Tag Archives: cruise vacation

March 6, 2017 · 5:35 am

Port 6 Pago Pago — Docking at Fagatogo


Pago Pago Harbor

Pago Pago Harbor

Despite the warm waters that forced the Crown Princess to slow on the journey from Hawai’i to Samoa, we had no problem making the 78 miles/125 kilometers (as the flying fox flies) from Apia, Samoa to neighboring Pago Pago, American Samoa.  Of course, this short trip also required us to travel back into time, as we once again crossed the International Date Line separating the two island groups.

Crown Princess docked at Fagatogo

Crown Princess docked at Fagatogo — port area for Pago Pago

Ursula, Al and Lisa Fittipaldi, and I stepped off the ship in Fagatogo, which is just a short walk to the territorial capital of American Samoa, Pago Pago.  You may recall that Ursula and I visited here before, way back in late April, 2014.  As I’ve covered this destination in depth already, this segment of our trip will be short on text and long on photographs.  For additional information on American Samoa, visit these links from my previous articles:

Our first order of business was to stroll over to Pago Pago so that Al and Lisa could get the National Parks Passport stamped with what is the farthest west U.S. National Park, the National Park of American Samoa.  After all, this opportunity does not present itself every day.  If you’re going to start registering all your National Park visits with your own passport then don’t miss this opportunity.  The park headquarters are physically located in Pago Pago rather than at the actual park.

While you’re making that stroll, make sure you take time to photograph the colorful aiga buses:

Aiga bus in full color

Aiga bus in full color

After obtaining passport stamps we flagged down several taxis before finding a driver who wasn’t going to charge us an arm and a leg to get around the island.  Fortunately we found one who was informative, friendly, and fun, and he was originally from that other Samoa.

Our taxi driver and guide

Our taxi driver and guide

Sights along the way included the Starkist tuna cannery:

Starkist cannery

Starkist cannery

It was here that I got a very famous television personality to pose for me:

Charlie posing for his portrait

Charlie posing for his portrait

And then it was up, into the tropical rainforest and a date with some flying foxes:

American Samoa

American Samoa

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March 3, 2017 · 5:35 am

Fun Photo Friday — Apia Favorites


Tatoos

Tatoos

Click on any image below to bring up today’s Fun Photo Friday gallery and activate the slide show:

Three Flags
Apia EFKS Church
Samoa Cultural Village
Soft Focus experiment
Apia sidewalk
Takin’ a Swig
Study in Blue

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March 1, 2017 · 5:35 am

Port 5 Apia — The Samoa Cultural Village and Robert Louis Stevenson


Sign post

Sign post

Our hurry was to get to the Samoa Cultural Village in time for the next native dance and cooking demonstrations, and we made it with just minutes to spare.  Food was cooked in the traditional Polynesian manner of burying the meats and vegetables in a heated pit.

Samoa Cultural Village

Samoa Cultural Village

Included in the village are demonstrations of siapo making.  Siapo is the Samoan version of tapa cloth, the strands for which are derived from the inner bark of various trees.  It’s a very laborious and time consuming process, and a skill that is slowly dying.

Making siapo (tapa) cloth

Making siapo (tapa) cloth

Making siapo (tapa) cloth

Making siapo (tapa) cloth

The village show includes traditional dances and a formal greeting from the village royalty:

Samoan princess?

Samoan princess?

Make sure you take time to stop and smell the roses . . . or otherwise enjoy the native flora at the village:

Samoa Cultural Village

Samoa Cultural Village

Samoa Cultural Village

Samoa Cultural Village

After our lunch of native cuisine we boarded a taxi for journey to the home of a fellow author, but first we made two stops.  The first was for refreshing coconut water straight from a fresh coconut, and this was to be had at the local market just beyond the Apia Clock Tower.

Apia Clock Tower

Apia Clock Tower

Apia market

Apia market

Our taxi driver then took us to a place he knew where we could watch locals feed the sea turtles, which eagerly awaited their feeding:

Sea turtle

Sea turtle

After that it was off to the village of Vailima, site of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Villa Vailima, which is now the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum.  I knew what the “vai” in “Vailima” meant; it’s Polynesian for “water”.  I learned that tidbit way back in 1994 from Mark Vaikai, whom when we met was an air traffic controller working at the Rarotonga International Airport in the Cook Islands.

Now for the other part of “Vailima”.  In Polynesian “lima” means both “five” and “hand”.  In this instance however it’s “hand”, so “vailima” literally translates to “water in the hand”.

And Mark’s last name, Vaikai?  Mark jokingly told me that his name is all you need for life.  It’s Polynesian for “Water and Food”, and now you know the genesis for the name of the fictitious setting I used in my mystery novel Decisions — the Fijian island resort of Vaikai.

Here is today’s photo gallery of Villa Vailima including some very colorful tourist buses that sat in the parking area:

Villa Vailima
Villa Vailima grounds
Colorful buses a Vailima
Robert Louis Stevenson home, Villa Vailima

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