On Friday, February 10th we made our approach to the harbor at Pago Pago, American Samoa. The Samoan Island chain lies in the center of the South Pacific about 2300 miles southwest of Honolulu. The island is the only American Territory in the Southern Hemisphere. The harbor is surrounded by lush volcanic mountains and is a processing center for Starkist Tuna
.
Once we were secured alongside the pier at Pago Pago, we made our way into the small town of Fagatogo. On our list was to check out the open air market; find some Internet access, and just see how much the town had changed since our last visit which was one week after the 2009 Tsunami. As we walked into town, we saw plenty of the local buses lined up to take passenger around the island. They always decorate the buses with plenty of palms and flowers. The buses are not air conditioned and only have padded bench type seating.
We weren’t the only passengers seeking Internet access. The local Internet Café was full of passengers attempting to get online. It was extremely slow using this café because too many people were attempting to use one connection. After about 30 minutes we gave up and proceeded down the road to the market. The market was full of vendors selling coconuts, fruits, roots, and local fruit beverages. Also in the market were clothing and souvenir vendors. We did stop by one of the small restaurants in the market where the cook was deep frying some great smelling chicken.
Our next stop was the local general store. We always go to this store because of it being so unique. It has virtually anything you might need. Everything from rubber boots to laptop cases and all the food traveling bus passenger might need. The bus station is just outside its main door. They have a full stock of school clothing for each of the local schools. Basically the school boys wear the traditional bright knee-length wraparound skirts called Lava Lava. The girls were white blouses and skirts with their school color.
In American Samoa, the beaches are not open to public access, rather each is privately held and some charge a small fee to use them.
We departed Pago Pago at around around 5:00pm for our next stop Dravuni Island, Fiji.
