| American
Samoa by
Marcus
Coltro
|
José
and I always wanted
to go to one of
those paradisiacal
islands in Pacific
to do some shelling.
Our first thought
was Tonga so we
booked our trip
to Hawaii and from
there to Tonga.
Two friends joined
us, Eliana Koprick
and Eduardo Schirrmeister
both shell collectors.
When we arrived
in Hawaii we
went to a travel
agency to book
our trip - but
the flight schedule
to Tonga was
not good for
our timing so
we asked our
local friends
Bunnie and George
Cook which place
would be good
for shells. Their
suggestion was
Samoa and after
checking some
pamphlets we
booked our trip
to American Samoa
for the next
day.
We got in Pago-Pago
(pronounced 'Pango-Pango')
and went to our
Hotel The Rain
Maker, a very
suggestive name
which was given
after the main
mountain in the
island. Indeed,
we got a lot
of rain there
but it did not
stop us to enjoy
our shelling.
The island is
very nice and
there was still
many places untouched
by man. It is
true it was quite
smelly near the
fish factory
however due to
our snorkeling
practice we could
hold our breath
for a long period
until we passed
it...
Before we started
any shell collecting
we followed a
rule: always
ask for permission
to the local
'chief' in each
village to dive
on their beaches.
One of the best
collecting places
was in front
of the hotel
- we did some
night snorkeling
there which produced
some nice shells.
We also found
out that the
island was a
great SPA for
tourists: there
are NO decent
restaurants and
we had to eat
cup-of-noodles
in several occasions!
We tried the
local pizza -
I always thought
it is impossible
to make a real
bad pizza: I
was wrong! After
diving for 10
days (and loosing
a few pounds)
we booked our
flight to Western
Samoa. The traffic
on the island
is very calm
so we were in
no rush to get
to the airport.
However, they
were painting
signs along the
road and simply
closed it for
a few hours so
we lost our plane...
We had to come
back to the hotel
and take another
flight in the
next day.
Next week: Western
Samoa
-
These photos
were digitalized
from originals
(slides or
paper) so
the quality
is not as
high as the
photos you
are used to
see in our
website.
|
