While it would be more appropriate to write part of “today’s” post and then go out of order and insert today’s yesterday post before tomorrow’s today post like a nonlinear Tarantino film, I’ll spare you the confusion and just make two posts for April 1st. To clarify, this isn’t entirely accurate, as I am currently writing this post on March 31st after I went back in time, but then there would be two March 31st posts. It’s a whole thing now. I’ve gotten myself all confused.
Anyway, we enjoyed our last morning at the Aga Reef Resort with this view. We both sat outside and read our books. We were able to get a late checkout, which allowed for a leisurely exit for a 3pm flight. It was a nearly two hour drive back to the airport, anyway. It took over an hour just to get to a petrol station. After filling up our tank with a very gaseous smelling mix at the old-timey petrol station, we were on our way once again.
We aren’t entirely sure what anyone does here to make a living. We saw numerous people just sitting in driveways watching the occasional car pass by. We did pass numerous churches enroute, and religion seems to be the most popular activity for people. There is a film called Next Goal Wins about the redemption of the American Samoa national football team after losing 31-0 to Australia. There is a quote at the very beginning that says “America Samoa. Home to a wonderful people, who are deeply religious, hardworking and deeply religious.” That could also apply to the other Samoa.
After making a brief stop at the Sheraton near the airport just to hit up their gift shop (there are few souvenir shops on this island), we dropped off the car at the regional terminal of Faleolo airport. We were some of the last to arrive, and were semi-rushed through security to the Talofa Airways Aero Commander aircraft. Nicole’s carryon was deemed too heavy (over 5kg), so I was told to consolidate into my bag (which was exactly 5kg). Nicole logically reasoned that my bag would then be over the 5kg limit, but the ticketing agent didn’t seem to care. In fact, later on, when it appeared that my bag wouldn’t completely close, she said I could put some items back in Nicole’s bag. And thus, everything ended as it had begun.
Twenty minutes earlier than scheduled, we departed for American Samoa. For weight-and-balance purposes, they wanted to put Nicole in the copilot’s seat, but she isn’t keen on being that close to the controls and volunteered me in her stead. She said she preferred the Aero Commander to the Twin Otter because it was faster. It is true. We clocked a groundspeed of over 240kts, which is pretty respectable for a propeller-driven aircraft. We also climbed up to 12,500ft to clear some storms on our way to Pago Pago.
Upon arrival, we waited patiently at baggage claim with the eight or so other passengers. About three bags came out. Then an employee at the Pago Pago airport told us that those were all the bags and that we could check back tomorrow followed by a dry, “Welcome to Samoa.” We were all a bit incredulous. A plane that small lost most of the bags? I had mine, but Nicole and about 5 other people didn’t have theirs. As we went through customs and checked with the Talofa Airways office, they confirmed that it had indeed been loaded on the plane. Eventually one of the other passengers found us and said that a guy (one of the passengers) eventually crawled through the baggage claim opening to extract the bags that were simply stuck — not lost after all. Nicole could relax knowing that she would have clothes to wear after all. But as we were back in American Samoa, and had no cell service or airport WiFi, we had to ask a traffic officer to call the Tradewinds hotel for us to get the shuttle. Five minutes after assisting us, he asked if we needed a taxi. We were a bit confused. It’s like he forgot having made a call on our behalf just minutes earlier. Things get weird when you time travel.
After checking into the Tradewinds Hotel again, we did some laundry and then walked to the KS Mart, which is about as legit a supermarket as you will find on American Samoa. We stocked up on SPAM, pasta, Tim Tams, and some large bottles of water and green tea. We have to stock up for our next stop on Ofu Island, which has virtually nothing. It is part of the American Samoa National Park and there are no restaurants. There is barely any lodging. Supposedly there is some semblance of a general store, but we were told to bring our own stuff anyway.
We had another classic dinner at the Tradewinds resident Equator restaurant. Nicole again just had sides. She is storing up carbs and fats for Ofu Island. Tomorrow we fly out in the morning for a flight that only operates twice a week (and only has a seating capacity of about 12 people…or 4 well-fed Samoans). With that in mind, we expect Ofu to be pretty quiet, though our experiences thusfar have not been particularly boisterous either way. See you again tomorrow as we repeat April 1st.
passports & pepto bismol 