American Samoa — Fagatogo and Pago Pago

Shrouded in Mist

Of all the islands we visited on this transpacific cruise, the island of Tutuila stood out to both Ursula and me as one place where we wouldn’t mind spending a year or so living the tropical South Pacific life.  Tutuila is the largest island of American Samoa.  It is also home to Pago Pago, the capital city of this unincorporated territory of the United States.

Pago Pago Harbor

Our ship MS Oosterdam arrived into Pago Pago Harbor on April 25.  Despite the name, we actually docked in the village of Fagatogo, which is within easy walking distance of Pago Pago.

MS Oosterdam in Pago Pago Harbor

But don’t dismiss Fagatogo in favor of its more famous neighbor.  We found Fagatogo a very charming and colorful community with much to photograph.

Fagatogo Park

All in all we found the whole Pago Pago experience one well worth repeating at some future date.  And did you know that Tutuila is home to the western-most U.S. National Park?  That would be the National Park of American Samoa, and I’ll show you this jewel a week from Wednesday.  That’s right, American Samoa offers enough sights for two weeks’ worth of blogs.  This Wednesday I’ll be offering up something a bit different — an entire blog post of stitched panoramic images of Tutuila, five in all.  Over the next several posts you’ll also see images of some incredible flora and fauna, including some impressively large bats, the Samoa flying fox.  Until Wednesday I’ll leave you with a couple of images depicting Samoan homes built into the hills:

Pago Pago Homes

Homes built into the hillside