Back from Samoa

Well, we’ve been back from Samoa exactly two weeks now and I feel ready to write a bit of a summary for all those who might be interested. My husband, 3 year old son and I spent a month in Samoa (part of April/May). This is our third trip and we stay with my husband’s family.

Upon arrival we went directly to Apia for a few days of family time. We were presented with a family cell phone to use throughout our visit and soon found out that the family had no less than five phones! Amazing, this was a huge change. Then down to Jolene’s car rental (around the corner from the Peace Corps hotel). They were superb and really accommodating. We rented a black jeep that became our best friend over two weeks of our vacation! Don’t rent the red jeeps though, they leak.

Out to Lalomanu to soak up some sun and do some swimming. Stopped at Mataraiva for one night and really enjoyed our stay. The tide pools are really fun and swimming was great. Best of all the family was very nice and their little girl Lome played with our son for quite a while. Only thing I didn’t like was that the fales were fully closed so no cool air in the evening but they provided a fan. Looks like they are building beautiful new open air fales. Then, on to Lalomanu where we lucked out. Our dear friends at Taufua had a place for us to stay even without a reservation! We took one of the Beach Fales with the deck and bed which was really nice. Our window framed Nuutele island perfectly! We noticed a huge change at Taufua since our last visit. It used to be just one row of beach fales now they are all over the place. It was nice though to spend some time meeting other travelers and our son met some Australian boys to play with. The food was so delicious that we went back later in our trip to enjoy it one last time. While we were there, lots of special things happened including fiafias, pizza delivery from Apia!, and a social night with dj MrT.

Following this, we continued to drive the loop around the island. My husband tried to convince me to drive to Fagaloa Bay but the tiny mountain road scared me so bad I made him turn around halfway!

Back to Apia for more family and pizza from Georgies! Also checked out the Spiderman movie at Magik Cinemas and ate way too much ice cream at Scoops! Filled up on Fanta, breadfruit, polusami, and peanut butter and headed for Savaii. We decided to leave the car behind and rent on Savaii and it was a good thing! The boat ride was terrible and I found myself looking for the emergency exits and flotation devices while we traveled! I would have been so worried about a car! The big screen plasma TV is a nice improvement to the boat and we watched Spiderman (again!) while crossing! We walked to the car rental (Big Island), picked up our jeep and headed to Manase and Tanu Beach. Got a grand welcome and picked out a beautiful fale up on the dune right on the beach. There really is a strong current at Tanu so keeping a really close eye on kids is a MUST. The sunsets were beautiful and the food was good, more traditional that Taufua. We spent two nights here and then left to drive around the island. We did all the major tourist attractions, the banyan tree canopy, lava fields, moso’s foot print, the women’s cave, the cyclone area and the blow holes. Then back to Upolu for more fun!

A few highlights of our trip include the following: visiting family, spending time with old friends at Taufua and Tanu Beach Fales, snorkeling at Lalomanu, visiting the new aquatic centre, eating at Georgie’s Pizza and Rockos Restaurant grilled tuna, the Bahai temple, Falealupo’s beauty, watching sea turtles at Malua, banyan tree canopy, coconuts at the market, strolls on the seawall, fire dancing and the siva Samoa.

A few changes we noticed: advertisements to buckle up children in cars (yay), car seats!, building sidewalks in Apia villages (yay again), way too much construction, too much traffic, many dogs looking well fed and no dog problems for us, the huge aquatic centre, the new 6 story building along the harbour, new crafts at the market, cell phones everywhere, Mt Vaea and I Spy are closed, Gourmet Seafood has moved to the harbour, great new compostable plastic bags.

I hope this information helps someone else to plan their trip. Samoa is my favourite place to visit and we always have a wonderful time. Thanks to the many people who are so kind and the beauty of the islands! I would be happy to try and answer any questions on Samoa.

Finally, we were honoured to be a part of the grieving and celebration of the passing away of the Head of State the Honourable Malietoa Tanumafili II. A part of history that we will always remember.

What a refreshing trip report! You brought back SO many memories.

Georgie's Pizza, Scoops, Gourmet Seafood... Yummm!!

The poliferation of cell phones in Samoa is amazing, isn't it? I couldn't believe the change from last year to this year. I wonder where in a nation where the average person is so poor, where the resources come from for such an extravigances.

Things are changing fast in Samoa. One thing you failed to mention with all these changes, is the PRICES of everything... Especially beach fale accomodation which is no longer cheapie cheapie like it was 3 or 4 years ago. That, along with what you experienced, is what I really noticed.

Digicel has quite a monopoly over the islands. It was quite maddening actually to find out that they tailor their calling card system perfectly for this kind of audience. I've never seen anything quite like it. You purchase phone cards in advance (which is probably good) but you can also send credit to other phones and I’ve even heard you can buy phone time in Auckland and send it to relatives in Samoa. No real surprise there. We paid for a few phone cards while we were there but snickered a bit when we got a request for $2 tala credit…It also seems like the phones are to blame for many traffic accidents and annoying interruptions at the movies (same as here).

I did notice the beach fale prices but didn’t really think too much of it because we were traveling as a family so we allotted a bit more $$. Also, we got the “returning customer deal” at a few places. If you’ve ever stayed at Taufua, Tai’s husband Sila was in hospital while we were there with double pneumonia. Same thing the head of state had. Really scary stuff but Sila is out and better now.

The flea market is still the best place to buy souvenirs and the maketi fou for food (pankekes 30 cene, papaya 50 cene, bananas 2 tala). I could live on that stuff alone! Most of the average restaurants are still cheaper than Canada (except McDonalds). Things are just going to get more expensive as the South Pacific Games get closer.

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<hr>If you’ve ever stayed at Taufua, Tai’s husband Sila was in hospital while we were there with double pneumonia. Same thing the head of state had. Really scary stuff but Sila is out and better now. <hr></blockquote>

I have stayed at Taufua on numerous occasions and know Tai and Sila well.... So sorry to hear of his illness. Hope his recovery is speedy.