American-Samoa - The 'other' Samoa

What a nice day trip to American-Samoa. It was worth all the effort. Samoa and American-Samoa are different countries. Samoa is its own country, whereas American-Samoa belongs to the US.

I didn't plan to come here, but sometimes circumstances change quickly and I'm glad I took the chance to make a day trip from Samoa to American-Samoa.

Getting to American Samoa is only possible from Hawaii or Samoa, at least when using a plane as transport. That makes it quite difficult to get there. The whole of American-Samoa is made up of volcanic islands and is covered with tropical rainforest, so most of this US territory is nature.

Map of American-Samoa

May 24 - Buying the ticket to American-Samoa

I was walking through the streets in Samoa and thinking about tomorrow's options for my schedule. Should I go scuba diving or should I visit Savai'i? A or B, A or B, A or B... I just couldn't decide.

This afternoon, I passed by the Samoan Air office in downtown Nuku'alofa. It was 3 PM, and today is Friday. When I saw the Samoan Air logo, my brain switched memory and I recalled that a few months ago, I was intensively planning and trying to fit in a visit to American-Samoa, but I was hesitating. Back then, the risk of missing a flight or facing a flight delay was too large, and honestly, I never thought I would even be here in Samoa today—I thought some flight delay would destroy my whole Oceania itinerary. But now I'm here in Samoa, standing in front of the Samoan Air office.

Out of curiosity, and as it was just a few steps and a few calories to burn to open the door, I went in to ask the lady at the desk for the schedule to American-Samoa. My question was simple and even easy enough to answer for a Samoan employee at 3 PM on a Friday afternoon 30 minutes before closing time. When is the next flight to American-Samoa?

Hi Sir. Sorry we are soon closing. Can you please come back on monday?

What? Closing soon? It was 30 minutes before closing! So, I tried my luck again. This time she was more productive:

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... I seeeee... you want to book a ticket to American-Samoa. The next flight is tomorrow. I will book it, is that okay for you, Sir?

"Tomorrow morning?? Wow, that sounds great!" Itinerary planning mode activated. The woman must have been annoyed by all my questions, but it was necessary now. American-Samoa is only 30 minutes away from Samoa but is a different country. And it's also in a different time zone. And then it is also on a different date. American-Samoa is one day behind Samoa even though it's just 30 minutes away. Things got confusing now. The woman showed me the itinerary and I wasn't sure if she was already in weekend mode and just printed something to get rid of me, but the itinerary was like a time travel. And it actually is.

That means, within a 30-minute flight, I will travel back in time a full 24h day. The itinerary was like this:
Departure on 7am SATURDAY from Samoa.
Arrival on 8am FRIDAY in American-Samoa.

Return flight:
Departure at 16:30pm on FRIDAY in American-Samoa.
Arrival at 17pm on SATURDAY in Samoa.

After she printed the ticket, I went to ask another employee in the office if this was really correct. Somehow I had the feeling the lady was already too much in weekend mode and maybe made a mistake. However, he confirmed everything was correct, I paid for the ticket and hoped it would really be correct tomorrow.

Another good thing now was that the decision between diving and a visit to Savai'i was no longer necessary.

May 25 – Arriving in American-Samoa

I was excited this morning, wondering if this trip would really go as planned. The flights from Samoa to American-Samoa depart from the Fagali Airport, which is right next to Apia.

The Samoan Air staff showed up 20 minutes before departure to do the check-in, and I was sure there would be a delay of a few hours. Fortunately, there was no delay. The plane was tiny and had no door to the cockpit. It was interesting to see a working cockpit with pilots doing their job. The last time I saw this on a passenger flight was about 25 years ago, back when cockpits were still accessible by just swiping a curtain to get to the pilots.

In total, there were only about 9 people on the plane, whereas several dozen people were waiting at the check-in. Strange.

It's a 30-minute flight but totally confusing: Departure was early Saturday morning. As American-Samoa is 24 hours behind in time, I arrived in American-Samoa on Friday morning but came back to Samoa on Saturday afternoon.

McDonald's rents out scooters!

Arriving in Pago, the capital city of American-Samoa, I immediately asked around the airport for rental cars. Unfortunately, they were either all sold out or way too expensive. And I didn't want a huge US 4WD pickup truck just to cruise around American-Samoa.

One desk luckily helped me organize a scooter. They called a number from an advertisement for "Rocketeer Motors," and 10 minutes later, a staff member from McDonald's showed up at the airport, wearing McDonald's clothes, and introduced himself as the scooter owner.

Hey, how r ya? You look for renting a scooter? The rental station is next the McDonald's. I can take you there, I'm just little bit in a hurry...

He took me to the next McDonalds nearby, where the scooter was located. I quickly found out it was his own scooter and while he is working at McDonald's during the day, he rents off his scooter.

No contract, no signature was necessary and the price was fair with only 40 USD, especially as I didn't have another vehicle option.

Start driving the curvy roads

As I was already in the parking lot of a McDonalds, I enjoyed a great breakfast and a cappuccino before departing off to the American-Samoa cruise.

Navigating in American-Samoa is easy as there is only one main road through the country, from east to west. The roads are broad, almost like the mainland United States. Everything else also looks a bit Americanized, but at least the Pacific island style is not completely wiped out.

Island country house on the left, US American van on the right. US island citizen in the middle.

Starting the road trip with my scooter, I had about 7-8 hours before I had to be back at the airport. So I used the time to drive all the way to the very far east of the island. Traffic isn't such a big problem. From the airport area to the capital, Pago Pago, is the busiest stretch of road.

From capital Pago Pago to the very east

Pago Pago is small, with most shops and restaurants in the town.

They were having some kind of election rally today.

One way took me longer than I expected, but not because of the street conditions but because of the beauty everywhere. It's wonderful to drive a motorbike here.

The scenery with lush vegetation and steep hills & mountains along the coastal road is stunning, all the way to the very end of the road in the far east of the island. It’s difficult to describe. There is constantly this presence of a “unique place” feeling.

A bit further after Pago Pago, there is an intersection with a road to the left that leads up to the steep mountain. From up there, it's possible to see the whole harbor of Pago Pago.

The distance on Google Maps looks small, but the road has a lot of curves all along the way.

Houses in American-Samoa are very similar to those in Samoa. Typical Polynesian architecture with these open houses. In Samoa, almost every neighborhood has its own.

They are meant to have a power nap inside during hot days, with the advantage of constantly having wind coming through. In the evening, they can put mosquito nets on the sides but still have the ocean breeze.

American-Samoa has been a US territory since the year 1900. So this painting along the road must have been from 2017.

There are many bunkers from the Second World War all along the coast. This particular one reminded me of the character "Bender" from the series Futurama. It's no wonder that they don't produce any more episodes when the actors are relaxing somewhere at the beach.

Driving couldn't be easier as it's only one way, and traffic is almost nonexistent up until the near area of Pago Pago. I'm glad I rented a motorbike instead of a car. Driving these curves with a great view along the coast is definitely better to enjoy from a motorbike than sitting behind a steering wheel.

The way to the end on the east side of American-Samoa comes with great views all along the road and a nice lookout at the final stop before the road completely ends.

Big and happy people

One way to the end took me about 3 hours, then I drove back and ate in a mall in Pago Pago. Now the real US American part of American-Samoa kicked in. Meals here are HEAVY. Even a normal small meal with rice and BBQ chicken for 8 USD comes with two huge pieces of BBQ chicken and a monster plate of rice. I was full after one piece of chicken, and I was really hungry before. They serve portions like this as standard for people who come for a quick lunch break. When I looked at other guests' plates, I saw the same and then, next to the first plate, even a second portion with fried chicken and fries, and later the waiter brought them a bowl of ice cream. 

They ate EVERYTHING!

I was perplexed to see the huge amount of food that people can eat here. From what I have seen, people here are, on average, even bigger & more obese (no, I'm not saying fat!!!!) than the people in Samoa.

This explains a lot of what I heard about Samoa having the most obese people on the planet. And no, it's not my judgment, but the judgment of various researchers, which can be found on the internet. Unfortunately for Samoa, it is its own country, while American-Samoa is not. This fact makes Samoa the country with the most obese people on earth. But they know it, they really do.

I talked with a few people in different countries in Oceania about these studies, and they all knew about them. They all found it even funnier than I do, but also more dramatic and tragic. They all know but it seems they can't really change it, even with the help of the government.

The friendly-island-gene

On the other hand, all these people from the Polynesian or Micronesian area, whether a bit bigger or not so big, are all friendly. Really friendly. And relaxed and happy. They all have this friendliness gene in them.

Time-travel time, back to Samoa now...

At 3 PM, I brought the scooter back to McDonald's and enjoyed another large cappuccino in the air-conditioned area. Minutes later, I had to head to the airport and fly back to Samoa. It was Friday in American-Samoa, and I arrived 30 minutes later in Samoa, where it was already Saturday afternoon.

I'm still confused about this, even now after returning home.

Departure in American-Samoa on Friday 4:30pm

The airport in American-Samoa has a normal waiting area with chairs but also has a large waiting area for departure and arrival inside the typical (American)-Samoan houses.

Entering the small plane again for the 30-minute flight back to Samoa and switching time zones by 24 hours. Boarding was fast with only 5 people; everything was quick and easy—didn't expect that at all.

Arrival in Samoa on Saturday 5pm

The view on descending back to Samoa's Nuku'alofa. I don't know whose residence this is, but it looks like a freaking manta from above.