Books, Bites, and Sights

Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

2/5 stars

I am a sucker for historical fiction. So after all the internet hype surrounding Kristin Hannah, I decided to try her out last year, and I effortlessly fell in love with her eloquence. I quickly consumed three of her novels: The Nightingale (2015), The Four Winds (2021), The Women (2024). She is one of my favorite contemporary authors, and I am always recommending her books to history junkies young and old.

Prior to leaving for our 63 in 365 journey, I snatched up the Black Friday Amazon Kindle deals and bought two more of her novels – Magic Hour (2006) and The Great Alone (2017). I started Magic Hour while sitting by the clear marine tide pools in American Samoa with high expectations – oof, my mistake. This novel is significantly different than the others that I mentioned above. Take notes. It is not historical fiction.

And while I enjoyed the unique concept of Magic Hour – a child of the woods who has presumably been raised by wolves, I didn’t favor it as much as I had her other novels. It was cliche and predictable. And maybe that is your thing – maybe you love endings that wrap up nicely with a bow atop. But personally, I don’t.

Additionally, the romance between the steamy, misunderstood doctor guy and the quirky-past, wallflower therapist gal just didn’t do it for me. I kept checking the cover to be sure I wasn’t reading a Nicholas Sparks novel. And the ending – don’t get me started – boring. (And if you actually read this novel and want to talk about alternative endings that would’ve been way more epic IMO, please DM me lol)

Does this novel change how I feel about Hannah as a writer? Nope. Still love her. Will still recommend her. And will still read her stuff. But, truth be told, I am glad to be done with this novel.

Tisa’s Barefoot Bar ($150)

• On Wednesday nights at 7, Tisa’s Barefoot Bar, in the Eastern district of American Samoa, hosts a Samoan Umu Feast. For $75 per person, Amory and I decided to bite the bullet and reserve ourselves a spot. But to our disappointment, on the day of, Tisa reached out to us to let us know that due to the recent flooding and because of low enrollment, the feast had been canceled. Booooo. However, she told us that the bar was still open, had a local catch-of-the-day fish dinner being served, and that she would love to have us. Even though we were bummed to miss out on the feast experience, we made our way from Pago Pago to Tisa’s (20 minutes east), and we were glad we did. The bar is located beautifully shoreside on Alega beach, focused on being eco-friendly, organic, and local, and incredibly delicious. Our fish dinner consisted of fresh caught yellow-fin tuna and shrimp, island-grown cucumbers and tomatoes in a hand-crafted coconut cream with native breadfruit and papaya on the side. All served atop a banana leaf. Oh! And I can’t leave out the bats. Fruit bats are the only native land mammals of American Samoa, and they tend to best be seen at dawn and dusk. Amory and I had the pleasure of watching them take flight table-side as the sun set while sipping on our hand blended Piña Coladas.

Julia’s Restaurant: A Taste of Vietnam in Tafuna ($35)

• Before our late night flight, Amory and I stopped into Julia’s Restaurant for one of our favorite dishes: pho. I ordered the beef pho, and Amory ordered the chicken. Clean, simple ingredients and easy on our bellies pre-flight.

Forsgren Supermarket ($5)

• Y’all know it – I love strolling the isles of local grocery stores for those random niche finds. At Forsgren, I found a traditional Samoan candy: lole popo. Three ingredients: shredded coconut, brown sugar, and lemon. And because I have a never- ceasing, all demanding sugar tooth (thanks dad), I ate all four with my morning coffee the next day. Perfecto.

Flights, Pago Pago Airport, and Rental Car

Getting to and around American Samoa can be the most tedious and expensive part of visiting the island. Flights to Pago Pago from Honolulu are only available Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Amory and I flew in on a Monday night (arriving at the Pago Pago International Airport around 10 pm) and flew out on a Thursday night (leaving Pago Pago around 11 pm). We flew in from LA with layover in Honolulu. When leaving, we flew back to Honolulu and then flew to Kahului for our Hawaiian portion of our 63 in 365 journey. All these flights (via Hawaiian airlines) costed us roughly $1,200 each. The flights to and from Honolulu were right at 6 hours each. Jet lag? Yup. Expensive? Yup. Would I pay this much if I wasn’t pertinent about visiting all the national parks? Truthfully, no. Like I said initially, it’s tedious and expensive to get to American Samoa, and at times, it felt more like a chore than a vacation. Does that mean I discourage you from going? Nope. Do I regret it? Nope. But would I do it again? No. Cancel me for that insight if needed – but it’s my truth lol.

Books, bites, insights? Be sure you have your passport. It will be checked multiple times upon your arrival. And with flights only being three days a week, list out all the things you want to do while on the island and then decide how long you want to spend there. In my opinion, Monday to Thursday was plenty of time to explore all the things.

When renting a car in American Samoa, buckle up. Our rental car experience was confusing and frustrating at times; however, we look back and laugh on our experience, and we were just glad we had a semi-reliable car to get around in. We rented a Toyota Highlander from Tuanaitau’s Car Rental in Nu’uuli for $190 total. They greeted us at the airport on arrival and were so welcoming (peep my snack lei that they gifted me below). But they were very unorganized. They couldn’t find our reservation, had no idea if we had paid or not, and wanted a cash deposit but didn’t have change. We are flexible and go-with-the-flow people, but we had been traveling for nearly 14 hours, so this was a bit irritating. Once we got our car and started driving, we immediately noticed that it had a miss in the transmission. The car got us from point a to point b throughout our entire time on the island, but it was troubling thinking of what we would do if it broke down. We did not have cellular service while on the island and relied solely on Wi-Fi. Additionally, we flew in at night and had no clue where we were. Again, we had no issues with the car, but the transmission missing every five minutes was concerning. Also, and I hate to say it, the car was filled with cockroaches. They were everywhere in the car. They would crawl on us and our bags. We lifted the mats at one point to find trash, crumbs, and roaches galore. Yuck. Enough said. Last, returning the car was a nightmare. We called the company to let them know we were driving to the airport and would be dropping the car off as per their directions. But they never asked for our names or the type of car or any identifying information. Once at the airport, we spent nearly an hour trying to track them down just to drop off our car. Had something else come up, we would have struggled getting through security and making our flight in time. I had read about “island time” prior to coming to American Samoa – its legit y’all. Be flexible. Show up early.

Books, bites, insights? While on the island, we talked to someone else who rented a car. He went through Avis and had a much better experience. Not that you will, but I am throwing that tidbit out there.

Accommodations in Pago Pago: Robert’s Guest House on Airbnb ($550 total)

If I were to go back to American Samoa, I would hands-down stay with Lillian and Henry again. First, the guest house was pristine: clean and comfortable. It had all the amenities, and I immediately felt right at home. Next, it was conveniently and centrally located – right by the visitor center and just down the road from the Mount Alava trailhead. Last, Lillian and Henry were the most hospitable hosts. They met us at airport because navigating the island can be confusing and cell service nonexistence, they showed us around the island pointing out all the park things, and they guided us to a local hidden waterfall (see sights for more). Our hosts embodied the hospitality and warm Samoan culture I had read about. Books, bites, and insights? The guy who rented with Avis from above? He stayed at Tradewinds and was envious of our accommodations and hosts.

Visitor center

The National Park of American Samoa Visitor Center is open 8 – 3 weekdays in Pago Pago. We stopped in quickly to pick the brain of the park ranger and to get our passport stamps and stickers.

Books, bites, and insights? There is a wet season and a dry season in American Samoa. We went during their wet season (October through May) – and also, it is a rainforest. Keep this in mind when planning your trip. Did we let the clouds, rain, and mud stop us? Nope. But the weather was unpredictable. And in no way could we rely on the forecast. It was forecasted to be rainy for our entire visit, but we actually had one cloudy day, one rainy day, and one clear, sunny day. So, all’s well that ends well. But as mentioned above, it is expensive to visit here, so if you want a better chance of clear, sunny skies, plan your trip during the dry season.

Trails in National Park of American Samoa

There is a lot of natural beauty to be seen and explored in American Samoa, but many trails and sights are underdeveloped, overgrown, not marked well, and sometimes not maintained (even the ones in the national park themselves). Books, bites, and insights? Come prepared for jungle hikes. Breathable clothing, waterproof shoes, raincoats. Additionally, do yourself a favor and get the premium version of AllTrails. Why? You can pre-download the trails and use satellite technology to navigate them. Without this, Amory and I wouldn’t of been able to locate most trailheads. Most trails you could follow once you found them, but finding them was the tricky part. But Natalie I don’t want to pay for the premium version. Listen babe. You paid so much to get out to the island. Just grin and bear it. The trails are epic and unique. But the flora of the island is unrelenting – making finding where to go or where to start so cumbersome.

• Lower Sauma Ridge Trail (0.5 mile in-and-out): small parking lot along Route 006, great view of Pola Island which is known as being a nesting area for seabirds, slick stairs going down to viewpoint but easily done, perfect for watching waves crash along the volcanic shore. Being one of my favorites of the trip, the Lower Sauma Ridge Trail is a short, easy to follow jungle hike.

• Pola Island Trail (1 mile in-and-out): confusing parking situation (pull past signage seen below and park to the side – we parked in the wrong spot but were redirected by a local). The Pola Island Trail is easy to follow, and very flat. It follows along a rocky shore with lots of hermit crabs, cane toads, and island birds. Because of the strong tide, there is a good bit of trash washed ashore and not an ideal place for swimming or snorkeling.

• Taufanua Trail (1.3 mile in-and-out): an adventurous jungle hike that should not be done in wet conditions and not really worth it IMO. Located right near the Pola Island Trail, parking is tricky. You can park near the Pola Island Trail trailhead and walk back-up the road to the Taufanua trailhead, but the tail does have its own parking signage on the left hand side of the road right after crossing a drainage bridge.The trailhead isn’t marked which is where AllTrails premium can come in clutch, but the trail is easy to follow once you’re on it. So why is it not worth it IMO? While the hike is adventurous and takes you through dense jungle forest, it requires a lot of navigating over narrow ledges, climbing up lots of steep ladders/stairs with ropes, and crawling over downed trees. And what is the reward for all this effort? A secluded rocky, pebble beach with a view of Pola Island… the same type of secluded rocky, pebble beach with a very similar view you get from the Pola Island Trail.

• Mount Alava Trail (7.5 mile in-and-out): with the best views in the park once you’re at the top, this “trail” is a very muddy but easy to follow road and will take you 3/4ths of the way to the peak – the rest of the trail up is a path through tall, overgrown grass. There is a metal staircase with broken steps (be careful) to tippy top where you can get better panoramic views of the island and the Pago Pago harbor below. Unlike the other trails, this trail has a clearly marked parking lot to park in. Books, bites, insights? This trail is very epic, but it does feel like you’re just walking along a road until you get to the top. There weren’t many viewpoints along the way, but the view at the top was well worth the hike up.

• Fatifati Auala Trail (5.8 miles to Mount Alava summit): an unmaintained alternative ridge trail that leads to Mount Alava. This trail to the peak is more of a trail and less of a road; however, Amory and I had to turn around a few miles into the trail because of downed trees. The trailhead shares the same parking lot with the Mount Alava trail, and if it were maintained better, would be a preferable route to the peak. Also, this trail isn’t on AllTrails unfortunately. We found it via the brochure from the visitor center.

Sights outside of National Park

• Fagatele Bay: One thing Amory and I learned quickly while exploring in American Samoa is that things are hard to find. We knew of places. We would see the signs for places. But actually getting to the place? Ha. Your best bet is to rely on locals. We would roll our window down and ask. But I know that for many, that feels sketchy or unsafe. And truthfully, it felt that way for us too. But we leaned in, thought screw it, and are so glad we did. When trying to find how to get to Fagatele Bay, we drove up to a house at the end of the road where a sign had led us. A man stopped us and told us we had to pay to park, $20 each – which we were fine with. I had read about this online, so we were prepared. We handed over our $40 and continued down the road. Once we started parking someone else came up to us and said we had to pay to park and told us it would be $20 total – only $10 each. This is where we laughed and told the man we had already paid. He asked us how much, and we told him – and he looked shocked. He asked who we paid, and we pointed- and then he began cursing in Samoan. Regardless, he let us park and pointed us toward the direction of the bay. There really wasn’t any clear path or trail. We blindly walked for about a mile, but omg… what we stumbled into was straight out of a movie. A beautiful and secluded white sand beach. A lively coral reef with the most vibrant marine life I have ever seen – hands down the best snorkeling experience I have ever had. And so many volcanic sea arches. $40 doesn’t sound so bad after all.

• Faga’alu Waterfall: This hidden jungle waterfall was breathtaking, but without the help of our Airbnb hosts, we wouldn’t of been able to find it. Like I mentioned above, ask the locals. Ask the gas station people, the park rangers, your hosts, or your servers. There are amazing things to see and do outside the park, but nothing is routable to and the rusted, outdated road signs will only get you turned around. The Samoans are warm, friendly people, and if you start conversation with them and tell them what you’re interested in seeing or doing, they will typically offer up information on all the surrounding hidden gems.