Doug's Photos

Friday, November 10, 2023

Huahine French Polynesia

Today you could say we had two tours. The one we scheduled through Holland America was the Pearl Farm, Maeva Marae & Vanilla Plantation tour which started at 12:30. But since we had arrived by tender boat a couple of hours early, we decided to hire a driver to take us around the smaller southern island, Huahine Ito. I guessed (correctly) that our 12:30 tour would focus on the larger northern island, Huahine Nui.

On our arrival into port, the view of where our tender would land showed just how sparsely populated the island is. With a population of just a bit over 6,000 people, it's a very small community. But it really is a community, where everyone seems to know each other and they look after each other.

For our 1.5 hour southern island drive we hired a driver to take us around the island, since we had spare time before the 12:30 tour. Our driver barely spoke English so we had to use Google maps to see stops that might be of interest and then ask the driver to stop there. We had to be careful though because sometimes she thought we wanted to visit a place when we were just trying to figure out if it was worth spending time at. As a result, our first two stops were a small grocery store, without anything of interest to us, and a Vanilla farm which we didn't really want to visit since we'd seen one already and would be visiting one later that day. After that we were a bit more careful and ended up stopping at some scenic stops in Huahine Ito. It would have been nice to have even more time to visit, maybe even try snorkeling and/or boating in some of the coral reef areas.

Our first picture stop, the third stop of our first "tour", was at a craft shop with beautiful te mau pāreu, wraparound skirts with beautiful patterns worn on many South Pacific islands. I wanted to stop mainly for a view from the nearby beach, but Elizabeth had been wanting to buy a pāreu and ended up buying a handcrafted one from the shop.

Our second stop was at Anini Mara'e. There are a number of maraes on the island, we had a closer look at one on our second tour, "...maraes are a sacred rectangular complex, where multiple types of rites and communal meetings have taken place prior to the arrival of Christianity"[*]. It's said that Anini Mara'e was the site of 14 human sacrifices.

We stopped next at the Tefarerii viewpoint.

Our final stop for the first tour was at a spot overlooking some unique rock formations. Legend is that when some of the male gods defied a female god by visiting the island, she cut off some of their private parts and put them atop the mountain.

Our scheduled Holland America tour, Pearl Farm, Maeva Marae & Vanilla Plantation, turned out to be much more interesting than I expected, due in large part to our tour guide, whose name I don't remember. What I do remember is that he spoke excellent English and grew up in a house over the water near the pearl farm we visited later that day. In fact, his wife also worked (maybe ran or helped run?) the pearl farm. His father was from the US, growing up in Los Gatos California. Our guide was born in Sonora California and spent many summers in Groveland, a small town I pass through all the time on the way to Yosemite.

Another major point for this tour over others we booked with Holland America is that they divided us into groups of eight people, each with their own transportation and tour guide. This made it much more enjoyable than the big bus tours we often had with 30 or 40 people in a bus with one tour guide.

One of our stops on this second tour was at an area overlooking the cruise ship. It was from the opposite side of the bay from where the tender boats docked.

After a stop at a Pearl Farm, which I unfortunately didn't get any good pictures of, we stopped at Marae Manunu, another pre-European religious site.

We also visited a vanilla farm. Unlike the one we'd seen in Tonga, this one was covered by netting. The tour guide had said this was to protect it from the pounding rain, but I'd read that it also reduced the glare of the sun, giving the vanilla plants more of the shaded light they prefer.

Our final stop of the day was at a location which wasn't officially part of the tour, the Distillerie Huahine Passion. Here they make some delicious liqueurs based on rum with various passion fruits.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Huahine, French Polynesia photo album.

Thursday, November 9, 2023

Moorea French Polynesia Day 2

Went on a "Swimming with the Whales and Dolphins" excursion and had a great time! One of the guides used another guest's GoPro to film the whale and calf we saw on the second of two sightings. To see the whales the ship had to stop at least 100 meters from the whale and we then had to swim at least 50 meters, usually much more I think, to see the whale.

Click on the picture above to see the photo album that contains a video of the mother and calf.

In both of our sightings there was a mother and calf. This being the end of the season I think that's primarily who is left at this time of year. Most of the others have already headed to the Antarctic for the southern hemisphere summer. Since we saw the whales from the other side, away from the boat, we must have swam more than 100 meters, maybe more like 150 meters. The second swim had fairly high swells, maybe up to 5 feet making it even more challenging. If I do this again I'll use the fins provided by the tour company which would provide more propulsion. My snorkeling fins are fairly short, which is more convenient for packing. They're also good for being around coral in shallow water so you have less chance of brushing against the coral. But I don't think they provide as much propulsion.

Had heard that some whales go to the Arctic and some go to the Antarctic but never heard what makes a lot of sense: they'll always be in the Arctic or Antarctic in what is the summer season for that hemisphere. Conversely, during the "winter" for that hemisphere, they'll be in the part of the world where it's warmer, that being near the equator, but closest to either the antarctic or arctic, meaning above or below the equator. So in general, according to the tour guide, they do not cross the equator. According to wikipedia though, some whales from the southern hemisphere have been known to cross the equator. That is the exception though.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Moorea, French Polynesia Day 2 photo album. That album contains a video of the mother and calf.

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Moorea French Polynesia

Our two day stay in Moorea ended up being one of our favorite stops, even though we had to take tender boats to get ashore. At least the trip from the ship to shore via the tender boat was very calm since it was inside the coral reef protecting the island.

When we first landed ashore we were met by local dancers and a small group of vendors with tables selling clothing and knick knacks.

Some friends we'd made aboard the ship had invited us to go along on their private catamaran half day snorkeling trip in the afternoon. Since we still had some time to kill before the snorkeling trip we ended up sharing a taxi ride to a lookout not too far from the port, Belvedere Lookout.

The highlight of the day was, of course, the four of us on a catamaran for the afternoon private tour. It was wonderful to go to some of the great snorkeling spots not too far from the port. Since Moorea is surrounded by a coral reef, you can go quite a distance without going into open water.

I wish I'd been able to take underwater photos. We started the tour with a trip to a coral garden which had lots of fish and anemones. We then went to a popular spot with rays and sharks, both of which do not bother people though they warn you not to try to grab them. You can pet the rays and some of the other ships were feeding them. However it's considered best for wildlife to not feed them, so our boat didn't.

The final stop was a set of tikis which were placed on the bottom of the ocean as an underwater art museum. It's meant to be a tribute to Polynesian ancestors who were forced by missionaries to throw their religious objects into the sea.

Our friends had tried to get us a spot on a sunset cruise on the same catamaran, that they had booked. There weren't any open spots, but we still had a good view of the Moorea sunset from the cruise ship.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Moorea, French Polynesia photo album.

Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Raiatea, French Polynesia

Today we reached Raiatea, the first of five stops in French Polynesia. We were welcomed by a beautiful sunrise over the island.

This cruise was originally supposed to stop in Bora Bora. However, Bora Bora instituted rules limiting the size of cruise ships which could dock there. Our ship was slightly larger than the upper limit and so we were unable to stop in Bora Bora.

To reach Utoroa on the island of Raiatea, the Captain had to navigate a passage inside the Tahaa North Reef. Tahaa is an island just north of Raiatea. It was a beautiful passage.

Once we reached Uturoa on the island of Raiatea the ship anchored just off the coast. We then had to take tender boats to reach the shore.

We docked right at the city center, so it was an easy one block walk to get to the indoor shopping area once we were ashored.

We also visited some other local businesses, buying some Belgian and local beers, taro chips and a baguette. They were all very good and, as we'd been told, the baguettes at the french bakeries here were not to be missed.

We'd booked a Holland America tour, Anapa Pearl Farm & Snorkel. One of my favorite aspects of this tour is that it was a "small group" tour with a maximum of 16 people. It was interesting to see how cultured pearls are made. It is quite a process taking longer than you might have realized and requiring patience and precision to insert the tissue graft from a donor mollusk, upon which a pearl sac forms. Elizabeth enjoyed looking at the various pearl sets available there while I was off snorkeling.

We stopped at another vanilla bean plantation on the way back to the ship. It was much different from the one we'd previously seen, being enclosed in some kind of mesh. The mesh provides the shaded light needed by the vanilla plant which is a member of the orchid family.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Raiatea French Polynesia photo album.

Monday, November 6, 2023

At Sea - Galley Tour

Today they gave everyone the opportunity to take a tour through the food preparation areas. It was a pretty interesting experience. I hadn't realized that they have to carefully monitor how long since a food item was prepared. Or that the wait staff have to wash their hands every time they enter the food preparation area. Or that entry is through one side of the galley and exit is the other side. It all makes sense and assures you that health precautions are being taken. Preparing thousands of meals per day and keeping it healthy seems like a pretty big challenge.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Galley Tour photo album.

Sunday, November 5, 2023

Rarotonga

We were supposed to be in Rarotonga today, again via tender, but the wind, current and waves weren't cooperating so we had to bypass the island. Took a few pictures of the island as we tried to find a good berth for tendering and then, giving up, took off for the next island, Aitutaki.

Since we were going to be in Rarotonga on a Sunday, there once again weren't any tours offered by the cruise line. Instead we had planned to join some friends we'd met aboard the ship on a tour they had booked independently. That's why we had gotten the New Zealand dollars the day before in order to pay for the tour without using up our dwindling cash. Since we hadn't been able to land on Rarotonga due to the local conditions, we now had some New Zealand dollars and no more stops where we could use them. We ended up using most of them to tip some of the crew. We figured it wouldn't cost them any more to exchange them into the local currency when they went home than it did to convert US dollars.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Rarotonga, Cook Islands photo album.

Saturday, November 4, 2023

Aitutaki Atoll, Cook Islands

Reached Aitutaki today and luckily the sea calmed down enough so we could safely anchor outside the coral reef and take a tender to shore.

Because it was a Saturday there weren't any tours offered by the cruise line. This was something different about the south seas where missionaries did such a good job of converting locals to Chrisitanity that many people don't work on Saturday or Sunday. As a result, we spent the day on our own, stopping first at the ATM for New Zealand dollars for tomorrow's tour. We then stopped at Arutanga CICC Church (CICC = Cook Island Christian Church).

After the church, Elizabeth took us on a mini-death march to the Piraki Lookout, stopping only briefly to catch my breath and remove the burrs from weeds stuck to my Holland America bag and pants.The lookout was primarily to the east away from the ship, though we managed to find a few glimpses of the ship in the other direction on our way back downhill.

Elizabeth made the walk much more interesting by pointing out the taro plants, overripe coconuts, and other plants which I can't remember the names of. Overall it seemed like it should be simple to live off the land, especially supplemented by some of the abundant fish from the ocean. It would be nice if there were some kind of Airbnb that would support you in spending a month or more learning to live off the land on an island like this.

We ended the day at the Pacific Resort. I'd thought of going snorkeling there but the coral area, where snorkeling would be best, was very far from shore so I didn't bother. Instead we found a table with a very scenic view of the beach and coral encased lagoon that surrounds the island. Very nice for viewing but didn't look that good for snorkeling. It was also a bit windy and there were some waves, especially outside the coral area.

The walk back to the ship seemed fairly long as well as hot and humid. We spent 15 to 30 minutes sitting in the tender boat waiting for it to fill up before heading back to the ship - some of the most uncomfortable time of the day in a small cramped, hot, humid boat.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Aitutaki Atoll, Cook Islands photo album.

Friday, November 3, 2023

At Sea

Our fourth day at sea since we left Vava'u, Tonga. Tomorrow we reach Aitutaki Atoll, Cook Islands and, hopefully, use a tender boat to go ashore. The waves are pretty high today and if they continue tomorrow we most likely won't be able to tender ashore in Aitutaki.

I've taken a few pictures and one video to show how rough the seas are today but not sure it really captures it. From the picture you can see how much the motion is causing waves in the midship pool.

Modern cruise ships have stabilizers which do a great job of reducing the effects of rough seas. But stabilizers only help side to side rocking, not the up/down motion of the bow. That's why in the picture above you see waves caused by the bow going up and down with the motion of the waves.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the At Sea photo album.

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Vava'u, Tonga

Today we did a Holland America excursion, probably our most disappointing one so far. It wasn't off to a good start. We made it ashore on a tender and to the bus early, just to sit and wait in a bus without air conditioning. Luckily it wasn't very hot yet, but it had started to warm up already and was a bit uncomfortable. Finally they had us move to another bus because the first bus wasn't running. Luckily the second bus was newer and had air conditioning. We had to discover that on our own though, as no one mentioned it until finally one of the other passengers on the bus pointed out that there was cool air coming out of vents above the seats. Our tour guide barely spoke English and just read a few notes about the three stops we'd have and how long we'd be at each stop.

Our first stop was a vanilla plantation where we were told how vanilla beans are produced on the island. It's a very manual labor intensive process! First a fig tree is grown to serve as a structure for the vanilla bean vines to grow on and also provide nutrients for the vanilla bean vine. Vanilla beans are actually a type of orchid. The flowers then have to be manually fertilized by a worker using a toothpick within the first few hours of it blooming. So every day someone has to go through and mark those plants which have blooms. Workers then come through and fertilize the plants. In the wild, there is only a 1% chance of a blossom fertilizing itself without human intervention. It was an interesting and informative tour.

Once we were done here we once again ended up sitting in the bus for another 30 minutes, this time waiting for a fourth tour bus to arrive. There were a total of four tour buses, each with around 30 people or so. Initially they had wanted to wait for all of the buses to arrive before starting the presentation, though that would have been a nightmare. It was pretty crowded when they did our presentation even though it was only one or two buses.

After all four tour buses had arrived and everyone had seen the presentation on how vanilla beans are raised, we all headed to a Tongan Kava ceremony. This was preceded by a demonstration of how they cook food in the ground, and followed by a group of dancers. The dancers were much younger and obviously less experienced than the previous two similar dances we'd seen in Samoa and Fiji. The dance was then followed by a craft demonstration.

Our third and final stop was at a "resort." It was a pretty small resort though, especially after four buses showed up. Although billed as a possible snorkeling stop we only saw one person snorkeling. The water looked pretty cloudy that day and the reefs pretty sparse. The stop was only for an hour and so after buying a beer and getting our "assorted fruit plate," one small piece each of pineapple, coconut, and mango, there wasn't a lot of time to snorkel and dry off before the buses would leave. The people on our bus returned to the bus early and the bus driver then went to find the tour guide who was the only person not yet on the bus.

The tour guide had spoken very little, just reading a short blurb about each stop as we arrived, but not even saying what time we should return to the bus. She spent all of the time on the bus texting on her phone and didn't say anything else about what we were passing or where we'd be going. All in all it was a waste of time and Elizabeth said she'd probably have preferred just staying on the ship.

That evening some people dressed up for Halloween. The best costumes were some of those done by the crew.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Vava'u, Tonga photo album.

Monday, October 30, 2023

Nuku'alofa, Tonga

We'd booked an excursion through the cruise line but canceled it when some friends we'd met on the ship asked us to come along on their personal tour. Unfortunately their tour guide took ill at the last moment and that tour fell through. That left us on our own, so we started with visits to nearby War Memorial and the Royal Palace of Tonga.

We weren't sure what to do next so we headed to the Friend Cafe and Tourist Center to see what nearby sights were available and if we could book a last minute private tour. The first lady we spoke with said they didn't book tours anymore, but another worker at the cafe said her husband was available to drive us around the island. It turned out to be one of our best private tours!

The tour driver took us first to Abel Tasman's Landing Site, where Abel Tasman, the first European to land in Tonga, landed in 1643. He had been searching for a faster way to reach Chile after sailing around Australia and New Zealand.

Our original tour was supposed to take us to a nearby beach, but that area had been wiped out by a tsunami in January 2022. That's when the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcanic eruption, one of the largest recorded with modern instruments, took place. The subsequent tsunami completely wiped out the peninsula on the island's north west side. Four people were killed by waves up to 49 feet tall washing over that part of the island.

Our next stop was at Tsunami Rock, a very very large boulder. Original mythology told the story that it was the god Maui who threw the rock after becoming annoyed by a crowing rooster. However more recent research indicates that it was ripped from nearby coral reefs and satellite images show a break in the reef opposite this boulder. As a result, the latest, most accepted hypothesis, is that it was tossed ashore by a large tsunami caused by a submarine land slide.

Our next stop was at an even more impressive site, the Mapu'a Vaea Blowholes. If you ever go to Tonga, this is a must see sight. We've seen a few blowholes before, but nothing of this magnitude. It was truly a magnificent sight to behold. We could have spent the entire day there just photographing the changes as the tide rose and ebbed, and as the sun moved across the sky changing the light. Having a tour of just the four of us, all enthusiastic photographers, we ended up spending quite a bit of time at this site, maybe a half hour or more.

Our next stop was at the Captain Cook Memorial, site of where Captain Cook landed on Tonga in 1777. Unfortunately the tall banyan tree which used to be here is no longer present. Overall, the site seemed a bit blah, but then the blow holes were a very tough act to follow.

Our last sightseeing stop was at Ha'amonga 'a Maui Trilithon, also known as the Stonehenge of Tonga. The size and weight of this massive stone structure is impressive.

This was the last stop of our tour. We'd talked about possibly seeing the "fishing pigs," but they only fish at low tide.

All in all our tour guide Paul provided us with an awesome tour and overview of the island of Tongatapu. He ended the tour by finding us some ice cold coconuts which contained sweet coconut juice. Back on our own, after the tour, we stopped by the museum and arts and craft shop at Langafonua Handicraft Centre and Gallery. Next we went back next door to the Friends Cafe to try some of their Pacific Brewery beer. The Coconut Stout I had was excellent!

After being suitably refreshed, Elizabeth and I headed to the Tonga National Museum, a few blocks down the street from Friends Cafe. Be sure to check the description on Google Maps from the museum owner on how to find the museum. It's on the floor above a Yummy Treats store in the Memorial Hall. Make a note of that before leaving wifi, as due to the volcanic eruption, internet service is very difficult to find on the island. Although it's only a single room museum, the quality of the tour guide description of the various items in the museum made it one of our favorite stops of the day. We showed up five minutes before closing time but they were kind enough to let us in and then spend the next 40 minutes taking us through the various items in the exhibition. This is another must see if you're in Nuku'alofa, Tonga. Be sure to ask for the guided tour as you'll learn so much more about Tongan history and culture. It is only open from 10 am to 3 pm on weekdays though and closed on weekends.

Unfortunately, due to thefts of some items in the past, they don't allow photographs of any of the items in the museum. We learned of that after we had taken the one picture above.

We had a wonderful day on the Tonga island of Tongatapu. We were exhausted by the time we returned to the ship and my fitness tracker registered 5.8 miles walking that day. But it was well worth it and the people of Tonga were very friendly and helpful.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Nuku'alofa, Tonga photo album.

Friday, October 27, 2023

Savusavu, Vanua Levi, Fiji

Today we had tenders again, but since we were on a cruise line tour, we didn't have to worry about tender tickets. Our tour was Traditional Fiji: Nukubalavu Village. This was our third village, second in Fiji. In Fiji you always have the traditional Fiji Kava ceremony. We didn't try the kava yesterday on the ship, but had tried it on our first Fijian village tour. It's a bit unsanitary. Kava is made from a relative of the pepper plant and has a mild narcotic effect. Some say it's more a numbing of the mouth, similar to going to the dentist. It's supposed to have a euphoric effect, but I doubt they give us a strong dose and I drank just a little at our first Kava ceremony in Suva three days ago.

This time they only offered kava to the two sets of "chiefs" (a couple from each bus). The Fijian village tour was the best village tour we've gone on so far, out of the three we've been to, one on Samoa and two on Fiji. The ceremony took place outside in a large clearing with a beautiful backdrop of the bay with emerald green water at low tide. Even though there were two tour buses there, it didn't feel cramped. Being outside we didn't have the dark, difficult to see in area such as at the last Fiji village ceremony which felt like we were in a basement. We were also lucky to have a cool breeze blowing in from the ocean.

I heard from someone who overheard someone from the later 1:00 pm tour to the village, that the afternoon version of the tour may have been extremely hot. After our village tour we explored the local town near the tender port and by then it was becoming very hot. We reboarded the ship at 1:30 and it was indeed very hot at the tender port, though that is on the other side of the island from the village.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Vanua Levi, Fiji photo album.

Thursday, October 26, 2023

Lautoka, Fiji

Although the stop was in Lautoka Fiji, we did an all day excursion to Tivua Island, one of our favorite stops. It was about a 45 minute boat trip to the island where we spent the day snorkeling. They had a guided tour of the reef, not that long of a swim as it turns out, along the reef from the dock. Elizabeth took another tour for beginners which she actually took into the deep water! I was surprised as she is afraid of the water, and was this time as well, but ended up spending most of her time clinging to the tour guide. He was very helpful and patient with her. We gave him an extra tip for being so helpful to her and, in her words, making this her "best snorkeling trip ever!"

I went snorkeling twice, once when we arrived when it was crowded, and then later after the included lunch, which was more of a feast with chicken, hotdogs, fish plus all the fixings and side dishes. The second time snorkeling was more fun with fewer people and more fish. I think if you go when there are a lot of other snorkelers it scares most of the fish away and you don't really see many fish. Going later when there are fewer people in the water you'll see 10 times as many fish.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Lautoka, Fiji photo album.

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Dravuni Island Fiji

Dravuni Island was one of our smallest stops. Being so small we of course had to take a tender to shore. Once ashore we were able to walk 100 to 200 meters along the beach to a place to snorkel. As told on some travel sites, when we reached shore on the tender we turned right and walked toward a rock outcropping. We didn't go all the way to the rock outcropping, which is where most snorkelers were, but far enough to have some decent coral and fish. Overall we had a good day but I was unable to get the underwater camera case for the cell phone to work because the touch buttons didn't work once the camera was submerged. I really wished we had brought our old underwater cameras which work much better and have better white balance for shooting in the water. We were to regret that for the rest of the cruise and as a result have very few underwater photos. Still - we had a good day and I went snorkeling twice.

Elizabeth was in coconut heaven, having found a coconut vendor that gave her a fresh young coconut with super sweet juice. Next she had a slightly more mature coconut with more meat. The vendor cut it in half for her after she'd had the juice so she could scoop out the meat. For her this was one of her most enjoyable days!

I tried the two different local beers that they seem to have everywhere in Fiji - one a golden ale, the other a bitters, almost an IPA, at least the closest thing I've seen to an IPA. Both tasted good though I preferred the bitters one.

In the afternoon the sun seemed more intense and much of our shade from a tree we had found had disappeared. We walked half way back to the tender dock and found some shade under another tree near where some boats were anchored. Unfortunately there wasn't really any coral in that area, which makes sense since it gave the boats easier access to deeper waters. Still it was fun snorkeling, especially without the crowds.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Dravuni Island, Fiji photo album.

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Suva, Viti Levu, Fiji

Today we arrived at the port in Suva Fiji. There wasn't much of a welcoming party. The town was actually an easy walk from the port but when we went there later it was so busy and crowded with cars and people that we didn't end up walking very far from the ship. I guess you expect a much more metropolitan experience since Suva is the capital of Fiji. But I think it was our least favorite Fiji stop.

For this stop we had booked a tour with the cruise line. The tour included a brief stop at the Presidential Palace. You couldn't see much of the building itself which was sheltered behind high walls and trees.

The tour name was "Sawani Village", so the main stop was at a Sawani Village which was pretty small and looked fairly poor. The Kava Ceremony took place within what looked like the enclosed basement of a small building. With two or three bus loads of people it was very cramped as well as very dark and hot. The ceremony was then followed by a brief tour of other parts of the village with only a dozen or fewer people per group.

All in all we didn't enjoy this tour nearly as much as our tour two days before in Samoa. That tour also costs only about half of what this one did.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Suva Fiji photo album.

Sunday, October 22, 2023

Apia, Upolo, Samoa

Without a booked excursion we had planned to play it by ear after first exploring the town of Apia a bit on foot. However the weather turned pretty bad with pouring rain. We had walked beyond where most of the tour guides were but luckily ran into one more guy who was more of a taxi driver than a tour guide. He did however know the island very well having grown up there and driven quite a few people around the island. Compared to the previous day when we'd seen only a couple of places, for about twice the money, we felt it was a very good deal and we ended up seeing much more of the island than we had expected.

Our first stop was at the beautiful Falefa Falls.

We then had two more stops where I haven't included pictures from: Lemafa Scenic Site where we could see from the mountains to the sea and Sopo'aga Falls Viewpoint which had another beautiful waterfall. You can see some of the pictures from those in the Apia, Upolo, Samoa photo album.

Next we stopped at the To-Sua Ocean Trench. We could have spent the entire day there. It had a changing area and shower and a number of holes in the ground that connected to the ocean via underground tunnels. There were numerous stairways down into the swimming holes and the ocean. If you look closely in the picture below you'll see there's actually a wooden stairway down into the swimming hole.

Next we stopped at the Saletoga Sands Resort & Spa where we bought a light snack and drinks while sitting at a table overlooking the ocean. The resort has some very nice cabins next to the shore. It would have been nice to spend a few days here relaxing, maybe with some trips to the nearby swimming holes at the To-Sua Ocean Trench.

Our next stop on the way back to Apia was at Papapapaitai Falls.

Our last stop was at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral.

Although Samoa is fairly close geographically to American Samoa, by this time we were actually much closer to New Zealand and Australia than the US. Since those are their main trading partners, as well as main source for tourists, Samoa has aligned itself more closely with those nations than the US. For example in September 2009 Samoa changed the side of the road they drive on from being on the right to being on the left. This was to make it less expensive for people to buy used cars from Australia and New Zealand. It also makes it easier for tourists visiting from those countries.

Two years later they changed their timezone as well. Samoa used to be in the same timezone as American Samoa, observing the same days of the week, but changed in 2011 when they skipped Friday December 30 and went right to Saturday December 31, losing one day. This was to align themselves with their largest trading partners, Australia and New Zealand since otherwise it was difficult to deal with businesses that were having their Monday when you were off work on Sunday, or were off work on a Saturday when you were on Friday.

This also meant that we had lost a day while traveling from American Samoa to Samoa. So although it only took one day to travel from American Samoa to Samoa, the date had gone from October 20 to October 22. Unfortunately this also meant we visited Samoa on a Sunday when most of the businesses and many of the tour companies were closed.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Apia, Upolo, Samoa photo album.

Friday, October 20, 2023

Pago Pago American Samoa

We arrived in Pago Pago to a small but enthusiastic group greeters performing native dances and calls. By the way - we learned that the authentic, native way of pronouncing Pago Pago is as if it was spelled "Pongo Pongo", like "Bongo Bongo" but with a "P" instead of "B" at the beginning of each word.

We booked an onboard excursion for Pago Pago: "A Taste of Samoan Village Life." Our first stop on that tour was at the two rocks. The story behind the formation of the two rocks is that it was a farmer and a Princess who fell in love and ran off together. The King cursed them, turning them into stone.

Although I don't have many pictures of it, the main stop on the tour was an authentic Samoan village where they showed us some cooking and dancing demonstrations. They then gave us a variety of local dishes including hot chocolate (cooled to room temperature) and various dishes with coconut milk including taro, chicken and tuna, plus breadfruit (pretty blah) and green banana. The local beer, Vailima - A Taste of Samoa - lager beer was actually pretty good.

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Pago Pago, American Samoa photo album.