Serene and peaceful Samoa...well not Apia

March 5, 2009

Woke up to a wonderful sunny day. Had another wonderful breakfast (included with the nightly fee) of cheese and ham sandwich (again on fresh bread), toast, fruit, jam and rice type pudding (all wonderful) and great coffee. Decided to take a day tour into Apia (the capital of Western Samoa). Went with the supply pickup van. Interesting…we paid to ride into Apia, however, along the road, he picked up several people standing at the side of the roads (friends…who knows), doesn’t matter. Took about an hour to reach Apia as we are on the other side of the island. Some interesting things I noted are that each house has a covered open type area made of cement floor with poles (some have curtains) which is either the main area or an extra area) apparently this is called the “meeting area”. It is built like this so the wind flows through and doesn’t destroy the structure. All the houses have them, some are fancier than others and you can see the curtains but others are very plain. Another notable thing was that most houses have a monument or tombstone like prayer area in front of their houses where it appears that ancestors are laid to rest. Some are very elegant and covered and have many flowers and others are average. Apparently, Samoan land is handed down through ancestory and they are very loyal. The amount of churches that we saw was unbelievable, a very religious island, I would say.

Apia was just another city, not too big, but all the normal stuff…shopping and intrepeneurs. Brochures say that this island has 180,000 people. Everyone in Apia is either selling cell phones, sarapes or something else. Not as bad as Mexico but nonetheless, everyone is selling something..tours, fruit and vegetables, restaurant suppers or whatever. We only spent a few hours there and that was enough of the city.

When our transport picked us up, he again had several people with him who we dropped off at various locations on the trip back to Virgin Cove. I should point out that a lot of Samoan men are very nice looking…and so are the women. Although, I don’t really find the men’s Samoan skirts that appealing…even the police wear them. (they are wrap arounds about ankle length).

Today was a gorgeous day, we had lots of very hot sun, drank lots of water, walked lots of miles and when we arrived back to Virgin Cove at about 3:00 we went for a swim in the high tide (meaning that lots of the wonderful white sand was immersed). Virgin Cove is in a cove (duh) and therefore the waves are crashing out about 1 kilometer so we have just slight waves. The water is so clear and the fish are swimming around you all the time. I had taken some potato chips down at the beach and had the idea to try and feed them. Well, did we have a riot. They ate a small bag of chicken ripple chips and another of salt and vinegar. They would actually take them out of your fingers. It was like being in a fish bowl. And the size of the angel fish was unbelievable although they weren’t the chip terminators like the others were. We stood there for at least 1 hour just playing with the fish.

This place is the most ultimate serene peaceful place that we have ever been. It is so serene and peaceful that you can hear the coconuts dropping off the trees. Ever heard those nature audio tapes that they sell…well we could easily make one here.

Everyone is so friendly…visitor and locals alike. It is a small resort and we see everyone often and the locals are very English friendly as most every country learns English as a second language.

It was so bright this evening that we went stargrazing standing in the cove.(water like bathwater) John was so happy to find the Southern Cross and identify some of the other constellations.