Pago Pago, American Samoa

February 10, 2023
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Tuesday, February 7, 2023

Well, here we are in Pago Pago, American Samoa. 

Located on the island of Tutuila, Pago Pago is the capital city of American Samoa. Officially known as Territory of American Samoa, it is an unincorporated territory of the United States. And as we just recently discovered, Pago Pago is not pronounced Pay-Go Pay-Go. Rather, it is pronounced Pango Pango, so that it rhymes with Tango Tango. 

It is located in the south central pacific, about 1,600 miles northeast of New Zealand and 2,200 miles southwest of Hawaii. The climate is tropical. Temperatures range from 60 to 90 degrees, and the island of Tutuila gets a lot of rain—about 200 inches annually. Consequently lush vegetation dominates the island. 

We took a tour that included a look around the Western side of the island and a visit to a village called Talofa where we were treated to a demonstration of local customs including food, cooking styles and native folk dances. It was all very interesting, but no, we didn’t try the food. Some photos from the visit are included below.

JFB

American Samoa — February 7, 2023. Photo of a young Samoan princess being escorted tto center stage as tourists look on in the background.
Americsan Samoa–Feb 2, 2023. A portrait photo of a young American Samoan girl in native dress.
American Samoa–Feb 7. 2023. A zoom lens photo of 3 natives of Pago Pago at a tasting hut for locally prepared foods.
Wide angle photo of a rock formation (called a flower pot by the locals) off the cost of Pago Pago.
Photo of a house built by a winding road on the side of a mountain