SAMOA            Aug-Sept. 2004 click photos to enlarge

We arrived in Apia, Samoa on August 23,2004 after 2 days of head wind sailing from Niuatoputopu in Tonga. We were instructed by the authorities there to tie up to a barge on the wharf and wait for customs and quarantine officials to come to us. They showed up in no time and the check in procedures were very efficient and commenced quickly, a welcome change from some of our Tongan experiences. From our first step onto the island of Upolu, the main yet smaller of the two islands in Samoa, we felt at home.The feeling here is similar to Hawaii. They are a society working hard at keeping up wioth modern civilization with all the creature comforts we are used to, but it was very clear that the Samoa culture has been remarkably resilient to western influences.

Our Apia anchorage

The Samoan islands were first settled by the Fiji and Tongan cultures in 1500 BC with the Tongans establishing rule in 950 AD. The Tongans were eventually repelled though, and the Samoans were left to rule themselves. The first European contact was in 1722 by Dutchman Jacob Roggeveen, althoug there had been earlier landings by convicts, pirates and whalers. By the 1820's there were a large amount of Europeans settled here and they had established a society in Apia with the consent of the Upolu Chiefs.The government of Samoa operates under a British

based parliamentary system revised to accomidate local traditions and christian principles.

Every morning the Apia police band march to raise the flag

We found the people here to be the most friendly  we've encountered so far in the South Pacific. They are not only friendly but intelligent, often well educated, and there is quite a lot more English spoken here than in Tonga. The climate here is... well... hot. Although the temeratures range from 70-90- degreesF and, they say, May-Oct is the dry season, the average humidity is 80%. During our 1 month stay it felt more like 90%.

traditional Samoan fale (house)

Obviously, it is very green here. There are pandanus forests and mangrove swamps, but the magnificent banyan tree dominates the higher elevations. There are few animal species here but there are always the domestic pigs, dogs and chickens running and grazing around everywhere.

Green Turtles

We visited a green turtle reserve on the island of Savaii and apparantly there are there are various types of turtles that migrate here, though rarely. The Samoans are famous for their woven pandanus mats. These mats are made out of fibers split into fine widths of only a couple of millimeters. They take months to weave and when finished they have the look and feel of fine linen or silk. Traditional tatooing is still widely practiced here. The men are tatooed from waist to knees where as the women cover only their thighs. When our daughter, Amanda, on holiday from university was visiting for 2 weeks, we discovered many waterfalls and swimming holes on both islands of Upolu and Savaii. Often we had to hike up or down to reach them but it was well worth it to cool off in the fresh water and drink in the natural beauty.

Richard contemplates a slide down into the swimming hole

Richard goes native

Probably the highlight of our visit to Savaii was our stay at the Tanu Beach Fale's. The word fale means house. We stayed in these guest fale's on a beach in the village of Manase. It was like living in a native village from times passed. The vacation gueast fale's are owned and operated by a local family of 3 generations. We paid 17 dollars US a night per person, and for this price we got a fale to sleep in right on a picture postcard beach, a great breakfast in the morning and a dinner with a family show of traditional dancing, fun and music. It was all island style and loads of fun. We also had the good fortune to run into our good friends from New Zealand there, Rob and Debbie Bayes. Some of the family lived on the grounds with us and at meal times they all shared in the preparing and the cooking of the food. The kitchen was outdoors, like an elaborate campsite with wood burning fires and stoves made out of giant metal drums and also a traditional clay oven built for the baking. Women would sit under a small roofed area and cut all the veggies up and then 2 or 3 other people would do the actual frying, grilling and baking in the ovens and stoves. They were laughing and singing as they worked and always welcomed the guests to come watch them cook. Although they did have refrigeration elsewhere, it was not in the area where they did the cooking. The meals were very good with tons of fish, fried chicken, pork and home-grown vegetables and roots. We had a fantastic time and wouldn't mind goin back if we could.

Amanda and Kelly at Tanu Fale's

preparing the pig

inside our sleeping fale

Tanu Kitchen

continue next page

Back to home page