Manu'atele

About every two months I get to travel to Ta'u, one of the outer islands of American Samoa, to follow up on a project I'm conducting at the high school there. For your information, the other inhabited islands in AS are Ofu, Olosega, and Swains Atoll. The final island, which is not inhabited, is Rose Atoll. Manu'atele refers to the three islands Ta'u, Ofu, and Olosega. Here's the dramatic view of Manu'atele from the high school.


So I get on the same small plane you see in the "Apia" post and a quick 35 minutes takes me to the tallest island in our group. Now, if after reading through our blog you've started to think we're "far away" from you all or that we are living in the "boonies", you might be a little premature. Don't get me wrong, our island Tutuila is plenty isolated, and plenty slow. But Ta'u makes it look like LA. For example, check out the airport.


And the airport on Ofu is even less developed, having a dirt road and grass parking lot. Maybe Ta'u is LA?

Fewer than two thousand people live on Ta'u. And since food in the small stores is three times as expensive as on Tutuila, residents have family on Tutuila send them food on the boat that makes the trip twice a month. Otherwise they live on what they can grow or catch. When the boat comes, the whole island shows up to pick up their goods. Here's the M/V Sili on the horizon after making the 9-10 hour trip.


Once I slow myself down to the local pace (it takes longer than you might think) I find peace in the more authentic Samoa feel of the outer islands. There are more people fishing, walking, farming, playing music, making sennit rope and other implements, and discussing how their taro is better than Niuean taro, or how all culture began on their island. It's great how willing they all are to share stories and help me with my Samoan language skills. I seem to learn more in two days there than in months on Tutuila.


It helps that they love to talk story and are in no rush to go anywhere. Maybe it's because there is nowhere to go. Or maybe because it's too hard to get anywhere. One look at the coastline and you can see an exploratory trek might take a little more determination than, say, playing the ukulele.


As I mentioned, I travel there to work on a project at the high school. Ten members of the total student body of 78 were selected to participate in an aquaponics course. Aquaponics is a blend of aquaculture and hydroponics, where waste water from a fish tank is pumped through plant roots. The plants remove the excess nitrogen and other nutrients from the water that then returns, reconditioned, back to the fish. On one trip I supervised them in constructing the system to grow tilapia and plants. Here's the high school.


And here are my proud students.


On another trip I brought 90 juvenile tilapia to stock the tank and help the students begin their experiment. Now, an attempt to bring a cooler of live fish in water on an airplane in the states would probably end at the check-in counter. But there were no speed bumps at all here. I just had to pay the over-weight fee and climb aboard. I love this place. Actually, it seems that it's a law that when traveling within or to Samoa, you must pack a cooler filled with something edible. Next time you see Samoans at an airport, look for the coolers.

Only on my fourth trip was I finally able to get in the ocean. I brought snorkel gear and had a good time at the old wharf. (Can you spot me?)


I also love the flight over and back. One time, the weather and flight altitude were just right so that I could see clouds and their shadows reflecting off the ocean surface. The perspective of the islands is also shocking as I realize how narrow they are, especially Tutuilia. I tend to forget that the other side of the island is just over the mountain.


And because this is an ongoing project, I get to return again and again. No complaints here.