Pago Airport Inn Pago Pago

Hearing about damage from earthquakes and tsunamis is quite different from experiencing the place first hand. Anyone who has lived through devastating hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. will understand the mixed experience I encountered today in American Samoa.<br><br>150 lives were lost in the tsunami that hit the island around 7:15 AM on Tuesday the 29th of September while all the local kids were heading to school. Some ...

Hello again. It's been a while, and I figured it was probably about time for a new installment of the blog. This will probably about the normal amount of time between entries now being as things aren't happening as fast and there's not as much to tell. If this blog alone just doen't cut it for you and you need more contact with me there's always facebook, email, or calling me on the telephone just like they did in the olden days ...

Hello Everybody,<br><br>It's time for the second installment of my exciting retelling of my time here in Samoa. A lot has happened in the last two weeks, but I'll try to include all the important information.<br><br>So we finished up our last week of orientation which was actually much less boring and much more useful. I was able to get our snorkeling twice this week and see some of the reefs around. They were nice reefs, nothing really amazing, but we saw some rays and ...

Hey guys, finally found some time to sit down and try to hash out the first entry on this. I've been here for almost a week now, but a lot has happened already. <br><br>First off I guess I'll start out with where the heck I am (since I had no idea before I signed up for the program). American Samoa is a group of islands about 14 degrees south of the equator and right next to the international date line. I'll be teaching calc and ...

... trip, we met people that could make a difference moving forward, but the systemic difficulties will mean significant challenges ahead. ...OK, I'll put the soapbox away... Today, we were able to get all of our laundry done at the Turtle &amp; Shark Lodge, so we start the second week of our adventure with suitcases full of clean clothes again!! Once finished with the laundry, we loaded into the rental wreck. (Sorry - detour to talk about our rental) Yesterday, we decided ...

... we can grow back home, but it certainly tasted great. As we mentioned in yesterday's entry, we agreed to take Deb's daughter, Rain, to school in Olesega so that we could use the lodge truck, visit the other island, and maximize our snorkeling on our last Ofu morning. Wed rove the distance of Ofu, crossed the bridge (a Corps of Engineers work) and captured another island - this makes three of the six that make up American Samoa and provided a ...

... or so. All in all, we were pleased with the hotel...not resort-level accommodations, but that's not what we were after, either. After checkout, we filled up the rental and drove up into the hills of Honolulu in Makika Heights and Tantalus Road. This loop was recommended by our primary Oahu reference book and it did not disappoint...turns out that the upper part of this loop in within the watershed protection area for Honolulu's water supply, so there are ...

... hence natural air conditioning. The seats left a lot to be desired but we had some good fun trying not to fall on the floor. The journey took 2 hours going around a small island 18 miles long. The island was very mountainous, lush and green with lots of beautiful plants, breadfruits, bananas and coconuts. All the people were friendly and happy to have tourists visit their island, not many ...

... name was Jesse (we called him Jesse James) and as we boarded and sat onto our wooden seats, we said hello to a few locals who were sitting at the rear. Air conditioning wasn't a problem as this was an open bus and the wind kept us cool. Everyone was in good spirits as we travelled along the coastline enjoying the spectacular views. We passed Flowerpot Island which was used in one of the James Bond movies. We also stopped at the Turtle and Shark Scenic Point at ...

... and people that we would be traveling to our next destination with. Great bunch and very friendly. This island is an American territory (much like Puerto Rico) so is good for supplies and reasonable prices. The main business there is a tuna canning factory which combined with poor sanitation practices has made the bay quite dirty. But as soon as you are on the coast itself there is the aqua blue of the pacific and some nice ...