Blunt's Point sounds like the tip of a ciggy. I've been in American Samoa for five days now and I love doing something that is foreign to most American Samoans: walking, hiking, and exercising. Indeed there are some really big people here. Rory dropped me at 7 AM at the start of the trail to Blunt's Point and I can say I picked a damn miserable day to go for a walk especially carrying my three essentials: camera, computer, and passport. Only a short hike up I arrived at a gun emplacement with a fantastic view of the harbour.
These large guns were placed in 1941 in preparation for a Japanese invasion which ultimately never occurred. Deeper in the jungle are abandoned gun emplacements with dense overgrowth, looking like something out of Jurassic Park.
In what would later turn out to be a mistake I did the entire walk (about 2km) through the jungle as it started pissing down rain. With no covered area I took shelter under a tree as best I could. As always, it's not me I worry about getting wet but only my gear. These past few days it has seemed to rain hard early in the day and then later its sunny and very hot; the heat and humidity aren't very conducive to exercise and early in the morning is when the weather is most bearable.
It only rained harder, and even standing under a tree was causing my stuff to get wet. I left my raincoat in Apia and I have no pack liner. The trail was muddy and at one I decided to just make a run for it. Twice I nearly took an ugly fall with only tree branches and a length of rope keeping me up. All I could think of was getting back down to the main road. With the trail behind me I had to have a large rock in my hand to dodge two large packs of dogs before planting my feet back on asphalt.
It was foolish of me to bring my passport when I didn't need it today. Ironically I'd have breakfast at McDonald's. I've had more McD's in the past couple of weeks than I did all of last year. In a few weeks I'll be going to Queensland and I cannot wait for Aunty Jo's Kitchen. American Samoa is a fast food lover's haven but neither of the Samoas are a place to go on a diet. Over my breakfast of hotcakes and a black coffee, I checked and none of my stuff got wet. Blunts Point is a lovely walk but to put it bluntly, do not attempt on a rainy day.
