American Samoa, March 17/2013,
We have a Princess tour here and we disembark together even though it is not a tendered port.
We are travelling on one of the local open air buses, no air conditioning and no microphones. The guide is a local high school student. She is dressed in the local costume and she speaks very good English.
The tour included visits to several spots on the island. This island is more like you would imagine a tropical island to be, very lush and very green. There is only one road and it is not exactly smooth. The seats of the bus are padded but the backs are just wood and at time it was rather uncomfortable but nothing we couldn’t handle.
We had several photo stops. The first stop was to a spot called Flower pot rock. It was similar to the Hopewell Rocks of New Brunswick. There was not a low tide but the shore was very beautiful with a definite tropical feel.
. One was a stop at a local golf course. It was so very hot that I can’t imagine playing golf there. It was beautiful and the green fees were very reasonable to say the least.
Another stop was at the First Missionary Monument. There was the oldest and largest church in American Samoa. The interior was\s old but so very beautiful with stained glass windows and wood carvings.
But the main event was the Ava ceremony. For this we were taken to a large open air center. Here we were told about the local customs and the significance of the Ava ceremony. This is a ceremony used to mark special occasions such as weddings, installation of chiefs, births etc. The drink is a local concoction which we were told contained fermented saliva. I was pleased that I was not chosen to have this special beverage.
We were treated to dances and we were served a very nice cold juice.
At the end of this event we headed back to the bus, but before we boarded I bought a lovely Samoan dress. I will be able to wear this for island night on upcoming cruises.
We were glad to get back to the air conditioning.
We have a Princess tour here and we disembark together even though it is not a tendered port.
We are travelling on one of the local open air buses, no air conditioning and no microphones. The guide is a local high school student. She is dressed in the local costume and she speaks very good English.
The tour included visits to several spots on the island. This island is more like you would imagine a tropical island to be, very lush and very green. There is only one road and it is not exactly smooth. The seats of the bus are padded but the backs are just wood and at time it was rather uncomfortable but nothing we couldn’t handle.
We had several photo stops. The first stop was to a spot called Flower pot rock. It was similar to the Hopewell Rocks of New Brunswick. There was not a low tide but the shore was very beautiful with a definite tropical feel.
. One was a stop at a local golf course. It was so very hot that I can’t imagine playing golf there. It was beautiful and the green fees were very reasonable to say the least.
Another stop was at the First Missionary Monument. There was the oldest and largest church in American Samoa. The interior was\s old but so very beautiful with stained glass windows and wood carvings.
But the main event was the Ava ceremony. For this we were taken to a large open air center. Here we were told about the local customs and the significance of the Ava ceremony. This is a ceremony used to mark special occasions such as weddings, installation of chiefs, births etc. The drink is a local concoction which we were told contained fermented saliva. I was pleased that I was not chosen to have this special beverage.
We were treated to dances and we were served a very nice cold juice.
At the end of this event we headed back to the bus, but before we boarded I bought a lovely Samoan dress. I will be able to wear this for island night on upcoming cruises.
We were glad to get back to the air conditioning.
1 comment:
Carolyne, I really like that Samoan dress, and it looks very nice on you. Good choice!
Howard
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