If I Were Going...: Ofu and Olosega

The cutest Bat ever

As I mentioned in my last post, plans to spend a morning on Taʻū were scuttled because of rough seas. The itinerary said that we would travel by boat the eight miles from Taʻū to Ofu. I assumed that that meant by ferry, but there is no ferry. Rather, arrangements must be made with local fisherman or cargo transport vessels. And, that, folks, is why we took a tour rather than trying to go by ourselves.

Then, there was the exercise Peter and Patricia had to go through to get us to Ofu. The original plan had our entire group going to Taʻū on a regularly scheduled Samoan Airways flight (a 19-seater). They didn’t have a flight to Ofu on that day, so our guides had to arrange a charter – this took two flights on smaller Pacific Air Charters. Caty and I were on the first plane.

Arriving in Ofu

The flight was much smoother than I expected, given the high winds. Upon leaving Pago Pago, we got good views of Tutuila and Anun’u, despite light rain.

It was fun to see Ofu’s tiny airport as we landed

Watch the flight here (look for the Flowerpots as we take off and the lake in the middle of Anun’u’s crater).

After the short flight (70 miles), we landed on the airstrip that runs down a rare flat part of the south coast of Ofu island. To get a look at the Ofu runway, watch this.

Ofu airstrip and airport (in the business district!)

After our plane stopped, we deplaned and the local crew unloaded the luggage into a truck, drove a whole 30 feet and unloaded it for us to carry to the lodge, which is just 150 feet from the airstrip. It was ridiculous, but, in some way seemed to be a kind greeting.

Caty wondering why her bag had to be moved twice

We would be staying at the Vaoto Lodge for the next three nights.

Vaoto Lodge nestled beneath the steep mountains

Described as a “rustic family-run lodge known for its friendly hosts, Deb and Ben," plus ...

"Clean and comfortable rooms with private baths" (this is our room)

"And close proximity to pristine beaches”

Deb was out of town and Ben seemed a bit shy. Whenever I saw him, he was taking care of the many tropical plants growing on the lodge’s grounds.

Ben on the grounds

I suspect that Deb is the more gregarious one.

The Vaoto Lodge is adjacent to the Ofu unit of the National Park of American Samoa ...

Just down the road

... and the aforementioned pristine beaches ...

Good for snorkeling; Photos: Caty Stevens

The rooms and lobby were fine, if a bit tarnished by constant sea air (why would you install metal towel bars in a place where rust sets in before you finish installation?).

Pathway to our unit (they are small duplexes)

Another view of our room

But, the water was hot, the bed comfy and the air-conditioning so good that we had to turn if off frequently to keep from freezing.

Pretty path

The grounds were lovely and full of ...

Flowering plants

Eastern Wattled Honeyeaters

Pacific Kingfishers

Samoan Starlings

Dome Web Spiders

White-browed Hawkmoths

Euploea Lewinii Butterflies

Azure-tailed Skinks; Photo: Caty Stevens

Black Emo Skinks

A couple of friendly Cats (this is Frank)

Plus, a Black Emo Skink that had met Frank

On the cliffs above us, we saw ...

White-tailed Tropicbirds and ...

Blue-billed White Terns

Both were wheeling in big circles ...

... along with an occasional soaring White-naped Bat; Photo: Caty Stevens

And, out over the ocean was the domain of Great Frigatebirds ...

Females

Male

Oh, and it is close to the airport!

Very close!

Of course, the beauty of the Vaoto Lodge is where it is – on a beautiful remote South Pacific island with only 100 inhabitants.

Tropical paradise

We were lucky to stay there: it almost closed a few years ago, primarily because it was impossible for Ben and Deb to provide meal service.

The main building where meals are served

Many people who travel of Ofu bring their own food, using the Vaoto kitchen for food storage and prep. But, for tours that didn’t really work.

I guess everyone could harvest their own coconuts

So, tour guides who travel to the island (including Peter) came up with a plan. They employ local families (one per tour) to cook and deliver meals three time a day. What we had was a mixture of traditional Samoan foods (palusami and faiai – not as good as Peter’s, but fine – breadfruit and bananas in coconut cream) and hearty soups, fruit, salads and, one day, tuna sandwiches.

Locally prepared food: palusami, faiai, corned beef soup, breadfruit in coconut cream

In our meals, there seemed to be an abundance of canned corned beef (and cans were also available for purchase in the lodge).

The Vaoto Lodge kitchen offers canned goods for sale (far wall); Photo: Vaoto Lodge

Corned beef became a staple in Samoan cuisine after early trading ships introduced canned goods to the Pacific Islands. Because fresh meat was difficult to store and transport on the islands, heavily preserved canned corned beef offered a durable, reliable source of protein.

Samoans call it pisupo, which comes from a transliteration of "pea soup," the first canned food introduced to Samoa by early traders. The name stuck after corned beef replaced pea soup as the most popular canned item.

Imported tinned corned beef transitioned from a foreign ration into a luxury prestige food

Today, pisupo is a central part of traditional Samoan hospitality and is given as a customary gift of high value at weddings, birthdays and funerals. It is surprisingly good in vegetable soup.

The Two Islands

Before I discuss what we did, let me talk about Ofu and its twin island of Olosega, which, together with Taʻū, comprise the Manu’a Islands.

Top: American Samoa; Bottom; Ofu and Olosega; Maps: Google Maps

The two islands have a combined length of 3.7 miles and a combined area of five square miles. Together, they have a population of about 300 people.

But, they have an executive office building

Geographically, the islands are volcanic remnants separated by the shallow 449-foot-wide Āsaga Strait.

Aerial view; Photo: Great American Roadtrip

Before 1970, people crossed between the two islands by waiting until low tide and then wading or swimming. Now, a single-lane bridge connects them.

The bridge between the islands

The main coastal road system spanning from Ofu Village to Olosega Village across the connecting bridge is approximately 5.9 miles.

The roads are pretty good

The highest peak on Ofu Island is Mount Tumutumu (also called Tumu) at 1,611 feet. The highest peak on Olosega is Mount Piumafua, at 2,064 feet. The most recent volcanic eruption was in 1866, just southeast of Olosega.

View toward Mount Piumafua from Mount Tumutumu; Photo: Amber

Pre-historic artifacts discovered on Ofu in the 1980s include ceramics, adzes, worked shell and bone pieces and red-slipped plainware ceramics. The artifacts suggest that Ofu and Olosega have been continuously inhabited by humans for about 3,000 years.

Ancient pottery; Olosega Village, 1896; Left: NPS; Right: Charles S. Greene

Most of the southern shore and associated coral reef of Ofu are part of the National Park of American Samoa.

This is why we went

Consisting of the two-mile-long Ofu Beach and 780-foot-high Sunuitao Peak, the Ofu unit is the smallest of the three park units with only 70 acres of land and 400 acres of offshore waters.

Mountains and ocean (this is taken from the ocean)

Still, most visitors consider it the prettiest section with its stunning mountains, lagoons, beaches and coral reefs.

Clear water and a Lagoon Triggerfish; Photo: Caty Stevens

Even though the Ranger Station on Ofu is permanently closed (budget cuts!), Peter found and rescued the Ofu National Park stamp and installed it at the Vaoto Lodge.

We had to write in the year, but we got it!

Most of the people on Ofu reside in the village of Ofu and almost all the population of Olosega now reside in Olosega village along the southwestern-facing shore.

"Downtown" Ofu

Sili, situated on the northwestern-facing shore of Olosega was once a thriving village but is now abandoned after repeated cyclone and tsunami damage.

One of our outings was a hike to Sili (I'il cover in my next blog); This is part of the Sili sign

Lalomoana and Faiava are other named places but are not inhabited.

It is definitely uncrowded

Because it is so small and rural with very little roads, we had a lot of free time (another way to say there’s just not much to do on this island).

That's OK because it's so pretty

Snorkeling

Caty and I both wished we had been able to snorkel more.

Snorkeling was a main goal; Photo: Caty Stevens

We had one group snorkeling outing, which I will cover in my next post. Believe me, we loved it.

Pretty reefs in the National Park

During other down time, we were free to snorkel, but I am a bit leery of doing that on my own.

Moorish Idol; Photo: Caty Stevens

I would have felt much safer knowing that Peter, a Master Diver and emergency services captain, would be with us.

Speckled Butterflyfish and Convict Tangs; Right: Caty Stevens

Plus, although we had lots of free time, the time blocks weren’t particularly long. And, snorkeling requires time to gather gear, snorkel, shower, hang gear to dry, etc. So, it was hard to do.

But, so worth it; All but upper right: Caty Stevens

We did briefly snorkel at the beach right across from the Vaoto Lodge.

Caty in our front yard

The tide was a bit far out, but we did see some good stuff ...

Guineafowl Pufferfish; Photos: Caty Stevens

Threespot Wrasse; Photo: Caty Stevens

Reef Needlefish; Photo: Caty Stevens

Sea Cucumbers; Upper left: Caty Stevens

On shore, a Pallid Ghost Crab

Exploring

What else did we do?

Caty and I spent a lot of time just exploring the Vaoto’s grounds, captivated by the ...

Lizards ...

Eastern Wattled Honeyeaters …

Butterflies …

Blue-billed White Terns ...

Spiders …

and, so, so, many Pacific Kingfishers …

This was a somewhat puzzling bird because some of the birding books in the lodge called them Collared Kingfishers. Turns out, the Pacific used to be considered a subspecies of the Collared.

The Pacific and Collared were split in 2015

The Pacific Kingfisher has a wide range throughout the South Pacific islands, including American Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and lots of small islands I never heard of. With a whopping 22 recognized subspecies, it looks different on different islands.

The Ofu/Olosega subspecies is different than the one on Tutuila

It’s about 9.8 inches long, with a wingspan of roughly 14 inches.

Not small, but not large for a Kingfisher

Small crabs are its favorite food, but it eats a wide variety of other animals including insects, worms, snails, shrimp, frogs, lizards, small fish and sometimes other small birds and eggs.

This one caught a Mantis

It perches almost motionless for long periods waiting for prey. When it spots something it glides down to catch it and then flies back to the perch where larger items are pounded against the branch to subdue them. Any indigestible remains are regurgitated as pellets.

It has a variety of calls that vary geographically, the most typical being a loud metallic sound repeated several times.

This one was vocal

Both Caty and I are fond of Kingfishers (remember the great one in Wales?), so we photographed these babies to death.

They were very accommodating; Photos: Caty Stevens

Caty and I also took a walk through the jungle along the beaches on the paved road that runs from Ofu to Olosega into the National Park.

Our route

We wanted to go to the National Park. Not too far from the lodge, we noticed a sign lying facedown in the thick foliage beside the road.

We flipped it over to discover we had made it to the Park

It was heavy, but we still managed to get photos

It was a leisurely stroll that offered up ...

Beach views

Even more Eastern Wattled Honeyeaters

Tropical plants, including ...

... bananas!

Fellow travelers Amber and Jack passed us as they traveled farther down the road on two of Vaoto’s ramshackle loaner bikes.

Later that evening, we took another walk, this time in the opposite direction along the runway looking for birds and bats.

The trip is literally down the runway

And we saw some regulars, including Samoan Starlings and White-tailed Tropicbirds I didn't photograph and ...

Eastern Wattled Honeyeaters

Great Frigatebirds

A group of Pacific Golden Plovers running across the runway

A Brown Booby

Then we saw a bird we didn't recognize and waited patiently, hoping it would show itself again.

It did!

The Blue-crowned Lorikeet was probably the prettiest bird we saw on the trip, despite the less-than-perfect early afternoon light. This little bird is also known as the Blue-crowned Lory, Blue-crested Lory, Solomon Lory or Samoan Lory (see what I mean about bird names?).

This little bird is a parrot

It is also found on Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and some other islands off the coast like Niue and Futuna.

It is listed as common, but declining on some islands, apparently from predation by rats. They frequent areas with flowering trees, including coconut plantations and gardens, usually in small flocks of less than about 15 individuals or in pairs during breeding season.

We felt lucky to see one (or, we think, two); no one else on the tour did

The Blue-crowned Lorikeet eats nectar, pollen and soft fruits, especially wild hibiscus and coconut.

The one we saw was really working on something on a coconut palm

We also had a really close encounter with a couple of White-naped Bats.

I just love the look on this little guy’s face

This one was preening

As we walked, we enjoyed ...

Mountain views

Low-flying bats

Lush jungle

On the last day of the trip, I took another walk down the same path while Caty was doing something else and I briefly encountered another Australasian Swamphen deep in the swampy jungle.

I had been looking for one on the first walk based on Peter’s recommendation

Night Views

One night, Caty and I walked out to the runway to look at the Southern Cross and the Milky Way.

Great night sky

Even though I have been in the southern hemisphere several times, I think this was my first encounter of the famous constellation, which sits on the southern edge of the Milky Way.

The Southern Cross (Crux)

Sailors use the constellation to find true south in the Southern Hemisphere by following an imaginary line through its long axis. Indigenous groups across the Pacific have used it in their traditional sky stories for thousands of years.

It is the smallest of all 88 modern constellations ...

But, its four main stars shine very brightly

Before I left on the trip, my friend Donna mentioned that she wanted to see the Southern Cross.

I hadn’t even though about it, but I wondered if you could see it from American Samoa. When I looked it up, I discovered that not only can you, but ...