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Monday, April 20, 2015, has rocked, AGAIN! Polynesian Airlines, specializing in time travel…

Pago Pago Harbor: Goat Island Point

This is Goat Island Point on Pago Pago Harbor, as seen from my hotel room balcony.

Thanks to the magic of 35 minutes on Polynesian Airlines, from Today to Yesterday (or, as I now think of it, from Tomorrow to Today), I am having a second Monday evening – yesterday I was on a Samoan beach, today I am in Pago Pago, American Samoa.

American Samoa was one of my clearly delineated objectives for my 2015 travel adventures – and with my arrival here, I have now completed the set of inhabited American territories in the Pacific. I have but only the Caribbean left to go: Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

Certainly I am sad to have left the Taufua Beach Fales – it truly is some place magical and wonderful. The drive from there to the airport in Apia (but not the big international airport) is amazing, with spectacular scenery around every bend, whether in the form of beautiful plants or dramatic overlooks, Samoa is great.

But the American Samoa adventure has begun. I have already arranged my tour for tomorrow. It should be amusing and disturbing at the same time – especially since I am easily prone to major sweating in hot and humid climates.

I took a short walk from my hotel toward the center of Pago Pago, passing a number of small shops and the McDonalds. I probably should have stopped at the McDonalds, for the recommended restaurant was closed until dinnertime at 6. I was starving, so I tried a Japanese/Korean place where the food was bland beyond bland and the waitress tried to convince me that it was impossible to give me a small serving of tap water and that I needed Fiji brand bottled water.

Beyond that, the sun is already behind the mountain: it’s 6:30 and it dark out. My hotel has a washing machine – must pay to use it – and I am taking full advantage of it to wash everything. The sand at Taufua Beach Fales is incredibly wonderful – on the beach. But it also manages to get into everything.

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