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We are so happy to share.
Bye bye Honolulu, we sailed out of the harbor at 6:00 PM on a heading due south.
Our first stop was to be at Fanning Island in the nation of
Kiribati (have you ever heard of it?). We were unable to stop because of a super
Typhoon Haiyan that hit the Philippines, had destroyed the dock in November
2013. There was a couple on the ship
that were furious as they came on the voyage for one reason only – to step on
Kiribati. He, a lawyer would like to visit 100 countries before the age of 60
(he is 58). Some people have interesting
goals.
So, we had 6 more sea days before our next port of call : Pago
Pago pronounced pan go pan go in
American Samoa. On the way, January 19,
we crossed the Equator with the usual ceremonial events involving King
Neptune. Anči, because she had “misbehaved”
was pulled out of the crowd, blind folded, confronted by a handsome man whom
she could evaluate with her hands and then eventually would be able to kiss
him.
However, when the time came, they
brought out a large fish. The cruise director was apologetic as he had been
told to take such good care of us, he did not know that Anči would know the
stunt beforehand and volunteered when asked. We have a wonderful time on this
ship.
Smooth sea and beautiful sunrise :
American Samoa
is Eastern Samoa.(199 sq kilometers).
Western Samoa is formerly known as German Samoa, now independent. The two regions are separated by 64 km of ocean. They have a common language.The international date line passes between the two countries
Hello : Talofa; Bye : Tofa; sorry : fa'amalie atu (almost French)
Wikipedia explanation : The international date line is an imaginary line on
the surface of the Earth, established by the International Meridian
Conference of 1884, that runs from the north to the south pole and demarcates
one calendar day from the next.(see map below)
There are hundreds of Islands in American Samoa, the major one is
Tutuila where the capital Pago Pago is located.
The beautiful harbor was formed by the collapse of the seaward wall of a
huge volcano with beautiful hills all around.
It is like Santorini the Greek Islands. He islands sit along the “Pacific Ring of
Fire”, Volcanic remnants rising from the
sea.
The islands were settled by Polynesians probably around 700
AD. The Dutch arrived then in 1722,
English missionaries circa 1831 who converted the islanders to Christianity. In 1900, the Americans took possession of
Eastern Samoa (Germans kept Western Samoa).
He .S> Navy “ran” Samoa until 1951, since then it has been
administered by the U.S Dept. of the Interior as an “incorporated Territory”,
thus being a unique part of the United States.199
square kilometers and 65,000 inhabitants).
A rare vegetable market
old, restauration at work, rigger canoe
It’s 65,000 (Tutuila contains 2/3) residents are U.S.
Citizen with “equal rights” except they cannot vote in “national Elections”
Huh? The currency is still US$ which we will not use for a long time.
.
The Samoas are extremely friendly, kind and large. They are the fattest people on earth, the
second most are the residents of Kiribati.
The town of Pago Pago is very compact, multiple churches, the building
for the Legislators, the court, and police, and fire stations…… there is also
!!!!! The McDonalds where excellent ice coffee is served.
The Samoa clothing is very distinct, particularly for men. Here are a couple of examples :
We left Samoa as locals were chanting/dancing goodbyes
Wikipedia explanation : The internationa date line is an imaginary line on the surface of the Earth, established by the International Meridian Conference of 1884, that runs from the north to the south pole and demarcates one calendar day from the next.
For example today as I write this, we are in New Zealand and it is January 28th but when I downloaded the newspapers from the USA this morning, they are those of January 27. My sister Barbara’s birthday (she would have been 80). And so, tomorrow is Anči’s birthday, January 29. If we were flown back to Samoa we could celebrate it again on the 29th). As we are going around the world, from East to West, that day is lost forever unless of course we go “around the world” from West to East!
Our next stop, Nuku’alofa in the Kingdom of Tonga.
Tonga is the first country to greet each new
day.
The kingdom of Tonga is made up of
170 islands.
75% of the people live on 1
island.
Tonga has beautiful coral reefs,
blue skies and inviting atolls. Tonga
was British Protected State until gaining its full independence in 1990.
Tupou VI (full name:
ʻAhoʻeitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho.
Anči decided to go on a snorkeling adventure….I stayed home (Silver
Whisper) and then the heavens opened, a tropical depression descended upon
us. Anči never got to the snorkel the spot.
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