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Dear Bob and Sue: A National Parks Podcast

#24: National Park of American Samoa

Dear Bob and Sue: A National Parks Podcast

Matt and Karen Smith

Society & Culture, Nature, Personal Journals, Places & Travel, Science

5.01.2K Ratings

🗓️ 17 December 2020

⏱️ 69 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Little did we know when we cavalierly made the announcement ten years ago that we were going to visit every U.S. national park that we had just signed up for a trip to the Southern Hemisphere. The National Park of American Samoa is part of the only U.S. territory south of the equator. So off we went one December on a journey to explore this South Pacific island paradise. In this episode, we talk about our experiences in the park, as well as what we learned about the Samoan culture while visiting with locals about their way of life. We’ll also tell you why all of the TVs on the island were tuned into NFL games the Sunday we were there. At the end of the episode, we answer a question from our mailbag.  Some of the topics we discuss in this episode: Where the heck American Samoa is and how to get there A little history about the islands Why there’s a national park there Best time of the year to go Where to stay when you’re visiting Some of the activities we did on our trip Our encounter with a flying fox And a special gift we got from a group of Samoan teenagers. But there’s a twist to the story. Links to more information: To see photos from our travels, visit our Instagram account, or TikTok account Visit the park’s website to learn more Where to learn more about our books and travels Join the conversation on Facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I don't even know if you knew this was a thing.

0:02.4

They make national park quarters.

0:05.2

Yeah.

0:06.0

And they made one early in 2020.

0:09.4

It's the American Samoa fruit bat with its young one.

0:13.9

I don't know what you call a baby bat.

0:15.3

Is it a pup or a...

0:17.1

I don't know what it is either.

0:18.7

I did these questions before.

0:21.5

I had a time.

0:25.1

Yes, it's called a pup.

0:26.2

I think we should try to get one of those quarters.

0:31.9

I don't use cash.

0:33.1

Maybe I'll make an exception.

0:35.3

It's a collective bond.

0:36.4

I'll go to the bank.

0:37.2

I would like a role of American Samoa pup bat quarters.

0:43.6

Yeah, that'll get the...

0:45.0

I'll be hitting the silent alarm.

0:57.0

This is the Dear Bob and Sue podcast.

1:05.2

Our stories of adventures and misadventures as we travel to all the U.S.

1:09.1

national parks and other public lands.

...

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