Samoa

We have spent 10 great and fun-filled days in Samoa relaxing in the sun, enjoying fresh fish and Vailima beer, and swimming in the clear warm water. Paradise. To sum up our adventures here, we thought we'd share with you our top ten experiences for the last ten days...

Riding the Samoan Buses

Samoan buses are an experience in themselves. Each driver is given artistic freedom to decorate the inside and out as he pleases, which generally means they are brightly colored and filled with a variety of toys, flags or religious symbols on the inside. Not to mention pumping loud island music as they bump along the road. The best part of the Samoan bus experience, however, (or worst depending on how you look at it) is getting stuffed in like sardines with a bunch of large Samoan people for hour-plus rides to wherever you are going. There is no such thing as "the bus is full,"...there is ALWAYS room for one more.

My favorite ride in terms of cultural experience (though admittedly least comfortable) was the one where I was welcomed on to a large Samoan woman's lap so we could make room for others. She hugged me in tight and wrapped her arms around me, giving a gentle pat now and then as we readjusted when the bus went round a quick curve. Eric, meanwhile, was stuck standing on one leg in the aisle for an hour until enough people got off the bus so that he could stand properly. The buses are also great places to chat with the locals who are very friendly and always ask where you are from, where you are going, how you like their country, etc. It was a much better, and cheaper, way to travel than a taxi.

Relaxing at Tafua Beach Fales in Lalomanu Beach

We left Samoa's main city, Apia, on our first day and discovered a little slice of heaven at Tafua's Beach Fales. The family who runs the place is very friendly and it's a popular place among travelers. We were given an "open fale" (i.e., open-air thatched beach hut with tarps you roll down when it rains and at night) right on the beach front. As we laid on our cushy mat in our fale reading our books, we looked right out onto the beach and aqua blue water. Now THIS is the honeymoon we were waiting for! In our 4 days at Tafua, we met a lot of great people from all over the world, enjoyed communal meals (and good food) at the long dinner table, spent time snorkeling and swimming, played with the local children in the sand and took daily naps. It's a tough life...but someone's gotta do it!

Playing Nightly Games of Cards

While at Tafua, we met a few friends who we bonded with over nightly card games of "Switch" (similar to "Uno"). Daniel (from Australia) and his French girlfriend Nadege, along with Thomas from Germany were our willing opponents every night after dinner. We'd have a couple beers, talk a lot of crap over who was the best card player, and have good laughs throughout the games. It was a lovely way to pass the time and get to know some interesting and fun people from different reaches of the world.

Watching a Samoan FiaFia Dance Show
While staying at Tafua, we were entertained one evening by the village dance troupe comprised of local teens. They performed traditional Samoan dances, and also got creative and weaved in traditional moves into more modern dances. The girls´dances had many graceful hand movements and gentle hip swinging, while the guys´ dances included a lot of hip thrusting and foot pounding...which they all seemed to enjoy while checking out the cute female Pelangis (tourists) in the audience. Eric definitely had enough of the suggestive hip thrusting by the end of the show. The best part was the fire dancing performed with burning torches. The fire dancer only missed his catch once and just barely avoided scalding the drummer. It was kinda funny.

Touring Savaii Island

After four days at Tafua's, we figured if we didn't get moving, we'd never leave. So we decided to broaden our Samoan experience and head over to the other main island called Savaii. We were a bit sad at first to leave our little paradise at Lalomanu beach, but found some new friends and adventures not long after. We'd had enough beach sitting for awhile, so decided to rent a car and drive around the entire island in a day to take in all the touristy sites. We shared our car with our new found Italian friend, Angelo, who currently lives in New Zealand and was on a week long holiday. Most of the "must sees" on the island were actually not that exciting, but we did thoroughly enjoy seeing the blow holes that spurted sea water many feet into the air. Another highlight was the Afu Afua Waterfall that had a 10 ft pool to dive into. The swimming hole was filled with locals enjoying a refreshing swim and dancing about to island music. And finally, the vast lava fields from the early 1900's that had covered whole villages and churches were also quite impressive to tour.

Swimming with Turtles

Our favorite experience on Savaii was the hour we spent swimming and feeding sea turtles in a lagoon just inland from the main sea. The locals had made a nice home for about 10 turtles and you could jump in the water with them and give them bits of papaya as you patted their shells and sat in amazement watching these cool creatures. We got some neat photos, so be sure to check them out.

Going to Church

We were told that going to church in Samoa was part of the cultural experience since most Samoans are very religious. The variety of denominations of Christianity (and some Mormon) are many, but we chose to go to a Methodist service (since that was the church across from our hotel). We were accompanied by our friends Angelo and Keith who we´d been hanging out with a for a few days. As we entered the church just in the nick of time, we were smiled at by the Samoan ladies dressed in their best white outfits and hats and the men who wore black lava lavas and collared white shirts. The choir was amazing and the music was the most enjoyable part of the service since we couldn´t understand anything (the sermon was in Samoan).

We were given a small bit of relief from the heat when the woman seated behind us took pity and occasionally fanned us with her woven fan. We think she usually got most inspired when she saw Keith nodding off. :) During the service, everyone was on best behavior, though the smallest children were allowed to wander freely. One boy of about 8, however, was surprised by a knock on the head with his grandfather´s bible because he had been provoking his elder during his reading of the bible to the congregation. All in all, the Samoans seemed to enjoy having us there and we certainly enjoyed seeing a piece of traditional (well since the missionaries came anyhow) life.

Visiting Manono Island

Our last day in Samoa was spent on Manono Island, a tiny island between the two main islands. We were joined by our friends Angelo and Keith for great company and found a wonderful little place to stay called Sunset View Fales run by a very nice family. Since there isn´t a whole lot to do on the island, the family has taken it upon themselves to provide some fun local activities to entertain guests and teach them about local ways. We did circumnavigate the island with "Junior" (the son) in about two hours and also did some swimming, canoeing, napping, reading and even a bit of basket weaving. The highlight, however, was having delicious local cuisine at a special table set up for the 4 of us on their jetty...and watching the sunset. It truly was paradise.

Cooking Traditional Samoan "Umu" Style

While in Manono, we got to experience a traditional Umu BBQ, in which a large fire is built to heat a pile of rocks that become like an oven. Local specialities made from ingredients such as taro root, coconut, taro leaves, and breadfruit are prepared and placed inside the rock pile to cook. The rocks are covered with large palm leaves to keep the heat inside and bake the food. With the guidance of our local expert, Apa, we got to help with food preparation - Eric and Keith did some coconut grinding, Angelo did his best to start a fire using the old wood on wood method (we all tried actually, but only Apa was successful), I prepared some of the vegetables and also wove part of a basket to put the finished food inside. It was great fun.

Meeting Great People To Share the Experiences

While everything we did and saw in Samoa were wonderful experiences, what really made our time here unique were the many great people we met and spent time with. The local families that ran Tafua and Sunset View Fales were wonderful. We also had so much fun with our fellow travelers Dan, Nadege, Thomas, Keith and Angelo.