American Samoa - Tutuila

Yesterday we had two big surprises. The first was that we didn't have a yesterday - as we had crossed the International Date line and lost a day. The most surprised were those 3 people onboard who were expectingto have a birthday on 04 Feb 2011. The second surprise was that we had heard a lot of negative things about the port of Pago Pago, on the island of Tutilia, American Samoa (even from the P&O onboard Port presenter) - but it turned out to be something of an unexplored "paradise". Just about everywhere we have been to has been over-run by tourists - but this place appears to have no tourists and almost no tourism infrastructure. It also has no industry as it's famous tuna canneries appear to have been closed down. The port is located inside a magnificent flooded extinct volcano, the water is crystal clear, the mountains are covered with jungle - bananas, mangoes, breadfruit, coconuts , papaya and other tropical fruits grow wild, ocean waves crash onto the fringing reefs or the volcanic cliffs, the locals are unbelievably friendly, the local beer is good - and did I mention that there are no tourists?? Do not believe anything that you read about this place in any tourist guide written before 2011. It is definitely no Hawaii or Tahiti - but I suspect that a couple of weeks on this island as a tourist could possibly be life changing. It is also a place where somebody who merely visits for a day could make a wrong judgement about it. We took a 3 hour tour which took us out of the Port area (which many did not) into local village areas. It was very interesting and our tour guide very entertaining. One "feature" of this island is the amazing colourful local buses. I am not sure exactly who owns them - but there are hundreds of them. They have to be seen to be believed. This ship's tour is the last of 12 that we have taken - we actually booked 14 but one was cancelled in Sharm el-Sheikh and we missed a port in the Azores. We have enjoyed all these tours -but we also enjoyed the ports which we had visited before, were vaguely familiar with and we therefore chose to "do our own thing". I do feel that those who only do their own thing in foreign ports miss out on a lot - but I also find that nothing will convince them of that.