Monday Oct 12 - The Samoas

There are two Samoas: American Samoa and independent Samoa. They share a Polynesian language and culture, but we saw them as two very different places.

We docked in Apia in Independent Samoa. Our tour was with Berties B&B. We drove across the island with a stop at The Robert Lewis Stevenson home and lots of photo stops and ended at a pretty beach for a hot dog and hamburger lunch. The water there was great for swimming but lunch would have been much better if they had served fish which is the staple of the diet.

Samoa is an island with gentle slopes. The island is very clean and very pretty. The people seem to take a lot of pride in making things pretty. Most of the roads we went on were lined in plantings of crotan and other colorful hedges. Gardens are everywhere. They grow taro, coconuts, breadfruit, papaya, mangos, pineapple, pigs and cows. No goats. Apparently goats can't take the heat.

The tsunami hit in Independent Samoa on the eastern tip of the island and caused devastation along the eastern third of the south coast. They didn't take our tour to any of the damaged area. We saw nothing that even suggested that a disaster had taken place. Our tour guide said that her family clan lost eleven in the catastrophe, but she saw it as fate. She is the lady wearing the brown sarong and playing the guitar in the photos.

American Samoa is much steeper and so the scenery is more spectacular. There seems to be a cultural difference in the way they organize their environs: The attempts to put out a few roadside hedges seems halfhearted, and the villages seem less orderly and pretty, and I didn't see very much gardening at all.. When I did see plantings they were spectacular.

The tsunami did severe damage to downtown Pago Pago in American Samoa. The ship was docked about a half mile from the main damage and the main road goes through the downtown area. Power is still mostly out. There are generators set up in four sectors, but the lines are broken so distribution is uneven.

The cleanup is proceeding at an astonishing pace. Repair will take longer. Tisa said that the decisions on future power production will be interesting. The imported oil for the power plant was costing too much money. Now that the power plant has been damaged, they may not want to rebuild it, but to go to wind or solar power or something. She expects the politics to get complicated.

Tisa, the tour operator, had her office at the radio station where she works wiped out. But she is still running the tour and it is a good one. There is no reason whatsoever to avoid this tour. She has not replied to emails because her computer was in the office and Internet is also not working very much. But she had paper backup at home and so the tours are continuing as scheduled.

We boarded the bus and drove the main roads as planned. As soon as you leave the town area, the tour is a regular scenery and island tour that winds up at Tisa's bar for an excellent meal and beach break.

The beach at Tisa's Bar was lovely though very rocky and directly on the ocean. The water was a bit rough as the tide came in. Lunch was delicious. We had marinated chicken, cole slaw and pasta salad. Tisa cooked it all in a very small kitchen. Her son made the marinade for the chicken.... very good.

After the tour we went shopping. Libby spent much more that we had planned, but we consider it to be a variety of support for the islands.

We talked to a young lady who works for the National Park Service. Their office was directly in the path of the tsunami. When it came in, they had to run to get away from it. She said she was climbing the hillside and the water was only about 15 feet behind her. Her car was destroyed and the office wiped out. I hope her insurance covers it.

Some said that the local radio had been a part of the problem. After the earthquake, they were broadcasting that people should stay calm and go on with normal activities. Unfortunately, that was the wrong message for the time. When it became obvious that the tsunami was coming in, they switched to a “run for your lives!” message until the station was wiped out. Fortunately, the distance to run to higher ground was only a few hundred feet for most people. That is why the death toll is so much lower than it could have been.

Princess Cruises picked up a load of relief supplies in Tahiti. Some were delivered to independent Samoa and some to American Samoa. There is also an organized campaign to raise money. There was an auction of the Captain's navigation chart. That brought almost $1500. There are donation bowls for the passengers and the crew. So far the passengers have contributed $9000 and the crew has donated $1500. The ship donated 10000.00, disconinued uniforms and the passengers donated some clothing as well.

We skipped Sunday because we crossed the international date line. Yesterday was Saturday and today is Monday. We are off to the first timers party.