Day 29 Pago Pago, American Samoa

This morning we arrived into the Pago Pago harbor. The impact of the recent Tsunami wasn’t readily apparent as we sailed in. As I left the dock with my friends Mike & Janet the picture became much clearer very quickly. The buildings along the waterfront of Pago Pago were heavily damaged with some being destroyed. I understand that a couple of hundred people lost their lives here. It was a very sad walk. As we neared the end of the harbor we turned to walk up to the National Park, Pago Pago Park. It was a fairly good hike just getting to the entrance of the park. It was a great walk because we met a lot of the local people and were even invited to a Barbeque at the Assembly of God Church. The kids along the way were great, loving the thought of having their picture taken. We were asked if we were from CNN and even FEMA. I guess at this time a stranger walking along with a lot of cameras makes them stick out. The visit to the National Park was lovely. The view from the entrance looked down upon Fagasa Bay (Forbidden Bay) and the damage from the Tsunami was very apparent. We enjoyed the trek in the park which was a bit steep and slippery at times but very lovely. We walked back into town and checked it out for a while before reboarding the ship. The damage here was pretty bad but they are working very hard and a lot of progress is very obvious. The guests from the ship and HAL donated quite a bit to the Tsunami victims here in Pago Pago. Tomorrow morning we cross the International Date Line so it will be Monday. It is a day at sea which is great. I had a relaxing evening… another massage. By the way, I cancelled that Antarctica trip. It just didn’t make sense….