out to have a comfortable lunch there so we only went once. We did discover, the day we left, a seafood chowder house place across the street from the marina that was really good! (I don’t know why we didn’t try it sooner.)

Then there was the Apia Yacht Club. I wish I could say we ate there, but it was 2 or 3 miles from the marina and too far to walk in the heat. We finally visited it after we rented a car, but alas it was only open for dinner. The menu looked great, and it looked like it would be a fun place to eat. -Cyndi