I have been to Ofu and Olosega Islands a couple of times to complete ground truthing field work for our habitat mapping project. Ofu and Olosega is definitely one my favorite places to visit - nice beaches, snorkeling, scenery and one of the most relaxed and peaceful places you will ever visit. Some photos taken during our trips to Ofu....
Map showing GPS trail and sites visited during our field work.
Segaula landing at the Ofu Airport, pucker up!
Beach at Mafafa on the north side of Ofu
Beach at Mafafa looking east towards Olosega
Foi and Josh enjoying niu after a hot day of hiking. Niu are young coconuts that are better for drinking.
Peta preparing the traditional samoan umu for important guests visiting Ofu. Rocks are laid on a hot fire and heated. The food is then placed on top of the rocks and covered with banana leaves until cooked.
Preparing the pig for the umu
Squeezing out the coconut cream.
Preparing crabs for the umu
Dance at Peta's house. Kids letting loose on the dance floor
Returning from a successful night of coconut crab hunting
Montane moss forest at the top of Piumafua Mt, highest point on Ofu/Olosega.
Me Josh, Foi and Dyna at the top of Piumafua
Descending down the east side of Piumafua through thick Freycinetia scrub
Wollastonia and Scaevola scrubland vegetation on Maga Point, Olosega Island
Because of the steep terrain we had to observe some of our ground truth sites from an alia boat using binoculars. Northeast tip of Olosega looking back towards Ofu
Maga Pt. on the southeast corner of Olosega
Humpback whales spotted during the around the island boat survey
Pisonia coastal forest along Oge beach on the south east corner of Olosega.
Foi, Josh and Dyna taking a break on the beach
Josh and Dyna hiking up a landslip on south side of Ofu
One of the benfits of visiting Ofu, fresh seafood - parrot fish and spiny lobster
Amazing overlook at the top of Tumu Mt, highest point on Ofu
Video taken from overlook on Tumu Mt
A visit to Ofu wouldn't be complete without a picture of beautiful Toaga beach. There must have been some unexplained sampling error because one of my random ground truth sites happen to fall here in the water. So I put on the snorkel gear and checked it out for a few hours.
It has been an exciting year for my little family, surviving MRSA infections and now adding a little baby to the family. Mayumi Marie Mabanta Meyer was born last Thursday on the 5th of September. She arrived at 7 lbs 6 ounces. Hariett worked really hard to push her out. I am totally amazed by what she did. Even though she begged and pleaded with me to cut the baby out, she managed to work through the pain and delivered Yumi naturally. The pregnancy/birthing experience here was in many ways more rewarding, although just a tad more scary and stressful. I am relieved that Hariett and little Yumi are OK. Juliana and Frankie are so happy to finally see and welcome their little sister into the world.
At the end of last December we did some field work on Tau Island for my mapping project. The field work was hard, some of the most physically demanding hiking I have done. Despite my diligent efforts to return home injury free, I managed to fall on my elbow and developed a severe MRSA infection in my elbow. When we returned from Tau, I had to have surgery to drain the infection and spent a week in the hospital. Barely made it home to spend Christmas with the family. I was released from the hospital on Christmas Eve and thankfully spent a nice Christmas at home. Nothing like a pleasant MRSA infection to remind you how quickly life can change.
Some Samoans believe there are ghosts in the Manua Islands and I was warned not to go there. I am more of a believer now. Or was it my own clumsy tired ass that made me fall? Better for the ego to think it was the ghosts. Regardless, I will leave the ghosts of Tau alone for awhile.
Satellite image of Tau showing spatial data collected during fieldwork.
Hike up Laufuti stream on the south side of Tau
View of the Laufuti terrace from the southeast corner of Tau. One of our survey areas
Always a nice surprise when you unpack the tent and find the poles are missing. Fortunately the guys were able to cut some Hibiscus branches and use them as a substitute.
View from the falls of Laufuti stream, overlooking the Laufuti terrace
Foi recording data
Montane forest along Laufuti stream below the cliffs of Lata. One of my favorite places we visited on Tau
Foi posing on Laufuti stream - 65 years young and still leading the way through the forest.
The Laufuti crew. We hired some local villagers to help Foi and Josh with trail cutting; they did a great job making it easier for us to reach our ground truth points.
Hiking out of Laufuti with a coconut crab one of the crew gave me.
Happy to be hiking out of Laufuti
Josh and Foi
Hike to the top of Mt. Lata, highest point in American Samoa
View from the summit scrub on the hike up Mt. Lata. The start of the hike can be seen down by the airport near the ocean.
oli oli tree fern
views of the summit scrub habitat - unique to Tau Island.
On top of Lata with Foi and Dynamite
Foi, Josh and Dynamite on the top of Lata
Looking over the edge of the cliffs at the top of Lata
Beaches of Tau
painful rain
View of Tau village with Ofu and Olosega islands in the background.
Around the island boat survey
Rain on the around the island boat survey
spinner dolphins
Dynamite in deep reflection with Olosega island in the background.
fishing Samoan style
Recovered from the MRSA infection and made it home from the hospital on Christmas eve to spend a nice Christmas with the family
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