National Park of American Samoa (Episode 62)

Journey south of the Equator to explore one of the most remote and culturally rich gems in the National Park System. In this episode, host Missy Rentz sits down with PT Lathrop, the Superintendent of the National Park of American Samoa, to dive into what makes this park a true bucket-list destination.

Spanning three islands—Tutuila, Ofu, and Ta'ū—this park preserves the only paleo-tropical rainforest in the United States and some of the most diverse coral reefs in the world. From "Big Mama" (one of the largest known corals on Earth) to the majestic Samoan flying foxes (fruit bats with three-foot wingspans), PT shares the incredible biodiversity that calls these islands home.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The Birthplace of Polynesia: Why American Samoa is considered the cultural heart from which the Hawaiian, Tahitian, and Maori cultures grew.
• A Unique Partnership: How the park operates on land leased directly from the Samoan people, ensuring the preservation of the fa’asamoa (the Samoan way of life).
• The "COVID of Corals": The conservation challenges facing the reefs, including Stony Coral Tissue Loss disease and the impact of terrestrial development.
• Planning Your Journey: Practical tips for visiting, including the best months for whale watching, navigating the outer islands, and why you should pack your own snorkel gear.
• Innovative Interpretation: A look at the park’s new pilot program that allows visitors to request customized tours based on their interests and schedules.

Whether you're an avid hiker looking for rope-ladder adventures on the Fatifati Trail or a marine enthusiast dreaming of the turquoise waters of Ofu, this episode is your guide to the 50th National Park.

Transcript

0:11

Let's journey to the only US National Park, south of the Equator. A paradise made up of three islands filled with coral and culture. Join me as we explore National Park of American Samoa. I'm your host, Missy Rentz, and this is The Parks Podcast.

Missy Rentz 0:31

I'm excited to welcome PT Lathrop to this episode of the Parks podcast. PT is the superintendent at National Park of American Samoa. Pt. Welcome to the Parks podcast.

PT Lathrop 0:43

Thank you so much, Missy. It's my honor to be here.

Missy Rentz 0:46

This is like such a dream conversation for me because the National Park of American Samoa seems like the dream, so to get to learn about it and it is only the second of the parks I've interviewed that I haven't ever been to. So it's a wishlist bucket list park for me. But I'm so excited to learn more about the park.

PT Lathrop 1:06

Sure. It, it was a bucket list dream for me too. I came here as a visitor in 2017.

Missy Rentz 1:12

I love it. I love it. Let's do some park stats to let everybody know some BA basic information about the. Park. The park is located in Pago Pago, American Samoa, which is 2,600 miles southwest of Hawaii. It is the 50th National Park and was created on October 31st, 1988 when Ronald Reagan was president of the United States. The park is 13,500 acres. 9,500 of that is land, and 4,000 of that is Coral reef and marine area. Last year in 2024, there were 22,567 visitors and some interesting notes. The highest elevation is Lata Mountain at 3,170 feet. There are three islands that are part of the park, it preserves and protects coral reefs, the rainforest flying fox, which are fruit bats and the Samoan culture. There's 800 native fish species and 200 coral species. Let's dive into this amazing park.

PT Lathrop 2:20

Sure. And to put some of that in for, into some context here. We preserve the only paleo tropical rainforest in the United States. And that's a fancy word that just means our rainforest comes from what we call the old world. Has its family roots in the Papua New Guinea rainforest versus tropical rainforest of the Americas, which we're a little bit more familiar with. So the only paleo tropical rainforest in the United States. And then you referenced our coral species. Just to put that in context. We have one beach inside the park that has over 200 coral species. By comparison, the entire Atlantic Ocean, including the Caribbean basin, all of those wonderful diving and snorkel spots in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, all of that total has 60, 6-0 species of coral. And here we have one beach with over 200.

Missy Rentz 3:10

Oh my God, that's amazing. Okay. We've hit on it. I think I could answer this for you, but let me just start with why is it important that National Park of American Samoa is part of the National Park Service?

PT Lathrop 3:24

So there's a legislative answer to that if you look inside of our enabling legislation the park was created one to protect that paleo tropical rainforest. Specifically calling out, protecting the habitat of the flying foxes. We have two species of flying foxes that you mentioned. These are large three foot wingspan, diurnal meaning day flying. Large bats. You'll see them out and about a lot of folks when they visit one of the first questions is where they can see one and nine times out of 10, they've already seen plenty, but to our eyes, we're used to almost dismissing these as maybe crows. They just seem like background noise. But if you turn your head out the window, really at any time of day, you're gonna see. We're gonna see bats flying around. But back to why we're important, the paleo tropical rainforest, the bat habitat. Third is those coral species I mentioned. Half the park is under water. We take protecting our corals here really seriously. And I hope to share some marine science with you at some point. And then also we preserve the Samoan culture or the fa Samoa, the Samoan way of life. We do that in a few ways. One this park really is a bastion of Samoan culture. Everything we do, except for this podcast, is bilingual. If you follow us on social media, if you go on our website, if you come to our exhibits or get any of our publications they're all bilingual. All of our staff, except for me and one other is fully bilingual and I have my Samoan class later this afternoon. I am working on it. From my Samoan. And then we also preserve the Samoan culture in a really special way. And I hinted earlier that I believe that this is the best national park, and there's a lot of ways that we can unpack that. But I'll leave one thing for you that a lot of people don't know. It's easy to see the coral, it's easy to see the flying foxes and the mountains and just get really enamored with the beauty. But Samoa is the birthplace of all Polynesian culture. The Hawaiian Hawaiians come from Samoa about 1500 years ago. Tahitians come from Samoa. The Maori of New Zealand come from Samoa. The Tongans come from Samoa, the Martians, Polynesia culture starts here in Samoa about 3000 years ago. And the park has the archeology that tells that story, which to me, like still gives me shivers and goosebumps to think that yeah, we have a national park that is really important when it comes to coral and when it comes to tropical rainforest, but also truly preserves the birthplace of one of the most dynamic cultures cultural diasporas in our entire Earth's history.

Missy Rentz 6:01

And that's one of the things that I think I found the most interesting when I first started learning about the park and then as I was researching for this conversation is the cultural preservation. I feel like so many parks, what they're preserving is what has been, and I feel like this is a park that yes, it's what has been, but it's a culture that still is alive and thriving today. And I find that to be so interesting and just an interesting take for the park.

PT Lathrop 6:30

I totally agree, Missy. I mentioned earlier that my background's in history and I've always personally cringed at the term living history, which is usually dress up and pretend. And I was always like if the history is so living, why are we pretending? I've always had a hard time squaring that circle. But you are right here in many places around, around the National Park Service, but certainly here at the National Park of American Samoa. Yeah, you nailed it. This is a, an evolving culture that still works really hard, and the park does as well, to preserve the Samoan way of life, but also keep it evolving.

Missy Rentz 7:03

And I I, in my previous life I had a few clients that were from American Samoa and, I think the, values, they're rich values of I guess like family and connection are community. They're such, it's such a beautiful model that, man, I feel like we should all be living off of these values.

PT Lathrop 7:25

Yeah. I'd add humility there. Hard work, kindness, patience, grace. As a leader here I have to be careful because the team that I am proud to work with embodies all of those attributes so much. That it, if I ask for, just, I'll give you an example. I recently bought a motor scooter, a moped and I drove it to work for the first time yesterday morning, and it was raining when I arrived. And as I was parking, and they would they do this for each other, they do this for everybody. I've, but I've never worked anywhere that would do this. They come out hustle for finding me a tarp and weights, and then in about five minutes. Most of the park staff had assembled me a makeshift I wanna call it a follow. You see my Samoan coming out. Basically a small covered parking for my new moped.

Missy Rentz 8:13

Oh my gosh.

PT Lathrop 8:14

And I, And I only share that just to share the spirit of how we do really value kind of community here and looking out for each other. And if you see somebody needing something, whether it's a pat on the back or a hand up, or in my case, a tarp for moped we all make it happen and we try to serve our visitors that way too.

Missy Rentz 8:31

How do, how does the park tell the story and, i've said preserve too much, but how does it amplify the culture and help educate visitors on that culture?

PT Lathrop 8:41

This year under the leadership of our interpretation and education team we have a plethora of programs and demonstrations from coconut husking to traditional weaving demonstrations. So through your variety of programs. But one thing that we're piloting this year, and this is very hot off the press, but very soon you'll see on our website something really unique in the National Park Service, which is instead of saying that we have an interpretive program, Fridays at 10 o'clock, join us if you can, or if you're interested visitors who are coming to the island will be able to email us and request a program of their choice and at the date and time of their choice.

Missy Rentz 9:20

Oh wow.

PT Lathrop 9:21

So next time you come, Missy, or when you come, you'll be able to email us and say, I, I'd like to learn more about those two bat species. And I'll be there, Thursday and Friday. Can I have a bat tour at 10? And we will make it happen for you. Stay tuned on that. It's a pilot program this year but we're trying to offer more customized tours. You mentioned. Our visitorship and our visitor, our visitation gets, oh, this is anecdotal. I don't have like data right in front of me, but we get maybe 20 to 30 visitors a week and they tend to stay a week. The flights are Mondays and Thursdays, so folks tend to stay Monday to Monday. So we get really intimate visits with them. We'll see 'em, the day after they arrive. We'll see 'em out on the trails, might even see 'em at the gas station. So we have these, this long time with folks and we have had a hard time kind of connecting. Our interpretive schedules, we'll set up a guided hike like I said, at a certain fixed point in time. But if that doesn't match their schedules, then they've missed that opportunity for their trip. So we're trying to re rein, re-engineer that, reverse engineer that I should say to meet them when they want where they want. So I'll let you know how that goes. Our social media is active. We're not Yellowstone, but our social media does a great job of telling the story. And then we have a really robust education program, a really robust education program. All of last week was no, two weeks ago was deep reef science week. And we had most every single student in American Samoa here at the park with virtual reality goggles on touring those corals that I mentioned earlier. And it was awesome to see. So we use all approaches of kinda sharing that story here. But what I mentioned about the birthplace of the Polynesian culture, that is something that we are going to elevate more and be more intentional about sharing.

Missy Rentz 11:06

And is the park intermixed within the community, or is it set aside?

PT Lathrop 11:14

It's very intermixed in the community. You really can't separate one or the other. Some of that's because we're on a relatively small island and we're just, you'll hear me say it in almost every single meeting I'm at, and that's that, we're all on the same island, so we're all, we all have the same goals when it comes to conservation and water use and education. But furthermore being a small island, our employees are from here. Our employees are by and large, born and raised here in American Samoan and they're plugged into the community. And then really what I should have led with is that this park is unique in that it is leased directly from the Samoan and people all lands in American Samoa are, can only be held by Samoans. And that goes for the national park as well. So this is not federal land. This is leased land. It's on a 50 year lease. We're on year 33 of that 50 year lease. And every single year the department of the Department of Interior, pays the American Samoan or government directly for that lease. And then the American Samoan Government divides it up amongst the villages that we lease from.

Missy Rentz 12:15

Oh, that's nice. And that's, it's so often I'm talking to parks who, the park was created because the land was taken from indigenous communities or whatnot. So to have that foundation of kind of the cultural respect and of the communities really refreshing.

PT Lathrop 12:33

It is, and it also generates a lot of a lot of support for the park. I've worked in some of those older parks as well, founded in the late 19th century and whatnot. And here the lease arrangement generates a lot of support for the park, not just because of the the economics that our families, that lease payment makes a big difference to, but it also like ties us I think a little bit. I think it holds the park a little bit more accountable as well. We have regular meetings with those village, with those villages and those villages leadership. And just have conversations about how things are going from tourism to conservation. And I think that arrangement just makes us a little bit more accountable and a little bit more approachable with the community as well. That lease arrangement.

Missy Rentz 13:17

we were talking about the three islands that are part of the park. What differentiates those three islands?

PT Lathrop 13:27

Ooh, that's a really good question. The main island Tutuila is the big city of American Samoano. When I say Big city, the entire island has about 40,000 people on it. But it's where you'll find the international airport, a very modest hospital. And most, any good in service, most any good in service you can find on the mainland. If you bring a little island patience and flexibility you'll find your barber shops and fishing supply stores and we even have an ace hardware, all that stuff here. The other two islands that the park is on Ofu is the smallest Ofu is, like a shark tooth mountain that comes straight out of the sea, surrounded by some really lovely beaches and coral. The park is on one of those strips of beach and that community has about a hundred people today. They live a really subsistence lifestyle. Fishing. It's not hard to find food here, and that's true on any island. You can walk outside with nets in your hands blindfolded, and you'll end up with bananas and papayas and avocados and pineapples and plantains and coconuts and breadfruit. And the land just provides an awful lot of food. So a lot of folks live a sub, a subsistence lifestyle out there. And the park does allow for subsistence fishing and harvesting in park waters. Then the island of Ta'ū I mentioned has most of the park land. Most of the acreage is on Ta'ū. Ta'ū has a population of just shy of a thousand maybe 800 or so. And Ta'ū is less of a shark's tooth coming out of the water and a little bit more of a mound. That's where you'll found, find Mount Lata at 3,300 feet. It's home to the only indigenous snake in American Samoa, the Pacific boa. I have not seen it myself yet, but that is where you'll find our indigenous snake species. It's also home. I mentioned Ofu has the diversity of corals. Ta'ū does as well, but ta has one of the largest known corals in the world. Her name is Big Mama. It's worth a Google search. It's a porus coral. It's a domed coral that is about the size of, I don't know, a small house.

Missy Rentz 15:33

I know you've only been there for a little over a year. Have you seen it?

PT Lathrop 15:37

I have not seen Big Mama. I have not seen Big Mama yet. No. But I look forward to it. I am, in addition to working on my Samoan, I am working on being blue carded or being allowed to scuba dive for work.

Missy Rentz 15:49

Okay. That's very cool. And then when we talk about the preservation, the natural preservation is super important. The fruit bats. I'm intrigued by them. I don't know. I've heard, there's national bat week and there's certainly a lot of caves and there's other parks that do things, but the fruit bats and the way the, their importance to the environment there is incredible to me.

PT Lathrop 16:17

Yes. Our fruit bats here they're, they, all they need is their fruit. Which sounds easy when I was describing how much fruit is found around island. But it, it can that balance can get tipped. A few ways. In fact, one of the, one of the impetuses for the creation of the park was a large cyclone. For those of you in the Northern hemisphere cyclones are what we call hurricanes down here. Same phenomenon, but different hemisphere, a cyclone a very powerful cyclone. I don't know if it was a category five or four, but a very high wind cyclone. Literally pulled the leaves off of every single tree here on Tutuila. You can find photos of it. Just, it looks like the island is naked. It is a very odd a very odd look. And the bat population almost went out almost extirpated. So yeah, when there's, when under normal conditions, it is not hard for a human or a bat to find the fruit they need on island. But if you rip all of the leaves off of all of the trees. They have a really hard time coming back and producing enough fruit. And if kind of bat ecology at all, it, it's an awful lot if you're a flying creature. This is why hummingbirds need a lot of flowers. If you're a flying creature, you can't pack on extra fuel

Missy Rentz 17:37

Mm.

PT Lathrop 17:37

form of, in the form of fat. So they are very quick to use their food. And so it goes in quick, comes out quick. And so if you disrupt their fuel source they don't have a pantry. They don't have fat reserves. And yeah the bat population was in pretty serious decline. In fact, prior to that it was legal and customary to eat fruit fats here.

Missy Rentz 18:01

Really

PT Lathrop 18:02

which is something that if, if you come from the mainland, United States might make you feel a little bit queasy. But that's the, that was the way of life here up until recently. And it was that incident of the cyclone and the bat population decline that led to the local government formally banning bat harvesting. The local buy-in was pretty immediate. And so I think that also speaks to the the ethos here when a culture is ready to give up, what is, a really important cultural tradition just like that for the benefit of their island neighbor in the form of a bat I think speaks volumes. I don't know, I don't know if if other cultures would be so willing. I don't, I, I particularly don't know if my fellow Nevadans back home would. Give up. I don't know. I'll just say like beef for instance, if it meant that it was better for our home.

Missy Rentz 18:51

right. No, I think you're, I think you're absolutely right. And they're big pollinators there it's like a mutual, it's the cycle of life, right? It's, we needed them, we need them. It's not just that they're cool to look at. There's a reason we need them.

PT Lathrop 19:04

Yeah, they are good pollinators and, but actually they're called fruit bats, but I see a most with their head inside flowers. So you're absolutely right. There's a tree here, and I'm not gonna get its name off the top of my head. Has big, beautiful white and pink flowers. And you almost always see a bat's face dug inside those flowers. Just nectar it up.

Missy Rentz 19:23

So are they endangered?

PT Lathrop 19:26

The Samoan Flying Fox is endangered, locally here. It's doing really well. Traditionally its range was larger, including all the way down to Tonga. Few hundred miles south of us. They're no longer in Tonga. They are endangered. The other flying fox species we have the white Nate flying Fox, I don't believe is in danger. Don't quote me, I can look it up if you like, but is much more plentiful throughout the region. You can find it in Papua New Guinea.

Missy Rentz 19:49

Okay. The other species, the other living thing that I often forget is an animal is your coral. And I just always think they're rocks and then I start to read anything about them. I'm like, oh, no, Missy, you knew this. This is an animal.

PT Lathrop 20:04

yeah. Our corals I didn't know when we opened this call. I told you I get to play marine biologist. I have a coral researcher in my office at least every other week. A group just left and a group is coming in. We had researchers from the Shed Aquarium in Chicago, as well as the Natural History Museum of New York here for two weeks. Lots of universities. The corals on FU in particular are some of the most studied corals on earth. Thanks to the work of Old Dominion University and a number of others they've been shown to be highly they're not impervious. But they are very heat tolerant and heat resistant. As the ocean temperature warms they are a bit of aia, sending out sending out, little baby corals throughout the region as that coral home is really healthy and productive and.

Missy Rentz 20:55

Is there like a hope that they could, that some of these corals could live other places or in the world?

PT Lathrop 21:03

Yep. Exactly that. In fact, it's funny you bring it up. This is I told you that coral conservation here is a thing. Just in two days, we have a, multi organization, mostly different universities, myself and our marine technician are joining them for a conversation about biodiversity banking, which is to do exactly that. So how can we kind of bank the biodiversity of these really important corals and then how can we also replicate them in places that they're needed?

Missy Rentz 21:33

And do no harm to the ones that are there, I'm sure is

PT Lathrop 21:36

you know how I'm the ones that are there that's above my head. I get to play marine biologists. I'll have to get back to you on a question about that.

Missy Rentz 21:44

I'm launching this series called Our Story, and it's about, a person, a place or event that is so impactful. Maybe we need to do an episode on your corals, just talking about the corals there.

PT Lathrop 21:55

Sure. And we'll get on I can point you in the direction of some subject matter experts. And the thing about coral scientists, their work is really hard. It's hard to get, it's hard to get grant money. They're often traveling to crazy places. They're very passionate. So they're happy to preach and share their work for sure.

Missy Rentz 22:12

I love it, and they're beautiful. They're just amazing to, to look at and witness.

PT Lathrop 22:16

Yeah, they are.

Missy Rentz 22:18

With the environmental impact, have the corals in your region seen changes as the environment changes?

PT Lathrop 22:26

Yes for sure. Our corals have seen changes. It's hard to pinpoint any one event. To larger systemic changes. But there was a large bleaching event here on Tutuila three or four years ago. Corals can come back from bleaching events and ours largely have I didn't know that until I got here. Coral bleaching is a kin to, I don't know if coma is the right analogy. But they can come back. They have, they, when they bleach, they have been startled greatly, but they can, and here have largely come back. The issues of protecting corals in American Samoa specifically are a few fold. One is terrestrial development. Terrestrial development in the form of, name it, new roads. There's an area on my commute, there's an area that has amazing corals. It's in a bay called Fagalua. I've snorkel it many times. And this is where, human needs meet hard conservation work in coral communities. Their, the local government is installing a desalination plant. Who can argue against that? I certainly can't. Every single person here needs reliable drinking water. But in that area, you'll see the runoff. When you look in the bay, that postcard picture of the turquoise waters now has a large brown spot. And it's not aesthetics. If you're the coral that is suffocating you you mentioned that they are animals. They're animals that need sunlight most of all. So the quick Coral 1 0 1 corals are these tiny little organisms, almost like the sea anemone that live inside what we see as their corals and they, I'm gonna use very layman's terms 'cause that's what I am. Send out little arms into the water and inside their little gel arms are their symbiotic friends and algae. And so that algae needs the sunlight to photosynthesize and turn sugars, which it then hands over to the coral. This is how corals eat. So when you fill when you cover their spaces with sediment and dirt that's a big issue. Relatedly to, or to terrestrial development can cause lgal blooms, algae blooms, algal blooms that do the same thing. So especially with, organic waste, namely sewage, most often, sewage. It can cause, it's a great fertilizer. So the same way we put manure into our gardens. When you put a lot of human waste into the ocean, the algae takes on that extra nutrients and has an explosion of growth, which also then shades, shades those corals from photosynthesis, essentially starving them. Those are two, and then one that I always wanna bring up, there's an issue called Stony Coral Tissue Loss disease. It comes from the Caribbean and I, it has done a lot of damage in the Caribbean, but thankfully since it did start in the Caribbean folks have been able to study it closely and we know a lot about it. It is transported in the ballast tanks of cruise ships, or, it's most often cruise ships. Any ship that has poor ballast water sanitation protocols, can spread it. It affects only dome corals. So it doesn't affect branchy, it only affects dome corals, but it is the COVID. It is the COVID of dome corals. It'll kill 60, 80%, about three quarters of a community in two weeks.

Missy Rentz 25:51

Oh

PT Lathrop 25:52

Not choke 'em, not bleach 'em kill 'em in about two weeks. So it comes the good news is if it is in an area we know how to treat it it is, we basically have toothpaste, tubes, but inside those tubes is a gel filled basically with antibiotics. So not unlike just sporting Neosporin. And marine biologists will get in there and just inject that gel into the cracks of domed corals and it will cure them. So it is very much a human disease. You mentioned their animals. They get infections just like us and stone and coral Tissue loss disease is one. That's one that keeps us up at night. Uh, the main island here on Tutuila has is very industrial. It gets ships from all over the world, including cruise ships all the time. It's probably an inevitability that stony coral tissue loss disease will end up here in Tutuila and we'll do our best to monitor and address it. The other islands that have, experienced much more isolation, especially when it comes to industrial wise ships do give me some concern.

Missy Rentz 26:53

Wow. Fascinating. Let's talk about planning a trip there, because this is not a, let me just pop by kind of park. This requires a plan. What is the best approach that you recommend people take when planning a trip to National Park of American Samoa?

PT Lathrop 27:14

sure. I would strongly recommend to come here in the in the summertime. Summertime for mainlanders wintertime here. So June, July, August, September, June, July, August, September. It's just less rainy. We are in our rainy season now, and I don't care where you're from, whether it's Sitka, Alaska, or on the Olympic Peninsula or somewhere in, in Florida. You have not seen rain until you've seen our rain. It rains and rains. Oh my goodness. It rains and rains and rains and rains. I'll give you our, we had a record year last year.

Missy Rentz 27:51

Like rains like for days without stop.

PT Lathrop 27:55

Oh yeah. Days and sheets like someone's turned the ocean upside down.

Missy Rentz 28:00

That works well. 'cause a lot of people when planning are looking for mainland summer holidays and that works well for visiting American Samoa.

PT Lathrop 28:09

Yes. It's also when our whales are here. Our whales are here especially July, August, September, we got humpback whales and we have sperm whales. That, so that's a great time to come. And then other considerations, coming from mainland USA, the only way here is on a flight from Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines. Those flights are currently Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, because I've been doing some planning myself. It looks like they're switching the Thursday to Friday later this year. But I would start. I would start with the flight from Hawaiian down here, and then work backwards to wherever you're coming from.

Missy Rentz 28:46

Okay. And then when they get there, where are they gonna stay? They'll stay on that main island. They're that's where everything happens. Correct.

PT Lathrop 28:53

Yeah. There are more Airbnbs than when I came here as a visitor. The island has at least 30 Airbnbs as well as the top of my head, at least six or so hotels,

Missy Rentz 29:04

but they'll have to stay outside of the park. The park doesn't have lodging.

PT Lathrop 29:09

Yes. Yeah, the, to be more direct to park does not have any lodging or camping.

Missy Rentz 29:13

Okay. And then so they get there. Hopefully they've done a little planning in advance of this next question, but what can they do on a visit in the park?

PT Lathrop 29:23

Sure. At the top of the list, I'd say this is a hard place to get to, and if you're gonna come all the way down here, I'd recommend that you see at least one of those other islands that I mentioned. To get to those you're gonna have to get on Samoa Airways. You can book your flights from the main island here quick 20 minute flight over to Ofu. And I would do that well in advance as well. Many visitors get here. They have the time. They're here for seven or 10 days. And then they try to find a way to get to Ofu. And the flights are sold out. They're very infrequent. And they've missed their chance. So the more you can plan and give us a call, we're happy to help. The more you can plan ahead and get your flights to Ta'u or Ofu the better when you are here on Tutuila. This is your hiking island. In a perfect trip, I would say go snorkel, Ofu go get your cultural dose on Ta'u. And Tutuila is a great hiking island. The lava trail is awesome. The Fatifati trail loops into a lava and you'll use ropes to climb up some really steep rainforest mountains. The Tuafanua Trail, we have rope ladders that take you down a cliff to the north side of the island. If you are a hiker and like a little bit of adventure this island is really for you.

Missy Rentz 30:37

And then, so when you go to these other islands, is it out and back in the same day, or do you go and you stay on those islands?

PT Lathrop 30:45

You would go and stay. So the flights, there's a flight, for example, to fu There's a flight on Tuesday. It goes there and it comes back. It has people to bring back. So your options are a one hour stay and basically not getting off the plane or a 48 hour

Missy Rentz 31:02

Okay.

PT Lathrop 31:03

And then. Aside from, snorkeling there's a hike on Ofu as well. I would definitely pack a book, maybe one of your, download some of Missy's podcasts It is an opportunity to really disconnect and relax and be present and in that place. Which is also my nice way of saying if you are the kind of visitor. Is looking for a pub or an a TV tour or any kind of nightlife or a gathering or even a restaurant. You're going to be hard pressed on the outer islands.

Missy Rentz 31:36

Okay. And what I know water activities are very popular. What. Is it everything from like scuba diving, snorkeling, boating? Is it all of that?

PT Lathrop 31:47

It is all of that. It is not always easy to find. If you've traveled around a lot of tropical places, they tend to be more developed when it comes to tourism infrastructure. If you go to Hawaii, you can't walk five feet without someone trying to wrench you, snorkel gear or take you out on a whale watching tour. That is not how it is down here. So I would, I'd recommend people bring their own gear. You can find it, but it's a little bit of a chore and the shop may or may not be open. So the more you can bring your own gear, the better. There is one boat charter on island available to folks. I would give them a very long notice. They're booked for months and months if you are looking for a fishing or boat charter. And there is a water sports rental shop in Pago. They rent out kayaks and standup paddleboards. The one thing I would say, you'll want to learn, and where the park is here to help, you'll want to learn your tides. The ocean here the coral here, I should say, likes to go all the way to the rim. At low tide you'll see the coral out of the water, so at most tides, if you're not right, tucked into a little nice pocket. If you're out there swimming you're most likely getting scraped on coral. High tide or keeping it in the harbor. And again we can help point folks in the right direction, but the coral here is a thing..

Missy Rentz 33:08

So really it's a place immerse yourself in the culture, a lot of hiking and a lot of just relaxing.

PT Lathrop 33:16

Yeah. A lot of relaxing. And also, this isn't really. Park related. But one thing that I think will surprise folks when they come to the Main Island and see Pago, today it is really a melting pot of cultures. We have a lot of Filipino residents. We have a lot of Vietnamese residents. We have a lot of Chinese and Japanese residents, and we have a lot of other south Pacific folks from Tonga, from Fiji. And so the restaurants here. Provide a really awesome, diverse experience as well. So if you wanna try a lot of different cuisines that you would not expect the American Samoa, that is a thing.

Missy Rentz 33:51

That's very cool. And we talked a lot about about it being a rainforest, so that probably means like light and breathable clothing

PT Lathrop 33:59

Oh, yes. I would avoid any, natural fibers like to plague no, no cotton and nick and embrace the wet embrace the wet when I'm not working typically just in board shorts or gym shorts and that, that wicking light synthetic material that we're all familiar with. Sandals. And that is just the uniform that let, that lets you get in and out of the water as needed. And you rain, it rains, and you dry off. It's so warm here. It is so warm here that rain jackets aren't gonna help you. One, it rains so hard that it's gonna come right through your rain jacket. Two, you're gonna just turn yourself into your own sauna. Just be wet. It'll

Missy Rentz 34:42

Well, and like talking about merging the cultural side of the park and clothing you were telling me before we started recording that you're the only park that embraces the cultural attire.

PT Lathrop 34:56

Sure, yeah. We we wear we wear lava lavas or puletasi for our female employees traditional they're in the NPS colors. They'll have the NPS arrowhead on 'em. But I'm in my, lava lava or skirt right now.

Missy Rentz 35:11

Is there anything else somebody needs to consider when planning a trip?

PT Lathrop 35:15

We are not open Saturday and Sunday. The park grounds are open so you know all that hiking and whatnot. But the visitor center is a Monday through Friday operation.

Missy Rentz 35:25

And so I think for those who are taking that Friday flight in, if you need to get to the Ranger, you either gotta do it pretty darn quick or communicate with you all in advance, which is a lot of parks are open to that.

PT Lathrop 35:37

Sure. Yeah, we're, and we certainly welcome that. Email us, call us anytime. That Friday flight that is coming later this year is new, and that will be a thing. So if your listeners are out there the flights here are always the same time. They leave Hawaii at 4:30. They land here at 9:30pm and then they go back to Hawaii. The flights outta here are always a red eye out, so that's a long way of saying that Friday flight will land late Friday night and that we won't be reachable until Monday. So definitely keep that in

Missy Rentz 36:07

Something to know. PT, we end every episode with a speed round of questions. Just answer with what first comes to mind. What is your earliest park memory?

PT Lathrop 36:19

Seeing baby elk, no. Seeing and hearing a baby elk nurse on a hike. I was in college and I was hiking Rocky Mountain National Park. I'd been to parks earlier, but this is what came to mind and I could hear the suckling of this newborn elk, and it was amazing.

Missy Rentz 36:42

What made you love the parks?

PT Lathrop 36:46

Humility. The national parks to me are a place where we are reminded that humans are not the only important thing on this earth. That sometimes it is a elk calf. Sometimes it's a humpback whale or a flying fox, or a coral or hollowed ground where people made sacrifices for this country. But there are things that are more, that are as and sometimes more important than us.

Missy Rentz 37:12

What is your favorite thing about National Park of American Samoa?

PT Lathrop 37:15

The team, my, my coworkers, hands.

Missy Rentz 37:20

What's your favorite thing to do at National Park of American Samoa?

PT Lathrop 37:24

Hike lower Selma, and if it's 100% safe, get in the tide pools.

Missy Rentz 37:30

What park have you yet to visit, but it's on your bucket list and why?

PT Lathrop 37:36

I, my, my list is long. I'm almost there. But Kobuk Valley Kobuk Valley in Alaska, desert landscapes. A lot of folks don't always equate coal in desert, but they often go together. Desert landscapes, some really cool archeology and river rafter. I'm a big river rafter, did all of the Grand Canyon earlier this year, and I'm headed to the the Zambezi River in Africa later this year.

Missy Rentz 38:02

Okay. What three must haves do you pack for a park visit?

PT Lathrop 38:08

This will disappoint some people. My headphones, water. That's it. If I dunno if I have three must haves, the only two must haves, i'm looking at my backpack right now. The only two things I'm not going anywhere without is water and headphones

Missy Rentz 38:23

Okay. What's your favorite campfire activity,

PT Lathrop 38:28

Oh, watching it. It's the original TV

Missy Rentz 38:32

and are you in a tent, camper, or cabin?

PT Lathrop 38:35

Tent or preferably tarp just under the stars.

Missy Rentz 38:39

When you go for a hike, are you doing it with or without trekking poles?

PT Lathrop 38:43

Without

Missy Rentz 38:45

What's your favorite trail snack?

PT Lathrop 38:47

smoked oysters, although they can be messy.

Missy Rentz 38:51

What's your best animal sighting?

PT Lathrop 38:53

A jaguarundi in Ecuador.

Missy Rentz 38:56

What is your favorite sound in the park.

PT Lathrop 38:58

The Ocean.

Missy Rentz 39:01

And what's the greatest gift that the parks give to us?

PT Lathrop 39:05

Humility.

Missy Rentz 39:08

PT, thank you so much. This park has skyrocketed to the top of my wishlist. I loved learning about it and I can't wait to see it in person. Thank you for being here.

PT Lathrop 39:19

My pleasure. Thank you for the fun conversation. Call anytime.

Missy Rentz 39:23

That's it for today's episode. Until next time, we'll see you in the parks.

39:28

Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, please be sure to like and share on your favorite podcast platform. Music for the parks podcast is performed and produced by Porter Hardy. For more information, please follow us at The Parks Podcast, or visit our website at TheParksPodcast.com.