Just Back From Samoa

I flew with Air New Zealand via Auckland, and although arrival times are not the greatest, it’s either Air New Zealand or Polynesian Blue (Virgin Blue) which does fly direct from Sydney.

Apia is the capital of Samoa, located on the main island of Upolu. Two-thirds of the 170,000 total population live on the island of Upolu, with the other one-third living on the island of Savaii.

You hear a lot about “living on Samoan-time” but it’s not until you get there, that you really know what is meant by it. This is generally a reference to their relaxed, laid back style of life. My first experience of this was at the airport, where there was only one security screening of bags, which did take me a while to get through, but I was excited to actually be there, in Samoa. I guess the climate here was part of the reason why people were in no rush, but then again, Samoa was not an economic power, it’s main industry, especially in the last few years has been tourism. The primary sector (agriculture, forestry, and fishing) employs nearly two-thirds of the labour force and produces 17% of GDP. Important products include coconuts and fish.

I stayed at the hotel Kitano, in the capital Apia (which was about 50minutes by road, one long main road from the airport into town. The hotel Kitano had nice facilities, but as even the manager of the property would tell us, it’s more a place for business people, rather than the family-oriented, or the young travellers. Rooms are very basic, but are comfortable. The other place we stayed at in Apia was the renowned Aggie Grey’s Hotel which is steeped in history, and their standard rooms were fantastically appointed with local décor. Both the Kitano and the Aggie Grey’s was a short walk to the restaurants and nightlife of Apia.

Getting around Apia seemed very easy with not many roads to contend with. I travelled with a group, and Jane’s Tours provided great support and gave insights to local cultures and the history of the people and the place. Everywhere we travelled, people who saw our bus, would just smile and wave at us, adults and kids alike. Everyone lived in villages, and everyone was related or knew someone very well within the village. There is no word for “uncle” or “aunty” they refer to everyone as brother or sister. There’s very much a sense of family within the Samoan culture, this is one thing that I was very interested in.

One thing that stuck out was the number of people mowing their lawns with edgers/whipper snippers (the reason being that locals can buy them overseas and bring them on board, whereas they would have to import on container ships, if they wanted a proper lawn-mower). Here I was whinging about how hard it is to mow my garden, yet the Samoan’s were cutting their grass with whipper snippers.

The other thing that you’ll notice when travelling through Samoa, was the large number of churches, as told by our tour guide, you’re never more than a few hundred metres from a church, and that there was about 350 churches around Samoa (you could almost go to a different one each day for a whole year). They have a morning service and an afternoon service, where there are a lot of singing, and prayers, a great experience for all.

On our second day, we drove to the South of the island, where we visited the Coconuts Beach Resort and the Sinalei Reef Resort which were right next to each other.

Both were on the beach with great ocean views. I didn’t get to stay at either of these two properties, but looking around at the type of rooms, and the new spa at the Coconut Beach Resort, I wished we were staying here. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the Coconuts Beach before a short stroll over to Sinalei Reef. Once again, beautifully appointed rooms (especially the honeymoon suites with private pool, and their own 9 hole golf course.

On our third day, we drove back towards the airport to board a car-ferry which travels daily from Upolu to the island of Savaii, this 1 hour and 15 minute journey is an inexpensive way to visit Savaii, known as the “paradise island” by the locals.

Unfortunately, it had been raining a couple of days before we arrived, and so we weren’t able to go and see some of the beautiful waterfalls (as the tracks leading up to them were too muddy), but we did manage to go and see the island’s famous blow hole, where a gentleman would go and place old coconut shells into the holes, and then the blowholes would then shoot the shells high up into the air.

After the blowhole, we drove further north, and visited the canopy walk at the Falealupo Rainforest. The Samoan’s have always known that their environment and it’s preservation is very important, and even this canopy walk was built with this in mind (not invasive). There’s also a rope bridge that needs to be crossed which I thought was fun (imagining I was Indiana Jones), but a few others found a bit fearful due to the height above ground that we were. Once we made it to the top, the view was well worth it, overlooking the tree tops, all you can see was the lush, green landscape.

After our canopy walk, we travelled across the top of the island, and eventually ended up at our destination for that night, the Tanu Beach Fales, owned by a Tanu family, and run by Tanu family (adults and kids help with the daily running of the resort). The water was clear, and warm, the sand was white and soft, the only thing you could do, which we did do, was grab a drink and head into the water. It was great just to sit in the water, having a drink and just relaxing and chatting away. A very intimate and personal place, the Tanu Beach Fales, offers these great individual Fales (local huts/bungalows) right on the beach. The fales, don’t have walls as such, but you can pull down these grass-stitched walls to create a bit of privacy, all the way round (except for the entrance, which of course you leave so that you can enter/exit and also to get the amazing view of the beach when you first wake up. You are equipped with a mattress and also mosquito nets. Bathroom facilities are shared. You can relax until it’s dinner time, and how do you know it’s dinner time? The family rings a bell, and then you all proceed to the main eating area (everything is outdoors, under a bit of shelter), and you’re given a traditional Samoan meal including a lot of local produce, like Taro, and some not so traditional like steak (as a lot of animals were introduced by Europeans when they settled in Samoa in the 1700s and 1800s (Dutch and Germans respectively). After dinner, the family (kids included) put on a show (no professionals here, it’s all family run, but that’s what makes the show more enjoyable). Having said, “no professionals here” I do take it back, as one of the family member, a 12 year old boy, was the Samoan fire dancing champion, and he was unbelievably good.

It’s shared bathroom facilities, and as basic as it is, a night at the Tanu Beach Fales is a must for everyone, even if it is just for the one night.

On day 4, we travelled to the Siufaga Beach Resort, this resort had one of the best beaches, with the brightest, bluest water I had ever seen. This resort was being renovated and being refurbished, and once it’s finished, it will be one of the best resorts on the island. On the way to Siufaga, we had stopped off at a turtle refuge where these turtles were being bread, and rescued from the cyclone that hit Samoa last year which wipe a lot of the turtle population. Bring your swimmers when you go here, as you’ll get a unique opportunity to swim with these turtles (some were quite big).

Towards the end of this day, we travelled back to the port to board the car ferry for the return journey back to Upolu.

On the last full day of our Samoan trip, we travelled out to the biggest resort in Samoa, the Aggie Grey’s Lagoon Resort and Spa, a sister hotel to the Aggie Grey’s hotel. It was a shame that we didn’t stay here a night or two, as the resort looked wonderful. With all the activities that you could and would want to do, including all the watersports, a 9 hole golf course (which is next door), a church within the grounds where a lot of people have weddings, and fantastic Spa, where you can get massages and relax your day away. Once again with ocean views, the Aggie Grey’s Lagoon Resort and Spa is only minutes from the airport, but you’d hardly know you were near an airport, as you don’t hear the planes above, at all.

Offering many facilities such as baby-sitting, kids-club, conference rooms, a few restaurants, the Aggie Grey’s Lagoon is an ideal place to send a family or a honeymooning couple as it caters for all.

It was an early start on the final day, from hotel to airport, and once again you were on Samoan time when you checked in, as there was only one immigration booth, with one person noting down passport numbers and doing the baggage screening. The trip had come to an end, and I knew it would be back to reality, back to work, and no more Samoan time. I have to admit, Samoa was a place I thought I’d like to go, but as it’s so close, I’d probably go there much later down the track. When this opportunity came up, I thought, now’s a great time, as I’ve been to Asia, I’ve touched on Europe, but the Pacific, and in particular, Polynesia was a culture I really wanted to experience.

“Tofa” (goodbye).

Click here for Samoa Images, by Jeremy.