Agile Trekker

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

National Park Service Visitor trip, National Park of American Samoa

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
4/27/2026	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	114.7

Parking:

Map:

Directions:

We have a short trip here, so we are leaving tonight for an overnight flight. That still leaves us with a full day to explore. We have no interest in hiking (it's still 91 degrees out), but Dian wanted to try to snorkel. Phyllis ended up paying for us to have late access to our hotel room, so we could shower later if we needed to.

Our first stop was the National Park Service Visitor Center. We met 3 people who were finishing their national park list here. They had visited all 63 national parks in the US. How cool is that! We watched a video at the park - which was on the tradition of making cloth out of mulberry tree bark. It's presented at major life events such as weddings. The cloth they make is beautiful and very labor intensive. We spoke to the park ranger quite a bit, and we also ran into two friends we had made at the hotel - Tom and Brent.

We stopped at a museum in town - a lot of the displays seem to be related to a tattoo festival that is held at Tisa's Barefoot Bar every year. Tattoo culture in American Samoa is deeply important and tied to identity, family, service, endurance, and the traditional Samoan way of life known as fa‘a Samoa. The pe‘a is the large traditional male tattoo that covers the body from the waist to the knees with dense geometric patterns.

It represents:

courage,
discipline,
cultural commitment,
and service to family and community.

Receiving a pe‘a is historically a major rite of passage. The process is extremely painful and traditionally done over multiple sessions using hand-tapped tools. The museum showed a number of the tools that are used. In American Samoa, tattoos are not traditionally just decoration. They communicate:

genealogy,
responsibility,
endurance,
social role,
and respect for Samoan culture.

For many Samoans, tatau connects the body to ancestry and community obligations.

Dian wanted to find a place to snorkel still. We went to a beach near the visitor center. It looked pretty awful, with trash in the water and maybe the water was too rough. She was staring out at the water for quite a while, deciding what to do. Phyllis and I stopped and talked to a local couple who were sitting in the shade. The man was telling us how his village beach is so much nicer than the beach here. After talking with us for a while, he invited us to follow him to his village beach. It felt a little strange to be following strangers, but a voice in my head said to say yes. We studied the etiquette rules on the way there - in case he invited us inside his house. There are a bunch of rules we aren't familiar with, so we did try to memorize them.

We followed him to the east side of the island, an area we had already visited. We lost him for a while, but eventually we caught up to him. He pointed out his home, which he was really proud of, on the way there. There aren't that many roads on the island. Eventually he pulled over at a pretty beach. We pulled onto the grass behind him. It wasn't really a parking area, but he had invited us here, so it was okay. We talked to him and his wife for a while, and then they drove away. The water here was too rough for snorkeling, but it was pretty. I sketched while Dian and Phyllis walked around. One person drove by and asked if we needed help. I guess they weren't expecting us there? But we had the name of our new friend, so if anyone asked, we could tell them our friend Tui gave us permission to be there.

Around 30 minutes later, our new friend came back without his wife. We asked him several questions about his culture. He was a retired police officer and had worked in Hawaii if I remember correctly. He had brought a bag of coconuts that he had just picked from a tree in his yard (using a long-handled tool) and a case of Star Kist tuna. He poked holes in the coconut for us to drink. Then he showed us how to easily crack open the coconuts. He cut out the coconut meat for us to eat. Phyllis admired his bag, so he took it apart and showed us how to make one out of a coconut leaf? in just a few minutes. Then he prodded us to take the tuna back with us. I told him I was a vegetarian. He told me to give it to my dog lol. I did end up taking 2 cans but left them in my hotel room for the staff.

We spent the evening back in our hotel lobby. The lobby was full of people who would be flying out that night. There aren't that many planes that go in and out of American Samoa, so it's obvious what everyone is doing. We were able to leave our rental car at our hotel and get a hotel shuttle bus with everyone else to the airport.

The line at the airport was crazy - it didn't matter whether you were checking your bag or not. You actually need a passport to travel to American Samoa, so they were checking everyone's passport. We waited in multiple lines, and spent our time talking to Brent, the guy we've run into several times. I think it was he who told us not to worry about how long it will take to get through the line. This is the only plane going out tonight, and they will hold the plane until everyone gets through security. We arrived at the airport around 2 1/2 hours before our flight. It took us 2 hours to get through security. We were hot and sweaty again (even the locals were fanning themselves), but at least we knew everyone on the flight would be. Everything was very manual, such as having your name checked off on a piece of paper. I'm not sure if its due to the recent airline app merger (Hawaiian and Alaskan) or if it's always this way. On the plane, they called out a few missing passenger names - they want to make sure everyone got on. It might be a problem if you don't get on. I don't know where you would stay. There are only 2 hotels on the island, and I do think they fill up! This is our only overnight flight of the trip. I really hate flying overnight, because I'm not able to sleep. I closed my eyes and did my best.

We watched a video about how this cloth is made from mulberry trees.

LMAO

Phyllis and I watched this movie after arriving home.
It was a great reminder of our trip.
The buses in American Samoa are very colorful, like this one.

Our 2 new friends

Walking the beach, but no snorkeling.

Fresh picked coconut

Heading back to Honolulu.
We recognized multiple people on the flight lol.

Searching for the WWII Trail, National Park of American Samoa

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
4/26/2026	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	114.7

Parking:

Map:

Directions:

Today we went on a drive to the east side of the island to explore. We stopped at Fata Ma Futi, a beach lookout for a rock island.

We stopped to visit a plane crash memorial & a defunct aerial tramway. There's also a nice pavilion there looking down onto the harbor. We wanted to do hike to a WWII site, but it was very confusing. The trail map showed it going right behind a water tank, but the water tank was on private property. There was a no trespassing sign. We had read that some trails require permission to access because they are partly on private property. There was no one to ask here though. We talked to the NPS later - they said that this was not the correct way to access the trail, even though there is a sign there and a trail map there. She said that even if we did access it there, the trail where we looked was very overgrown, and not worth hiking. She told us it's better to start this trail at the end next to the laundromat. We were also very hot, so we weren't that excited about actually doing the trail. We decided to skip it. It was 91 degrees out and very humid.

Driving on the road here, we see many trucks going by with people riding in the back. Sometimes they are all standing up. Sometimes they are sitting down in lawn chairs in the back. We drove to the end of the eastern side of the island.

We got hungry and stopped at a bakery. It was a Sunday, so we were surprised it was open. It sounds like most places are closed on Sundays because it's a religious day. You aren't supposed to snorkel or swim on Sundays either. Anyways, the woman working at the bakery was very sweet. They didn't have vegetarian food except for cinnamon buns, so that's what I ate for lunch. Phyllis had chicken, I think. We did see a lot of people coming in for large orders of food - I believe these were to take to their village for eating after church. The woman working at the bakery seemed excited to have us as customers. She was kind to us and asked to take our photo.

We stopped by Tisa's Barefoot Bar again and this time they were open. It's owned by Tisa and her husband Candy Man also works there. Tisa is a local, and Candy Man, who served us, is originally from New Zealand. It's a very relaxed & chill place. I'm not sure if they serve food only once a week? But he offered us pina coladas, which were refreshing and delicious. Mine with no alcohol since I was driving. They do let you snorkel from behind the bar (even on a Sunday), but someone who had just come in said that the current was strong, and you really need flippers to snorkel. That's what everyone here has told us. They don't recommend snorkeling without flippers.

Looking down at the harber

Despite this sign showing one end of the trail being here right at the water tank,
you can't access it from here.

I wonder if all of these shipping containers are for tuna.

The sign shows the WWII Trail is right behind the tank.
But we were told this is not the right place to access it.
There's a No Trespassing sign.

We stopped at a beach. While Dian and Phyllis walked around looking for shells,
I hid in the shade and sketched.

We saw these covered shelters frequently.
I was never sure if they are considered public property or not.
Sometimes we'd see people hanging out in them, sometimes what looked like events in them.
Some had netting at the base - maybe to keep stray dogs out.

There is a sign as you enter each village

These are the bells they ring to start prayer in the evening.
You see them frequently.
I read that they are often made of old scuba tanks.

Vaasa's Restaurant
They had outdoor seating looking out onto the ocean or indoor seating with air conditioning.
We chose air conditioning.
I got a cinnamon bun while Phyllis ate her chicken.

We got into Tisa's Barefoot Bar.
We had pina coladas (mine without alcohol since I was the driver).

Taufanua Trail, National Park of American Samoa, American Samoa

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
4/25/2026	2 miles	2 hours 19 minutes	554'	?	114.7

Parking:

Taufanua Trail Parking

Map:

See NPS map

Directions:

Take the trail to the ocean. Return the same way.

Our second hike of the day was the Taufanua Trail. We found the trailhead and saw a local nearby. We asked if it was okay to park there. He looked a little confused and said yes. Some of the National Park trails are on private property, and you must ask permission to hike them. This felt very awkward to me. Sometimes the local will ask for money for permission to hike. We never had to pay, but we did read for some hikes you do. One person commented he got asked for money twice for the same hike (by two different locals). I wondered - what do you do if you don't see a local? Same thing goes for beaches. They said some beaches you need to ask. But how do I know which beaches? We did talk to one guy, Brent, who was here on business - related to introducing solar energy and I think related to getting earlier tsunami warning systems. He got permission to set up a monitor at a beach from someone before his trip. Then when he was trying to install it, he said he got yelled at by a local. It took a while for him to be able to explain that he had permission and what he was doing there.

This hike was only 2 miles, but a hard 2 miles. It was hot and humid and we were dripping sweat. First, we hiked uphill, then we had to descend on ladders downhill. Ladder after ladder. The ladders are resting on the ground, but the ground is steep. There are also ropes to help you descend. It took us a long time to go down. There was some swearing by at least one of us. On the way back we had to ascend the ladders. It was oh so hot, but ascending the ladders was much easier than descending them.

After our hike, we went to look for a tree with fruit bats. How do you find it? Well, it's on Google maps actually :) We looked around for a while not seeing it. We asked some local children, but they didn't know. We walked back and forth, and eventually Phyllis saw them. Fruit bats are huge. They have a 3-to-5-foot wingspan. During the day, you can see them hanging from trees. We actually did see some fly.

There are so many loose/stray dogs on the roads here. I stopped to take some photos of them once, and they came running and surrounded our car, barking at us. Oh boy. After being stuck, I decided to drive slowly. One yelped - I was terrified I had hit it, but I hadn't. Lesson learned - do not stop for stray dogs. Most of them know to get out of the way of cars. We did see some limping strays, so my guess is that they didn't get out of the way of a car. Some of the strays are not friendly. Even one of the National Park Service hike descriptions talks about being careful and driving past the last house on the road to get to a hike, due to aggressive dogs. That's crazy to put in a hike description! Our friend Arthur from last night said that if dogs behave aggressively to us, to pick up a stone & pretend to throw it. Dogs have learned about that. The speed limit in all of the island is between 20 to 25 mph. That's it! Arthur said he got a speeding ticket for going 30 mph recently. It's a small island, but it takes some time to get around due to the low speed limit. That's okay. We are in no rush.

We dropped Phyllis off at the hotel, and Dian and I went to a grocery store to go shopping for dinner. We found a large grocery store near our hotel. Very big. Yet, the produce section was around 10 feet long. $10 for 1 cucumber. $10 for 1 bell pepper. $22 for 1 pineapple. They had a premade salad in their produce section listed as vegetarian - but it had tuna in it. I have sticker shock. There is plenty of junk food in the store which is less expensive than their produce. Starkist is huge here - it's their biggest private employer. We drove by it a few times during our trip. We had to buy bottled water since we can't drink the tap.

We went to the bar again in the evening and chatted with Tom, one of the other National Park visitors. I had a Vailima Beer, which actually comes from Western Samoa, but is what everyone drinks here.

Photos in reverse order for the day.

Stopping at the Camel Rock overlook.

This is a very well known, popular bar/restaurant on the island.
We stopped by during their open hours, but no one was there.
I've heard one person say to call ahead of time to discuss what you'd like to eat.
I'm not sure if there is even a menu?
We would try back tomorrow.

Camel Rock

There are many churches on the island. They are very colorful.
I would love to sketch them, though I think I'd feel very conspicuous doing so.
Although the people we met were friendly, I did always feel like
I wasn't sure what was okay to do here and what wasn't okay.
I wanted to be respectful of the locals and their culture.