We sailed into the port of Pago Pago, pronounced Pango Pango for some reason, at 7:OOam. The weather was humid, hot and overcast. However, the captain made his usual announcement and promised it would improve as the day went on. After breakfast we left the ship for a walk before a scheduled bus trip around the island at 1:00pm. An open air street market had been set up with local people selling their wares. Unusual, for this type of thing, the prices were very good and the merchandise good quality. The town is very clean but sparse, typical of an island community. There is a two-way road around the island with off shoots up the mountains. The mountains are lush with rainforest type vegetation interspersed with coconut palms and banana plants.

Families live in groups of up to 30 people, almost like a tribe. They don’t live in the same house. Each has is own abode. They are arranged in a quadrangles with, what they call, an open house at the front. These are houses that just have columns rather than walls and they are used for meetings, etc. (they look like miniature Greek Amphitheatres) Each family has to have an open house. Samoans don’t have to buy their land, it is left to them by their ancestors. They bury their dead in front of the houses. This ensures continuous occupation of the land. I must admit it seemed rather strange to see headstones or crypts in a front garden. These family groups live on large areas of property which also includes plantations. They grow bananas, mangoes and coconuts mainly. Other members of the group, young men mainly, go fishing or work in the fields growing their staple root crop. Every child has to attend school from the age of five until 18. There is a two year college but they would have to leave Pago Pago and go abroad for a four year degree. However, the drop out rates at high school are high.

We were invited to a greeting ceremony, fierce looking men and demure looking girls. They performed various dances which we recorded on our video camera. The head man (talking chief) is actually the second in command. He was a giant of a man, did all the talking for everyone. It was a very good ceremony and everyone was paying attention. In the days, as the Samoans say meaning old times, the chief would accept a drink of Kava during this ceremony. It is a drink of a fermented root plant, we think. At this ceremony a chief and his queen were selected from the crowd and dressed in a sarong and lei, a flower garland, He had to take a drink of Kava. It was offered to the rest of us but most declined. We did not fancy drinking from a cup that everyone else had used.

We returned to the bus to resume the island tour. The bus was rather strange. It was wooden throughout except for the chassis. It was also windowless, which was great as it allowed the breeze to blow through. The part of the island we visited was very tropical as described previously. The two female guides were in their late teens and wore traditional dress consisting of a long skirt and short sleeved wrap-around tops in pretty colors. They each wore a lovely flower in their hair to denote that they were single. They were very funny and joked and laughed all the time. It is a very religious island, mostly Christian of every denomination. The females are not allowed to show their ankles or shoulders, hence the long skirts and sleeved tops. As it was Sunday, many were dressed in white.

It was a good day out.