Mt. Alava and then on to... sloshball

We awoke early in the morning, and set out for the 5 mile hike from Fag'asa pass up to Mt. Alava, and then on to Vaitia on the other side.  It was a cloudy day which kept the temperature at a cool 85 degrees.  Im not kidding, thats cool.  We start up the east side of the mountain, on a very muddy track through the national park.  Luckily, Amanda and I had boots on, but John and Marieke were not so lucky.  The vegetation was thick and green, with flowers blooming every once and a while.  Up, and up and up we seemed to go with great views of the north side of Tutuila.  As we finally hit the ridge and started to go down, and then up again, we were afforded a comfortable breeze, which seemed to carry the faint smell of the tuna cannery which was directly below us on the harbor, ahhh.. fresh air.  The top of Mt. Alava was the site of the old cable car that came across Pago Harbor, as well as the TV station.  There were some more really great views, and John and I pushed Amanda along the old cart rail, before she jumped off and refused to get back on.  We lunched at the guest fale' and then started on the way back down to Vaitia The way down consisted of many "ladders" made of plastic 4x4's strung together by steel cable, ropes to hold onto, and plenty of mud. Or traversing the ridgeline on very steep, and slippery trail, through plenty of bush. We stopped at a small spring that is legended to have stolen the soul of a young girl. We were also in search of a mango tree that fruits year round, but never found it. Finally we crossed the last ridge and caught a glimpse of the Vaitia bay, our destination. After most of the way down I started to have some, er.., stomach problems. We couldn't have made it to Marieke's house fast enough, in my opinion. On my way into the bathroom, she tells me that her toilet doesn't function quite properly, and that I shouldn't put paper into it. I assure you I won't. Two minutes later as I am just finishing up, I hear, "Tom! The last bus to town is here! We have to go!" I flush the toilet, and water begins its ascent to the top of the bowl. Luckily it stops, but now what do I do? I nervously say to my new friend, "Umm.., I have a little.. problem. She assures me its no problem, and that it happens all the time. In the end we leave it to deal with later, as we dont all want to be stuck on this side of the island.

The stairs

We get back to the car and go to retrieve the other that we had left at the top of the pass. We meet for some ice cream and then we head on our way back towards Vaitogi, where we are staying. We had been invited to "sloshball" by Jeff, a lifeguard down at the beach. We did not know what we were in for. We stopped for a six pack, understanding that drinking was part of the game. Basically, we were to find out, it is wiffleball, but everytime you get to second base, you have to open a beer, and you cant put it down till your down, for anything. So you field, bat, run, everything with a beer in your hand. Which can be very dangerous, especially if you can hit fairly well. Amanda's first at bat was a fly out to... me. Which I am sure she was very happy about. The game proceeded to be a lot of fun with tons of trash talking, which only got worse as the innings went on and the buckets of beer, got more and more empty. Just when I thought we were almost done, the back of an SUV was opened only to reveal 6 more cases of the horribly foul pisswater we were using as a substitute for actual beer. I was instructed that we played not until the beer was gone, but until the sun went down. By the end of the game my muscles were sore and tight, and I was muddy from head to toe, both from the hike and sliding. The game ended as such. Last inning, 26-26, two outs, bases loaded, Åmanda on third base, me playing a very inched up third base. A little bloop of a ground ball comes down the third base line, which I field, sloppily considering my sobriety at the time, while chasing Amanda towards home, whom I tag just after the cheers erupt for her crossing home plate. She is awarded the MVP for her stellar performance in the field, as well as scoring the winning run.

Pops and me

Amanda headed out for her girls night out, and I went of with the sloshballers and had some BBQ before heading home to sleep, or.. Pass Out.

What a view!!

Into the jungle

Pago Pago Harbor