Pago Pago

Our arrival is in the bay of Tutuila which is in the centre of the island and was formed as a result of a collapsing volcanic caldera.  The climate is hot and humid, just the kind of weather you love in February.  The location is at 14 degrees south latitude and because the Sun happens to be at a declination today of -14 degrees, at 12:36 PM today the Sun was directly overhead and our shadows had no length which was kind of cool.   The Samoan people are really friendly and helpful.  When a young girl noticed that the free email server at MacDonalds was down she logged onto another provider so we could check emails.  Really wonderful people.
One third of the work force here is employed by the government with another third in the service industry.  Land can only be owned by fully fledged Samoans.The joys of being a US Territory means I guess that the government is the major source of income. The traditional dress for women is a long skirt and for men knee length wrap around skirts.  We mainly saw men in pants but when we walked by the regional high school all the students were wearing white shirts and brightly coloured blue skirts with shorts underneath .  December to April is the rainy season but on our day here it was sunny with a few clouds.  Not a lot to do so we wandered from one end of the town to the other with our key purchase being Vailima, a local lager beer.  Nothing ends the hot day better than a cold 750ml bottle of beer that has an alcohol content of 6.7%.  Then, naturally, it is siesta time.  Never thought I would go to Pago Pago and I cannot imagine coming back again.  A nice place to stop after five sea days but not a lot to see and do. Today is February 10 and tomorrow will be the 12th as we cross the date line.  To bad (or maybe not) for those who have a birthday on Feb 11.   Next stop Fiji.

Cruise tip: It seems that, despite stated policy, you can bring aboard alcohol such as the local beer without having it confiscated at the security entrance.