Samoa part III Savai'i

On the ferry, it was so freezing cold that after that one hour drive, we were all so happy to be on land again. But it had been nice to see the island from the sea and to observe some flying fishes, it was the first time that I saw them in reality. The first problem, when we arrived in the port of Savai'i: we didn’t know where to go. We hadn’t really thought about that. The poor guy, who drove us, asked where to go and we said we didn’t know, but first we needed money, then we had to go shopping and then … well, if he knew a good place to stay. I really felt petty for that poor guy, we never agreed on anything, couldn’t decide where to go and what to do and then we traded down the price. But he was kind and patient anyway and finally he decided to drive us to Manase, where we could stay at the Tanu Beach Fales, apparently one of the most beautiful beaches of Samoa. And it was truly beautiful there. We got to know many other young people and had a lot of fun, teaching us different languages, mostly German, Swedish and Spanish. We soon found the motto for our holiday: It’s not a prooooblem – what Denis used to say, not matter if the weather was bad, the food not good, someone was not feeling well, or something else went wrong – as well as: Ja mann, which was the favourite exclamation of the Swedish guy. The food here was not as good as in the first place, but that could be because no one of us could even look at Taro or Tamu, which is the main part of every dish.

The culture of Samoan people is a bit strange, I have to admit. For example, would they never admit that they have no idea about something, they prefer just inventing something. Not with bad purpose, but just not to admit that they don’t know it … and also you should never trust times that they tell you. Exactly that was what happened to three of our group that wanted to walk to the lava fields and were told it would only be 40 minutes on foot. After one and a half hours they still hadn’t even got near these field, gave up and came back on the back of a truck. Which is also interesting. You are allowed to sit on the back of a truck, or even stand or do whatever, as long as you keep your feet inside. Ok, but I have to admit that with a speed limit of 46 km/h that is pretty ok.

This Sunday, we really went to church, not because we are so religious, just out of interest, because we had heard it was completely different than we know it. And that was true. It was a lot more energetic, more beautiful and more singing in general than in Germany. It also seems like they have a dress code as everyone arrived in white clothes, except of us, we didn’t know anything about that before and even if, I didn’t have anything white with me. The prayers and sermons were a bit boring for us, because the only word that we understood in Samoan was Fa’afetai, which means thank you. But in the end of the service, the priest thanked us in English for having been there and wished us a nice time, which was very kind. The songs were really animated and everyone was singing, dancing and clapping. The atmosphere seemed relaxed and friendly and not so serious and cold as in Germany. Also, the churches are a lot less pompous, but even though colourful and with big windows, sometimes even without walls. It felt warm and welcoming, what religion should be.

Afterwards, we continued with a far too expensive taxi to Falealupo, which is the most western point of Samoa and the best sundown in Samoa. Well, you can discuss that. From there, we went to the rainforest and did the Canopy walk, which was a 10 meters high bridge in the trees, which led to a very old tree, where a lookout had been built in the 25 metres height. It was really nice to see the huge forest from above and behind the ocean. The next destination was the Moso's Footprint, the giant. That is the giant of the island, who nobody ever saw, but he left his foot print and therefore he exists. The footprint is huge, all the six of us could sit in there. In the evening, we had fresh coconuts that the guys just picked for us from the palms. It is so funny to watch them, climb them up so fast, get a coconut and climb down again. Everywhere, were signs to watch out for falling coconuts and they told us that it is really dangerous. I think many people already read somewhere that more people die from falling coconuts than from shark attacks, but it is hard to imagin and definitely not something that I want to imagine.

The next day, we took the bus to discover the island. The other four got off the bus in Manase to go to a cave and my boyfriend continued to the swimming turtles. This is a rehabilitation centre for turtles, where they rescue turtles that have been caught with the fish, nurse them up and then set them free again. During their time there, you can go swimming with them. They live in a huge natural pool and have enough space to swim and also stay away from others. It was very intense to see them, swim with them and even touch some of them. We went for a walk nearby, had some ice cream and in the evening, we took the bus to Lano, another beautiful beach, to meet up with the Argentinian couple. The Joelans Beach Fale was an unfriendly place with bad food, but it was only for one night and the fales as well as the beach was very nice. The Swedish guys stayed longer in the other place, they had their flights several days after us and still wanted to stay in Savai'i.

The next morning, we wanted to take the ferry back to Upolu, of course, we missed it. Back on the island, we stayed in a very modest Motel in Apia, not nice but also not too bad. The last day, we spent with going to the market, buying souvenirs and then going to the Marine Reserve for snorkelling. That was also a very nice experience as in the riffs there live many extraordinary fishes. That day, there was a kind of event, where the local people showed their work, meaning they were showing dances, how they traditionally make the tattos - same way as the Maori -, how they make images on wood and how they make crowns out of banana leaves and flowers for the women. Every women got a crown and i took mine home - even if it is not allowed to bring plants to New Zealand, nodbody did control that. Then, we had to say good bye to the Argentinian couple, who would take the flight the next day back to Auckland, after our last dinner together. We took our flight back to Wellington and there went back to the house of our friend for one night.

All in all, this was an amazing time, really relaxing – a real beaches with warm water, not so cold as in New Zealand. I really had needed that – with so many nice people and interesting experiences.

Sunrise in Samoa, truly beautiful.

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