I am a hiking machine...

Yesterday was a great day, but it really didn't surprise me because I planed it. Early yesterday morning we drove to the east end of the island. The east end of the island is beautiful and the air is clean. When we got to the end we caught a ferry to the island Annu'u. There are about 300 people that live on Annu'u, and it is the smallest of the inhabited American Samoa islands. On the was there we met a friend who was from the island who proved to be invaluable. This lady and her sister were headed to Annu'u to visit their uncle. She told us to explore the island and she would be waiting for us when we got done. We hiked from one end of the island to the other and back around. It was the most draining hike I have ever been on, but then again how many hikes do I really go on. We were the only Palagis on the island so people would stare at us, but they were also very friendly. We hiked to some amazing cliffs where we met a man who was fishing for lobster with bamboo. He was really nice, but advised us to not come back without a guide. He said that we were lucky that it was low tide when we came but if we would have come any later it would have been extremely dangerous. Apparently some absurd amount of palagis have been dying there in the last 2 weeks. They don't realize that the waves will take you right off the rocks and slam you back into them. After we left the cliffs we headed to quicksand. The quicksand is covered by trees so it's not as dangerous as it could be. I am not really sure what it looks like. I know it has a red tent. It was a great hike. We saw some really neat things, but I have never sweat so much in my whole life. It was like we were under a blanket of heat. I also got one of the worst sunburns that I have ever had on this little hike. My arms were purple by last night, but this morning they are fine. The sun is really fickle here, and it is not a friend. It will burn you to a crisp in a heartbeat. When we had hiked our feet off we went back to the village to meet up with our new friend, and head back to Tutuila (the island that I live on). Our new friend told us to follow her to the village that she grew up in. The trip over was great except that it was a 80 degree vertical incline. I don't know how cars handle it on a regular basis, but it was worth it. It was amazing. The village we went into was the only village in the National Park, and it was exceptional. The National Park was something to be reckoned with. It was really clean (which is a nice change on the island), and the people were so friendly. They took us on a hike to the end of the island to the place of some legend. I really didn't understand the legend, but I was concentrating on not falling on our little hike. Today I am going to go into town to get some crucial things done. My skin needs to rest, but tomorrow is back to the water.