Photos by the bestie Alafaga, during a shoot I tagged along on. Also, I made this top just the night before! Even though I messed up a lot on it, it turned out kinda cute, and held through the windy day out despite not wearing a bra hahah
Hiking an old historic Mt. Alava trail
After 2-3 weeks of consistent rain in American Samoa, the sun finally came out last weekend!
We wanted to get out of the house while still staying socially distant. Ian suggested an old historic trail by Mt. Alava that we could try, so we grabbed our hiking essentials (water, snacks, and my camera), and got Yodi in the truck and headed east. I’ll spare you the details on how to get there (for now) since the national park is still working on the trail and it’s still technically closed to visitors, but once it officially opens up, it’s going to be awesome.
Yodi and Ian led the way, and Ian shared some of what he had learned about the trail.
It’s said that the trail was used centuries ago when the invading Tongans ruled over Samoa, and Pago village had relocated up to the mountains.
We hiked slowly through the saturated forest. We started around 11am, the skies were finally blue, and we were in no rush.
I wandered around frequently, looking at all the beautiful plants and tall trees, excited whenever I could identify a few of them, like these abundant and beautiful tī plants.
This spot, where the trail crosses these trees, was my favorite. Standing in between the tree trunks, feeling the cold breeze, and the ferns on the ground made reminded me a bit of our trip to New Zealand. It was a nice little escape, and change of scenery for us.
Midway through our hike we stopped for a water break for ourselves and Yodi, and looked out at a great vantage points of coastal Pago Pago and the stream delta that flows into the harbor.
Might be hard to tell from this photo, but you can see my foot, and just a few inches away, the trail drops almost straight down. I didn’t realize how narrow the ridge was until I took this photo.
The hike had some difficult parts. We hiked along the Alava ridge and in some areas found ourselves scaling across steep and slippery mountain faces.
Not pictured, but as we neared the end of the trail, we climbed two steep sections with the provided rope. I had to hold on to tree roots as I ascended the slippery slope, and alas — we made it to the top.
Up here, is where Pago Pago village had moved up to long long ago.
There is also an archaeological site where a starmound (or tia seu lupe) sits.
We hiked back even slower than we started, just admiring all the plants — the mushrooms, random seeds I couldn’t place, coconut trees growing in thickets at the bottom, and in weird shapes. It was overall such a relaxing and enjoyable hike. I’m excited to come back here again in the future, and to learn more history surrounding it.
MEET: Kau‘ilani Misipeka
We all wonder and wander in our own little way. Everybody’s got a story to tell.
If you want to have a chat, I’d love to MEET you!
MEET KAU‘ILANI MISIPEKA
Loves her family, turtles, and staying active — and shares what a typical day looks like for her at Coconut Point, her goals, and fave spots on island.
Tell me about yourself, where you live, and what do you do?
Hi! My name is Kau‘ilani Misipeka, and it means “The Beautiful Heaven”. I currently live in American Samoa and loving every second of it. My ultimate goal is to help the people of American Samoa strive to be better. I want to become a Marine Biologist, but also use my time to help the youth grow as student athletes.
What does a typical day in your life look like?
Everyday I wake up at 5-6am to get ready for workouts, then I come home to a morning swim. There’s a lot of girls in our home, so we have to clean and make sure everything is tidy before we go on with our day. We have volleyball clinics that teach girls 18 and younger the basic skills you need for volleyball. After, I come home to relax or paddle to get some air or clean some more.
Favorite beach?
My favorite beach is Coconut point because it’s my home. I love seeing the turtles and sea creatures that swim around. It’s where I grew up and where I want to stay.
What do you like to do for fun?
I love working out, spending time with my family and turtle watching. Mostly spending time with the people I love, they make every second valuable.
Favorite restaurant in American Samoa?
I don’t really eat a lot outside my home, but I would say Milovales is my favorite because they have delicious fish and chips.
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years? 10 years?
In 5 years, I would be back in American Samoa and trying my best to improve our environment. I would also have a part time job as a strength and conditioning instructor for the youth. In 10 years, I would remain in American Samoa as a Marine Biologist and continuing to make our island better then expand to other islands and countries. I want to have my own nonprofit organization, that helps the youth travel to other places to explore their options and knowledge that we may not have.
What are your goals for this year?
As of right now, I want to meet my 2 mile run time and pass basic training/AIT. I also have a goal to clean as many beaches as I can while I’m here.
Describe your perfect weekend.
A perfect weekend is on a beach somewhere with the sun shining, healthy food, and my loved ones around me. There’s a second where you feel like time has stopped and there’s no bad and you’re in your own world. That’s where I wanna be.
Favorite food?
Favorite food? I love BACON ASPARAGUS, even though they’re hard to find on island;(
What is your all time favorite spot in American Samoa?
Coconut Point lol! I am surrounded by good people, beautiful sunrise/sets, it’s peaceful and my ancestors are from here.
What advice would you give your 10-year old self?
Stop eating, workout more, jokes! Remember that there’s always room for improvement. And keep doing you girl!
Model and interview by Kau‘ilani Misipeka. Questions and photos by Nerelle.
More in the MEET series.
Follow Kau‘ilani on instagram: @kauilani_misipeka
My Plastic Free July Goals and Expectations
A new month is here, and with it comes my favorite sustainability challenge all year — Plastic Free July.
What is Plastic Free July? Simply, it’s 31 days of making an effort to avoid single-use plastic that contribute to pollution and waste.
Plastic Free July is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution – so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities.
This is my third year trying this challenge, and I’m excited to see how I might have improved as I’ve been incorporating different sustainable swaps at home over the years that have helped me immensely to live as low impact as possible.
And while July is a great month to audit my environmental impact, I also want to use this month to make other home and wellness improvements. So to keep myself accountable as much as possible, I’m listing my goals and expectations for this month. I’ll also try to post at least weekly updates on my wins, fails, and the sustainable lifestyle journey.
My Goals for Plastic Free July
Avoid and refuse any and all single-use plastics such as straws, plastic bags, coffee cups, takeaway cutlery, etc.
Always bring my zero waste kit with me when I leave the house.
Choose to buy local when possible.
Eat less meat.
Discover more sustainable swaps to incorporate into my home.
Minimize material things, and declutter my home.
Be more mindful of my wardrobe, and shift my clothes to slow fashion only.
My Expectations for Plastic Free July
I expect that I’ll be able to avoid a lot single-use plastic because it’s what I already do in my day to day life. I do expect that food shopping will definitely be difficult because so much of our food on island is imported in plastic and styrofoam. I expect I’ll fail sometimes, but I won’t dwell on those because it’s all about making the effort and moving forward.
My “zero waste kit” goes through iterations of essentials to curb my plastic consumption, but my go-to basics are my reusable water bottle, a sturdy tote bag, and utensils I already own. My expectation is that I’ll do a decent job at taking my zero waste kit around but I anticipate some honest mistakes like forgetting to request “no straw, please” when at restaurants.
Buying local is obviously the first choice because it supports our local economy, but unfortunately a lot of local produce comes packaged in non-renewable plastic. I expect that this will likely be our exceptions to the challenge because we love local produce but we’re still thinking of ways to improve.
I’ve already eliminated beef and pork from my diet, and have been getting more into plant-based products, so I think I’ll do pretty good on that this month.
We’ve transitioned our home into a much more conscious environment — composting our food scraps, sorting our glass, and aluminums for recycling, and have made various changes to little things like using cloth napkins instead of paper towels, using soap and shampoo bars, etc. There’s a lot more of the little stuff that are harder for us, like how to get a more eco-friendly toothpaste option since it’s not readily available on island. I’ve tried DIY’ing toothpaste, and it did not turn out. So I’ll be looking for other swaps that we can make and even if there’s just one or two little things we change, that will make a big difference.
I just started on decluttering my home today, and have already culled more than 20 miscellaneous items from my home, and that was just in one hour of decluttering! There’s probably about a hundred more things I could get rid of… my neighbor is hosting a clothing swap in the next few weeks, so I’ll be organizing my stuff to a giveaway pile, and donate pile. I hope that by the end of the month, through daily decluttering, I’ll be able to minimize my material possessions to only things that are functional and bring me joy.
If you’ve seen some of my recent blog posts, you’ll see that I’ve started sewing again and making my own clothing pieces. It was my goal last year to not shop fast fashion, and I think I did okay but this month I will go more thoroughly through my wardrobe and try to repair some pieces that need TLC, and think about how much I wear and rewear pieces to identify my favorite essential clothing and get rid of ones that I don’t need or wear.
Overall, I feel like my mindset is in the right place. My sustainability journey has been eye opening over the past three to four years. My habits are continually shifting; I’m more mindful of my consumption; and I am enjoying every step of the way.