We had a somewhat fitful night of sleep because our wall-mounted AC unit didn’t seem to work well, but when it was on, it also sounded like a freight train plowing through the room. Eventually, it would appear, we somehow got used to this. After fixing ourselves some instant oatmeal, we asked Ben if we could borrow his truck for about an hour. This, by the way, is something he had already offered. To be clear, we are not usually in the business of asking random people if we can drive their car.
I nominated Nicole to be our driver. She maneuvered the Toyota pickup truck on Ofu’s often rugged roads with pinpoint precision as if she’s been driving trucks her whole life. You’d never know her primary mode of transport is a Volkswagen Beetle from 2002. First we drove over to the town of Ofu, where we were warned that the dogs can be quite aggressive. We didn’t see any dogs, and for that matter no people either. When your population is just 132, and there are more people eating at a Cheesecake Factory at any given time, I don’t suppose one can expect to encounter many signs of life. For that matter, though, imagine the culture shock of putting this island’s residents inside a Cheesecake Factory? The menu alone would send their minds into a tailspin.
There were a few offshore islands visible alongside the road near the town of Ofu. Though the morning had mostly been overcast, it was just sunny enough to snap a few nice photos of the scenic locale before continuing back along the coast the other direction. We each stood watch for wild dogs, but none materialized.
After passing the area where we rode bikes the previous day, we eventually reached a bridge that connects Ofu to Olesega island. There wasn’t much more happening across the bridge. Basketball hoops with no rims (or nets), empty houses with no rooms, and a school with no children completed our observations in the town of Olesega.
We returned back toward the Vaoto Lodge, making one quick stop at a beach for “that view” of the green formations with the idyllic turquoise water. It was now nearing lunch time, so we had to prepare our provisions for consumption. Since we are about 2,250 miles outside The Cheesecake Factory’s delivery radius, I returned to my old staple of spam musubi and Nicole fixed a peanut butter sandwich.
As we lunched, it began to rain, alternating downpours and drizzles with little sign of completely clearing up for the rest of the day. We were thankful that we were able to see “the view” in all of its sunny splendor yesterday. Evidently, many people come here and never see such vistas without rain as the weather here is notoriously unpredictable.
Around 3pm, it stopped raining enough for us to venture out again and we took the bikes back to our usual spot for “the view.” With the overcast skies, the lighting was more even, and perhaps more importantly, much easier to enjoy a leisurely walk without being blasted by the intense sun. We saw plenty of bats today doing all sorts of batty things.
After taking what seemed to be the same picture about 200x over, we felt complete in documenting the majestic peaks and rode our bikes back to the lodge to hang out at the main building and connect to the Wi-Fi before fixing ourselves some more pasta for dinner. Tomorrow we have a flight in the morning back to Tutuila (the main island of American Samoa). We overheard Harry and Joanne talking about when they should be ready to go to the airport. An argument ensued mostly involving Joanne pointing out that the airport was next door and they needn’t get there hours in advance. However, then Ben strolled on by to tell us to be ready by 830am for a 10am flight. What? To remind you — there is no security, the airport “terminal” is the next building over, and we will hear the plane coming and can stroll on over. Perhaps checking in is far more complex than we imagined.
After finishing off the bag of pasta, a bit more spam, and some Tim Tams, we did our best to try and plan our day tomorrow. You see, we have a very long layover. After arriving in the morning, our flight doesn’t leave Pago Pago until 11pm. As you can see, we will have a lot of time to kill. Nicole and I already tried to arrange a day room at the Tradewinds (where else?!) just to have a place to regroup that isn’t the insanity of the Pago Pago airport. We also tried to get a rental car set up as an extra layer of freedom, but that has thus far proven to be a bust. In due time, we shall see if any of those requests (including the room) have been granted. As with most things in American Samoa, there’s no confirmation of anything. We will just be along for the ride.
passports & pepto bismol 