Sapphire Princess South Pacific Cruise Day 15 - Apia, Samoa - A tropical paradise
We arrived in Samoa bright and early this morning.
Samoa has an interesting history. in 2009, they were hit with a tsunami that wiped out part of the island. They have recovered. Also in 2009, they switched from driving on the right side of the road like the U.S. to driving on the left like New Zealand and Australia, their closer trading partners. One day, drive on the right, the next day, drive on the left. Wow. It took quite a while to change vehicles. As they were replaced, they were swapped from left-hand drive to right-hand drive. What a confusing time.
In 2011, to align themselves to be on the same business day as Australia and New Zealand, they made a change to jump to the opposite side of the international date line. They made the change on December 30, 2011, meaning that they jumped directly to January 1, 2012, without a December 31 that year. Again, wow.
After a quick breakfast, we were cleared by port authorities so we hopped off and met our tour operator- Tai's Native Experience for our tour, Full Day Tour in Samoa with a Local.
Our guide, George, and driver, Tai (not the owner), met the eight of us, loaded us in a van, and we were off. After a fairly long ride, we made our first stop.
We were treated to a scenic overlook at Sopo'aga Falls.
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| You have to love a place with an "Honesty Box" for times when nobody is there |
There were tons of beautiful flowers all around.
The real star of the show was the waterfall.
Next, our guide, George, demonstrated how coconuts are opened and used.
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He explained fire-building techniques |
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| He deftly removed the coconut’s outer shell |
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| He revealed the inner nut |
He told the story of a beautiful maiden who fell in love with an enchanted eel. The eel grew more possessive of her until she couldn’t take it anymore. With help, her village rose up and defeated the eel. The eel apologized for his behavior and asked the maiden to behead him. His head would become a tree and the fruit of the tree would provide nourishment. Drinking from it would have the maiden kissing him again.
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| The two eyes and mouth of the eel – you drill out the mouth to release the coconut water and drink it – hence the kiss |
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| An expert whack with a stone revealed the flesh inside the nut |
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| George demonstrated sliding the inside of the nut against a metal blade, shaving and expelling the meat |
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| The local chickens liked it – they roam free here as do dogs, cats, pigs, cows, and horses |
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| George wrapped up the meat in the fibers from the outer shell and used them to squeeze the coconut crème from the meat – it was a thick and creamy drink |
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| The other half of the coconut |
We continued our drive around the east side of the island. George mentioned that Samoa is a very religious island. Everything is closed on Sunday and nearly everyone attends church. Missionaries came to the island from many religions. The predominant ones are Catholic, Methodist, Morman, Seventh Day Adventists, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. We passed tons of churches throughout the day.
Our next stop was the To Sua Ocean Trench. There are a series of, for lack of a better description, sinkholes. They are deep holes fed by a combination of water from the nearby ocean and fresh water.
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| The water was crystal clear and beautiful |
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| Arlona walked partway down the stairway for a closer look |
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| Do you see her there? |
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| There she is! |
Again, beautiful flowers were all around.
There were lots of stunning views.
Next, we stopped at another small beach outlook - Vavau Beach Fales.
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| Arlona, of course, did her water thing |
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| The water was stunningly clear |
We continued our journey east along the south shoreline.
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| Many houses had graves in the front years – they bury loved ones in front of their houses so they remain with the family |
It was time for lunch. We stopped at Tafua Beach Fales.
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| This was across the street - the restaurant was right on the beach |
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| Prices are in Samoan Tala - $1 = 2.6 tala |
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| Of course, I tried the only beer brewed on Samoa - I liked it |
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| Arlona had the “chicken burger” - a delicious fried chicken sandwich |
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| I had the “fish burger” – a fresh, delicious tuna sandwich |
Our next stop was Namua Island Beach Fales for a ferry ride to what the locals call Turtle Island.
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| Our water chariot |
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| Turtle Island |
Along the way, our guide and the boat crew watched for sea turtles. They spotted one and the boat hand dove into the water and brought the turtle aboard for a few moments. They, he released it back to continue on its way.
Once on the island, some folks went swimming, I went wading, and Arlona opted to go snorkeling.
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| You can see Arlona's snorkel |
She reported there were tons of cool fish including some she hadn’t seen before. We will do some snorkeling in French Polynesia and I’ll have the underwater camera.
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| We were off again, heading back toward the port |
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| Houses have these raised trash platforms so the roaming animals don’t rip apart the trash on trash day |
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| Our final stop was at the Lemafa Scenic Site for more lovely views |
We got back to the ship at 4:45, wrapping up our eight-hour tour. We really enjoyed it. Having a great local guide was wonderful. He also explained that if someone comes to Samoa and stays on the island for two years, they become eligible to apply for Samoan citizenship. Hmm…
He seemed to think it was a good thing. At nearly 31 years old, he was born here and has never left the island at all.
I forgot to get a photo of the dinner menu tonight. Dinner was very nice tonight.
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| Smoked salmon and cream cheese vol-au-vent |
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| Arlona's Tandori chicken |
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| My beer-basted pot roast |
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| We caught tonight’s entertainer, comedian Sid Davis - he was quite funny and we enjoyed the show a lot |
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| We could see the Southern Cross clearly again tonight – it is directly below the lower corner of the Bridge |
It was a long, fun day and we were ready for bed. Samoa is a lush and beautiful place. The people are friendly and life seems to be good here. The temperature ranges between 68F-86F (20C-30C) all the time. Not too hot, not too cold.
Tomorrow will be similar as we have a bus tour in American Samoa tomorrow…err…today…err…Friday. It was Friday today, but we will sail back across the International Date Line tonight, moving back in time, so we will relive Friday, April 19. Being back on the same day as home will make titling the blog posts a little easier. The two islands are only 45 miles apart, but they sit on opposite sides of the International Date Line since Samoa's change in 2011. We'll see you tomorrow, after our little time travel overnight.
