Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary

It's been a while since I posted anything unrelated to school, so I thought I'd share some photos from a trip to Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary. It's been over a month and a half since this trip, but I'm in the mood for looking at pictures of beautiful sunny skies on this gray, rainy day.

Fagatele Bay is out of "town" on the way to Leone (the last large village on the west side of the island). Keep in mind that my island (Tutuila) is large for American Samoa, but small in comparison to just about anything else! If I'm not mistaken, it's not more than 20 miles from west to east, and maybe 5 miles at the widest point north to south. (Yet, despite the small size, it still takes 2 hours to get to any decent grocery store from my village due to a 20mph speed limit!) After a bus ride, there's a nice walk/hike to the bay. Land in American Samoa is family-owned. Most of the land on the islands has been designated as part of the National Park System, but it is technically only on loan to the government (which pays a nice sum for rent). To get to Fagatele Bay, you have to sign in at the family's house before passing onto park land. The hike has breathtaking views of the coastline from a tall ridge before you descend on somewhat of a path down the side of the hill. Holding onto trees as I slipped and slided down the hill, I was ready for something amazing:

Amazing Peace

The smallest shell I have ever seen

Simply Delightful