December 17, 2025
Today we took the National Park of American Samoa Tour. It's a unique park - the only one south of the equator and where the U.S. Government doesn't own the land. Efforts to establish the Park go back to mid 1980 over concern about the decline of fruit bats and wanting to protect the tropical rainforests. On October 31, 1988 Congress established the NP of American Samoa. In 1993, a complex arrangement for a 50 year land lease years with seven villages and the Samoa government was signed.
We got lucky with our tour - we were expecting an open air bus, but because we were a small group, we got a plush air conditioned van!
The Park is stunning! It basically backs up to the town of Pago Pago.
BORNEO ISLAND is a fascinating place, that I had honestly only heard of from the reality tv show Survivor. I'm still learning so much, but I had no idea it is the largest island in Asia and 3rd largest island in the World! It is a mini continent, with 3 different Countries sharing the island's land mass ( Indonesia 73%, Malaysia 26% and Brunei 1% ). We are only going to 2 ports in Malaysia now, one in each of the states of Sarawak and Sabah . Below is a video that highlights and explains thing well.
The Port of Singapore is massive and thus deserving of it's own post!
Right next to the Flower Dome in Gardens by the Bay is the Cloud Forest Dome .They sell the entry tickets as a joint package. The Cloud Forest currently has a special exhibit, Jurassic World The Experience incorporated into the forest.