Cape Mulinu’u, Savaii, Samoa
This photo shows me at Cape Mulinu’u. It’s on the Samoan island of Savai’i, and until January 1st, 2012, it had an excellent claim to fame. A highly dubious one, but excellent nonetheless.
The beach at Cape Mulinu’u, it was claimed, was the last place in the world to see the sun set. A few miles off the coast was the imaginary path of the International Date Line – there was no more land before the next day.
Of course, the “last sunset” claim is highly disputable, as at different times of the year places in the far north and far south of the world have much longer nights.
But now the villagers at Cape Mulinu’u can’t claim that at all. The government recently decided to move Samoa to the other side of the International Date Line. It was suddenly just another beach. And I imagine the villagers were delighted about this.
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