Pago-Pago, American Samoa: This is our second (and last) stop in Polynesia, from now on we'll be stopping in Melanesia until we reach Australia. Time for a quick geography lesson.
Islands in the Northern Pacific - places like the Marshall Is., the Marianas Is., Palau - are deemed Micronesia. "Micro" meaning "small" and "nesia" standing for "islands," together they mean "small islands."
In the South Pacific we find two sets of island groups. Polynesia, which means "many islands." And Melanesia, which means "islands of dark skinned people." Generally, Polynesia is east of Melanesia, although it isn't a hard and fast rule.
Today we took a tour of the Pago Pago area of Tutuila, an island in the group known as American Samoa. Not that you can tell from the spelling but it's pronounced "pango-pango."
The first thing that struck me about this place is what a marvelous sheltered port it is. In addition to our medium sized cruise ship, there are a couple of other ocean-worthy ships in port - a tanker and a Chinese container ship. This port is probably almost as sheltered as San Francisco Bay.
Obesity is the norm in Samoa, slender people are the decided exception. We drove by a funeral parlor and the other DrC saw a double-sized casket, she said it was huge which I totally believe.
It is common to bury the dead at home, on the family plot, and often pour a concrete slab over the tomb, protection agains the elements I suppose. Others, possibly more wealthy or more traditional, build a low step pyramid (maybe 4-5 ft. high) over their graves.
Tutuila looks like most inhabited tropical islands. All plant life thrives as if it wer on steroids, everything created by humans deteriorates at an accelerated pace.
The reason for both is the warmth and humidity which, as anyone who has visited a greenhouse knows, makes plants happy. The humidity and salt air causes human-made stuff to rust, corrode, rot, and mold.
Today I saw an example of something common on Guam in the 1980s but now rare there - what we expats called a "Guam planter box." This is an abandoned vehicle minus its hood, or with hood open, where a palm or other tree has grown up through the engine compartment alongside the motor. Sounds like it would take a decade but in the tropics, where everything grows fast, perhaps 2-3 years.
We are here in the dry season so the humidity is only 80% or so, in the rainy season it will push 100%. We have a nice trade wind blowing and, in the shade it is almost comfortable, in the sun the breeze doesn't help much.
Our next port is in Fiji, which is Melanesia. More when we get there.
