My Ofu trip video

I spent New Year's Eve (and a couple weeks in early January) on Ofu Island, AS.

That was incredible! While I've had the wonderful experience of the Cook Islands, I'd never really done any research on American Samoa. Stunning place. How was it that you came to choose it as a destination?

Best regards,
Mark

letterdude,

I've been traveling to the Manu'a Islands for many years now. The footage in the vid is from what was my 13th trip to Ofu. My initial choice to travel to Ofu (the first trip was in 1999) came after doing research by reading Lonely Planet, believe it or not. There was a trip to Pago in 1994 which I hated, but I consulted LP for afterwards and decided to give American Samoa a second chance with a trip to Manu'a. I've been in love with the place ever since.

--Terry

Thanks Terry...

Certainly, on the basis of the scenes you've shown, the place warrants a visit! I'd be interested in learning more of the history, customs, and other necessary traveller stuff. I'd also like to know if it's been experiencing the same measure of change as some of the other SP islands. How is it different from your earlier trips? I'm interested in finding out the difference(s) between both the Samoa's, too.

No doubt, you might have some thoughts on these! Take care and thanks, again, for the wonderful video.

Regards,
Mark

Mark,

Thanks for the kudos.

Ofu's changes over the years: The biggest change I've noticed at Ofu is the diminishing number of tourists which is (in my opinion) due in part to the bad rep American Samoa has. Pago deserves most of this negative perception, but Manu'a does not. The biggest contributor to the tourism drought, however, has to be the airline that flies to the islands out of Pago to Manu’a. Inter Island Air are getting better, but I think the "on-demand charter" flights they offer in lieu of scheduled service and their cash only ticketing causes people to look elsewhere. Again, just my opinion.

That being said, I've never been stranded by this airline nor have I missed a connecting flight because of them.

On this most recent trip (which I spent 11 nights on the island) I was the only tourist for all but two days, which was great for me but makes it hard for the locals to count on tourism for income.

I'm very good friends with the family who run Vaoto Lodge and I maintain the lodge's website for them. This is not a commercial (I get no remuneration for my work) but I keep an up-to-date FAQ at vaotolodge.com to try to help new travelers find their way out to Ofu. Any one interested in visiting the islands should take a look at it, as well as pick up the new LP Samoa/Tonga guide.

I would almost argue that there are three Samoas: the independent nation of Samoa, American Samoa (Tutuila/Pago Pago), and Manu'a. Manu'a is very unlike Pago and shouldn't be lumped in with it. As far as comparisons I'll leave that to others since I've yet to get over to 'Upolu or Savai'i -- I'm too in love with Ofu! ;-)

--Terry

hey terry, im the guy you emailed telling me samoa air had gone out of business

that was a stunnig video! i cant wait to be in ofu its my last stop on my trip of the south pacific and looks like will be the best!

Sean,

I'm glad you decided to work Ofu into your itinerary. When you get back please post a trip report here. I always enjoy reading other's impressions of the islands.

--Terry

Here along with a short piece of music and another video recorded on the island.

i just read your ofu blog and it sums up most things i believe in about western society. People seem to feel the need to have the latest car, tv, computer, phone all the time. In my view what happens when people like us travel is we sit for a moment, and realise whilst people at home are going about their daily lives, that there are scenes like ofu and the south pacific that exist nd more beautiful than the usa and england can ever possess.

City life is something i dont intend to embark on for my life. Once ive been to university i hope not to live in the small mindedness of cities, living off gossip and innuendo which plagues our minds.

a phrase i like to use is 'i hate having my life disrupted by routine' - which in many ways city life is rife with routine. WHy do people work for 40 years just to pay a mortgage? Its something i can never quite understand. It causes stress, pain, break ups, debt. Maybe i feel like this because i travelled to extreme environments at a very young age and broadened my perspectives to nurture my personality, but there is something of inevitability about city life but why cant so many people see it?

"Once ive been to university i hope not to live in the small mindedness of cities, living off gossip and innuendo which plagues our minds."
LOL!!!
I see you've never lived in a small place have you-try it for a while!

OP-Thanks for sharing-do you spend all your time shorebound?

One thing I didn't cover in my blog was a moment of culture shock I had on my way to LAX out of Honolulu on the way home. I was seted next to this guy and his cell phone. I hate cell phones, and I hated and pitied this guy though I never spoke a word to the man.

He was on his phone almost until we were on the runway threshold for departure. It was like watching a junkie, this guy could not put his phone away. Somewhere over the Pacific I made a bet with myself wagering how quickly he'd have his phone going again upon landing in Los Angeles. I was not disappointed. The phone was out and in his hand as we were on final, and it was turned on and dialing before we'd turned off the runway onto the taxiway after landing.

"Enjoy your cage, my busy, needy friend," is what I thought with a pitying look on my face. I am so alien in this world and cannot understand why no one wants to at least occasionally disconnect from things. This guy was a junkie, but a junkie whose behavior has been approved and encouraged by society. The thing is, I'm the wrong one in this scenario. Coming from Ofu to LAX in a day made me feel like a man on the run in a cheesy sci-fi movie. Someone who knows a secret that no else one knows which makes him a broken cog in a dystopian society run amok. A secret that made me a renegade in need of reprogramming.

Copperspoon: I live in Illinois, so most of my life is shorebound but spent dreaming of sailing away someday. I need the sea and lonely shores and far away, forgotten places. When I'm not on Ofu I'm nourished by knowing that it exists. The world would be lost for me if such places were no more.

--Terry

Like yourself, Terry, I believe myself to be caught by all that is the South Pacific. While I do not, currently, have the resources to indulge myself by extended - or even repeat - visits, I've settled upon an interim solution comprising of strong drink and the certain knowledge that my pension, in and of itself, will allow me to travel. This in only 4 years! Oh yeah...Janice says I can, as long as she's with me! We hope to squat at Raro's place, on Rarotonga, until he throws us out.

I've started researching American Samoa, by the way. Have you looked at "Swains Island"? Anyone?

Best regards,
Mark

Mark,

I was talking to Marge at the lodge on Ofu about Swains while I was out there this last time. She told me less than a dozen people remain out there and the supply boat only makes the run about four times a year. I've asked other locals about it over the years and have never met anyone who's actually spent time there . . . then again, I've almost never met anyone from Pago who's made the comparatively easier journey out to Manu'a either. People stay away partly because it is considered "the sticks" and also because quite a few still believe the islands are haunted. The legendary aiku still roam Manu'a . . .

Four years?? For the first time since I was a kid I'm wishing I were a little bit older! ;-) My South Pacific dreams are currently in the mid-life crisis stage of short visits interrupted only by much pining away . . . but I also have the plan of retiring and vanishing from all the noise.

Anyone remember the old Deacon Blue song "Dignity"? Every now and then I'll hear it and the plan is clear . . .

And I'll sail her up the west coast
Through villages and towns
I'll be on my holidays
They'll be doing their rounds
They'll ask me how I got her I'll say
I saved my money
They'll say isn't she pretty
That ship called Dignity

--Terry

Excellent work. Thanks.

7--- I agree with Copperspoon about what you said:

"Once ive been to university i hope not to live in the small mindedness of cities, living off gossip and innuendo which plagues our minds. "

After living in large cities, small cities, small towns and small islands, I can tell you that it seems the gossip, jealousy, and small-mindedness are the same everywhere. But in a city you can at least avoid the jerks, not see them all the time. Hard to avoid in a small town, impossible on a small island.

raro is right. no one should mistake the outward-appearing 'paradise' of small islands for something which is free of the silly little wars and "small mindedness" people in any community seem intent on having. If you string my visits to Ofu together, I've spent several months there and I can say with certainty, at least on Ofu, that:

1) Gossip and innuendo are alive and well
2) Many people secretly or outwardly hate their neighbors
3) Petty jealousies and "keeping up the the Jones's" is in full effect
4) People seem to need conflict, and if there isn't any they'll manufacture it

And most importantly, the beauty of their world is not enough to sustain happiness. Most would rather live somewhere else where jobs and modern opportunities are abundant, and this is of course understandable. One cannot live on breadfruit alone . . . not if one wants a big screen TV, a new SUV, and the latest fashions -- and there's no reason why someone who wants these things should be denied them if they're willing to work get an education, trade in their 'simple' existence, and work hard for a arguably better future.

But all is not lost. I was speaking to a friend on the island when I was out there this month. He was slightly bemoaning the dullness of life on the island, but he told me that whenever he felt down he'd stop whatever he was doing and look around at where he was. He said he sometimes has to stop himself from seeing through the beauty and appreciate what he has.

For him, like all of us, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence (or the ocean) and we fail to look around and appreciate what we have. Of course, I'm looking around right now and out my window I can see snow streaming through the sodium glow of a street light in 16°F weather and its hard to be happy knowing that in the morning I'll be digging my car out. Again . . . ;-/

A few years ago I had what I thought would be an interesting premise for a reality show called "Life Swap". It was inspired by many conversations with islanders who seemed to covet my life and whose lives I coveted. For six months we'd swap homes, families, jobs and see if we truly wanted what we didn't have or came away with a renewed appreciation for that which we'd so readily thrown away before the swap.

--Terry

"4) People seem to need conflict, and if there isn't any they'll manufacture it"
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"But all is not lost"

Indeed!

14--
That would be a great TV show!

Loved the video. American Samoa is on my shortlist. But Pago Pago, it must be beautiful with the mountains?

silvanocat,

In my opinion, Tutuila is geographically interesting, but it pales in every way when compared to Manu'a.

Tutuila is overpopulated, polluted, and has a general shabbiness to it that I find unappealing -- particularly in the region from Nu'uli to the eastern side of the harbor. There are some lovely villages outside of these areas, and the scenery is striking all around, but the negatives mentioned above are never far away. I never spend more than a couple of days on Tutuila if I can avoid it.

The island of 'Aunuu is always a good excuse for a drive through Pago and also affords a perfect excuse to stop by Tisa's Barefoot Bar on Alega beach. The western villages from Vaitogi through Leone and out to Fagamalo reveal Tutuila's best face, cleanest villages, and less traffic.

However, If you're looking for peace and quiet, clean beaches, and relaxation Tutuila is generally not the place to find yourself.

YMMV.

--Terry

Hi everyone! I thought I would jump in and say that I have to agree with everything Terry is saying. I have lived on Tutuila for about a year and a half now and have been to Ofu only once. Ofu is amazing - unlike any place I've ever experienced - and I would love to go back. However, as Terry mentioned, the airline keeps many people from returning. I took my fiance and me about 6 months to get over there from the time of our original booking. We were booted off at least one flight in favor of a church group and had more than one flight canceled on us. When we were finally able to coordinate our schedule with the airline's, we arrived to learn that our baggage had not made the journey with us - nobody's had! Of course, we had no carry on luggage (small plane) and there was no guarantee that our bags would make it out before the next scheduled flight: three days from then and the day we were scheduled to leave. We had no bathing suits, no towels, no toiletries, no snorkel gear and only the clothes on our backs. Luckily, Inter Island Air decided to run an extra flight for our luggage, but the whole ordeal was enough to make me second-guess any Ofu plans for a while. I've heard the same complaints from others on island as well. So, while Ofu is a paradise in just about every sense of the word, the logistics of getting to paradise can be enough to turn away the locals looking for a weekend getaway. Upolu is just as close and much easier to get to.

As for American Samoa: yes, it is dirty, crowded and shabby. I don't mind living here, since it isn't as dirty, crowded and shabby as my Peace Corps post in Benin, West Africa, but there really isn't much here for tourists. It angers me to go to Western Samoa, seeing how well that island is kept clean and groomed, with good restaurants and nightlife and tons to do. There is a personal pride over there that has somehow been wiped out over here, yet American Samoans tend to look down on Western Samoans and being poor and uneducated. It makes very little sense.

I find the mountains here to be absolutely stunning and I love going on drives around the island, as some villages still do take pride in their land. As for swimming, it is hard to find a good swimming beach that isn't completely polluted, owned by a village, right next to a highway, or 20-30 minute hike through the jungle. If you do come to Tutuila, I recommend checking out the north side and Palagi Beach (on the west side) for their natural beauty and seclusion. Nuu'uli Falls is lovely, as is the hike up to Mt. Alava. Sliding Rock is easily accessible and a decent place to swim, as long as there have been no recent trash dumpings there. Tisa's has been less popular in recent years, but provides a pleasant place to spend the day.

If nothing else, it's worth a trip just to see how being an American territory has affected this island and these people. And no, Ofu is NOTHING like Tutuila. Well put, Terry!

hello: I read that there are only 2 hotels on the island. Are the accomadations for the "other" hotel better? Thanks.

francobenz,

I prefer Vaoto Lodge (for obvious reasons). Asaga Inn is the other place. It is newer construction and (unlike Vaoto) I believe offers air conditioning. I've never stayed there but have met Fili, the owner, and he seems like a nice guy.

My problems with Asaga is they are on the north side of the island which is never shadowed by the mountain. Therefore the sun is always intense. The beach at Asaga is rather poor compared to those on the south side of the island. Also, the National Park is a fair walk away when compared to Vaoto's location.

They used to have a website http://www.asagainn.com but it has been down for several years.

--Terry
webmaster http://www.vaotolodge.com