Aunu'u, Finally

Determined to finally make it out to Aunu'u, Sara and I headed out there on the 4th of July. American Samoa doesn't have much in the way of organized celebrations for Independence Day. They spend most of their national pride on Flag Day in April. It's more of a "dependence day" celebration, since it's celebrating the anniversary of when American Samoa joined the US as a territory at the turn of the Twentieth Century.

Instead of sitting around and barbecuing, we opted to use the holiday to explore and make the trip which had been denied to us before. we drove out to the East side of Tutuila to the wharf that serves as the access point for catching boats over to Aunu'u.

Aunu'u is a small island about a mile from Tutuila. About 400 people live on the island and there's a constant ferry of boats going back forth between the wharf on Tutuila and the little harbor on Aunu'u. We caught one of the ferries, along with a few locals and some boxes of supplies. It cost a dollar and took about 15 minutes to navigate the waves and the channel between the islands. Supposedly if it gets too rough the shuttles stop running. That would make life on the island quite interesting.

Once we de-boated on Aunu'u we were greeted by two boys, Cruise and "Raiders." They offered to be our guides on the island. Not one to turn down help, we took them up on their offer.

We started by taking the road which circles the island. It's a coral track that runs along the beach. The first sight they showed us was a bee hive in the middle of a mango tree. This picture is as close as we dared get, but if you see into the hollowed trunk, it's a mass of honeycomb and bees. It was a pretty cool sight. It was also one that we never would have seen without our guides.

We next stopped off in the wetlands which make up much of the middle of Aunu'u. The wetlands are mostly used as taro fields and tilapia ranches. This area is supposed to be quicksand, but we didn't see anything sink in, so we'll need to take our guides' word on that.

We next hiked up to the rim of the crater. Much of Aunu'u is the remains of a extinct volcanic cone. This is the view from the rim looking South towards the other end of the crater. Much of the slopes of the crater are farmed for bananas. We saw a few of the farmers along the hike out.

At the far end of the crater, there are some spectacular rock formations. Cruise told us a local legend that the one pictured here used to be a woman, her lover is the other rock that is across the small bay from her. We were also sternly warned not to go swimming here, but that fishing was supposed to be good and there were some tidal pools that are nice to hang out in at low tide. Seeing as we were here at high tide and wanted to catch the boat home before they stopped running at 5pm, we didn't linger too long.

We also didn't linger because our guides informed us that the place was haunted by spirits. A few times on the way out we were hushed and told to walk closely together. Not seeking to be visited by ghosts, we acquiesced to our guides' instructions. However, a surreptitiously thrown rock into a nearby tree spooked the kids and helped affirm their belief that several long stretches of the trail were haunted.

The hill we hiked to make our way of the crater was what I would term a short and shallow graded hike. Our guides were winded after a short ascent, so we were instructed to stop and wait at a few different spots. Living on a small island and a Samoan diet was not doing these kids any fitness favors.

We finished our hike back at the little village we started. We'd done a little figure 8 around the two wetland/lakes on the island and saw it all in less than 4 hours. I'm sure we'll head back on a day when we have more time to stop and enjoy the swimming holes.

East Side Sunday

We decided on Saturday evening, after having a chore laden day to head out to Aunu'u on Sunday. Aunu'u is the island that is about a mile south of the eastern end of Tutuila. It's supposed to have a cool small village, a lagoon in an old volcano crater, some caves and a number of worthwhile sites. With our group, consisting of a driver who's on a short contract with the Park service, a criminal prosecutor from our office and us, we got an early start off to the east side of the island to see what trouble we could get into.

One of the first sites on the way out to Aunu'u, besides the green volcanic islands we saw here, is an old shipwreck that's washed up on the shore right beneath the coast road, past Pago Harbor. The old hulk's rusted through to the point you can see the waves washing through the seaward side. There were even a few boulders which had landed on the deck of the old ship. We couldn't fathom how they ended up there, with the steep cliffs being at least 50 yards back from where the ship came to rest. It must have been quite a slide or one heck of a bounce to make it up that high and that far out.

Here's the view looking out towards Aunu'u. It's the smallest inhabited island in the territory. There's a tiny village on the island which receives most supplies and basic commodities by regular boat trips which depart from a small wharf/harbor near the eastern end of Tutuila. The beaches along the North end of the island are supposed to be nice and there's a hiking loop that we've heard good things about. Plus, there are no cars on the island, just foot traffic, like the islands have been for centuries prior. Sort of a throw back, to how Tutuila was prior to the federal government taking a real interest in the welfare of the locals. Some of the stories I've heard from the locals tell of getting around by horseback and a true tropical paradise, not the cross between consumer culture and the native culture we now see on the island.

Once we made it to the harbor, there weren't any boats waiting at the dock. So we lounged for a bit on the breakwater that protected the harbor and tossed the rugby ball around. The weather was sunny with enough of a breeze to keep the heat from getting to be too much. I received a little bit of a scare when I realized I couldn't find my keys. Convinced they fell down between the rocks of the breakwater, I was sure we'd never be able to find them. Sara also didn't bring her keys. (Way to fall down on the job, Sara - you're supposed to be my backup in situations like these.)

After waiting a while, a boat arrived and started loading up with

some supplies. After we talked with the Aunu'u-ese they said the island was closed to outsiders on Sundays and we wouldn't be able to make the trip out there. They told us "No tourists on Sundays, come back tomorrow." Too bad we all had work tomorrow (Monday). A little bummed, we rallied up and decided to follow the coast road out to its end. We hopped in the NPS vehicle and continued our trek out East.

Near the end of the road, it wraps around around to the north side of the island. Not far from where the road ends, you get some great views looking along the north coast of the island. In the distance of this picture you can see the Cock's Comb, or Pola Island if you prefer the Samoan name. The North Coast of the island is steep and dramatic. We'll need to work on getting out here more and spending some time in the more remote sections of the island. The road ends a short way down from here. It ends with a whimper. - The pavement stops, three driveways head off in different directions, and that's the limit of how far you can go on the East end of the island.

We did a little exploring, I almost made it up to the top of a palm tree, problem was, once I got up there I couldn't use my hands to free a coconut, they were too busy holding on for dear life to the trunk of the tree. I need to work on those thigh muscles before I'll be an able coconut gatherer.

The Eastern point of Tutuila is sort of the end of the world for us. It's odd to feel physically bound to this small island. Sara and I don't have island fever yet, but I see it in people who have been here longer than us. We'll see what happens when we start to feel the small size of the community and island.

We also have seen this phenomena around the island at various spots. Rumor has it, its a means to keep ghosts and spirits away. Who knew that old detergent and bleach bottles could be that useful. The smaller villages are full of little superstitions like this, we need to get out and get a little more details to confirm or deny the ghost stories.

With our plans to visit Aunu'u in tatters, we opted to go to our new favorite east-side Sunday activity: Tisa's Barefoot Bar. We rolled up and the beach scene was in full effect there. We were able to grab a table on the deck overlooking the beach. A few Vailima, some snorkeling and socializing with the island's palagi population soon had us in good spirits.

There was even a tattoo artist working with the traditional Samoan tattooing fork. It looked like a time consuming and painful process, even more so than usual, since the guy receiving the tattoo was almost a tourist attraction under the fale next to the bar. We at least asked if we could take his picture first, but I wouldn't want to be in his place. It may not have been the Sunday we planned, but it turned out quite excellent and we'll always be able to make it Aunu'u another weekend...

Once we made it home, Sara and I had to devise a way to break into the house. Our back door hadn't locked properly, so we were able to make it back in without too much shattering of glass or otherwise. Turns out someone (Sara), had borrowed my keys to grab a few last minute additional items and left my keys on her dresser upstairs. Thanks for the scare, Sara. Er, I mean it's good we got back into our house without too much trouble.